Technology Without Borders

Water supply for Got Koyombe Dispensary, Kenya, Ngiya

About the Project

Situation

In Kenya and other African countries, clean water is a major problem. Children and sick people in particular are severely affected by diseases caused by contaminated water. The original idea was to start a project to filter water in wards and hospitals in the Ngiya region in order to provide patients with drinking water to take their medication. However, it turned out that water quality is not the main problem, but the availability of water of any kind, especially in the dry season, while filtration is a secondary task, as the amount of drinking water consumed is not very high. Hospitals and outpatient clinics need most of the water for washing, cleaning, laundry and hand washing and less for drinking. Three hospital wards were visited to check the water quality and propose new projects. Three problems were identified at Got Koyembe Dispensary:

There is a connection to the local water network, but it cannot be used because a water meter is missing and a supply pipe is broken. The repair could not only supply the hospital with water, but also the population in the immediate vicinity.
There is a rainwater tank, but a shut-off valve is defective and needs to be replaced. This tank already has a pipe directly into the hospital.
There are gutters from which the rainwater tank is filled, but these are defective in parts and only exist on half of the roof area.

Project Targets

It is proposed that a small project be undertaken shortly to include the missing water meter and pipework to enable the water kiosk to function and supply the hospital and local community. The cost of this part is expected to be around €400. In addition, the gutter needs to be repaired in one place and the valve of the rainwater tank needs to be replaced. All in all, the project should be feasible within a budget of €500. It is important that a water committee is set up to maintain the water kiosk so that future repairs can be tackled by the organisation itself. Further measures such as filtration are not currently proposed as the water quality is fine.