Updated Report on the Water Project

Background information on community:

The Mamiloki Village project was projected to serve the community and Primary School with a total population of 9,500 people. The project was expanded on a disaster response project installed in the community by Water Mission Kenya (WMK) in April of 2017.

Prior to the disaster response installation, the community did not have a clean water source. They depended on water from shallow wells located near the newly drilled borehole, water pans, and seasonal streams that were highly turbid and contaminated. The shallow well is fed by a stream which dries up in the dry season. The other water source for the community is a solar-powered system and borehole dug by the IRC which is 6 km away from the community and thus too far from the people.

Since the community had a dire need for clean water, a small-scale project was installed as disaster response in April 2017. A new borehole was drilled by WMK with a total depth of 200 m and dynamic water level of 54 m. An 11SQF-2 was installed in the borehole at 82 m, and is powered by six 250 W solar panels. A Potable Water Chlorinator, 10,000 L water storage tank, and one tap stand were also installed as part of the disaster response project in April 2017.

The disaster response project was upgraded in October 2017 to a community managed project serving the school, market and community with an average population of 2,580 people.

Testimonials before project installation:

“I usually use a casual laborer to fetch for us water and ferry using a donkey from a shallow well which is about ½ Km away, the donkey has to ferry it twice because we need 200 litres daily as a family”. – Alice Mutheu Kimuyu (Farmer/ retired teacher)
“It takes 2 hours just looking for water, this affects my daily household chores and farming”. – Alice Mutheu (Farmer)

Engineering solution (disaster response):

Water Source: A borehole that was drilled by WMK. The borehole is 200 m deep with a dynamic water level of 54 m and yield of 14 m3/hr. Two 11SQF-2 submersible pumps were installed in the borehole. The pump is powered by six additional 250 W solar panels which are mounted on a second standalone solar rack near the water source.
One additional 10,000 L storage tank, elevated on a 2 m tank pad, was installed at Mamiloki Primary School. Water level is controlled with a float switch installed in the tank and a CU200 installed at the solar rack.

Water Points: Four additional tap stands were installed through the community.

Engineering solution (project upgrade):

Water Source: A borehole that was drilled by WMK. The borehole is 200 m deep with a dynamic water level of 54 m and yield of 14 m3/hr. Two 11SQF-2 submersible pumps were installed in the borehole. The pump is powered by six additional 250 W solar panels which are mounted on a second standalone solar rack near the water source.
One additional 10,000 L storage tank, elevated on a 2 m tank pad, was installed at Mamiloki Primary School. Water level is controlled with a float switch installed in the tank and a CU200 installed at the solar rack.
Water Points: Four additional tap stands were installed through the community.

Living Water:

Pastors training on discipleship and evangelism, Christian Missions, leadership, pastoral self-care and biblical interpretation among others were conducted. On the impact of our training on the ministry, the pastors reported on how the training helped to galvanize their pastoral ministry. They observed that they have been able to work together to carry out door to door evangelism. This according to them was a powerful thing since it showed that these pastors are united in their vision to reaching out with the gospel.
They also observed that their gained skills on discipleship and Bible study have been helpful especially as they were facilitating a week-long teenagers’ conference. At this conference some gave their lives to Jesus Christ. The same skills will be of use for them as they shall be facilitating future a women conference.
The pastors therefore continue to reach out and work together in synergy and requested for a possible follow up training so that even those who did not attend last time could possibly benefit from it. They reported that the hand-out passed over to them during the training provided help since they could refer back to it. They continue to request for some literature (e.g. Bible commentaries) so that they might use for their sermon preparation and bible study programs.

Commissioning date: Oct 30^th, 2017

Served with Safe Water: 2,580

Testimonials after commissioning:

“My neighbors and I are happy because we are assured of clean, safe water even when it’s the dry season. We save time and we have planted vegetables which we sell to our neighbors. Our children get to school on time and they can do their homework without interruptions. We also have enough water for our animals to drink” – Frida Ndungwa (Mother)
“Life has been made easy because the water is near my house and always available. We have planted vegetables at school which we can sell and even supplement our diet. Our children have water at school which saves them school time hence they get enough time to study” -Mr. Wellington Kingi (Head teacher)

Other notable successes

Access to water by community members with ease
Improved household income due to reduced water related diseases
Improved nutrition as community members are now able to utilize surplus water to plant kitchen gardens
Improved household hygiene and sanitation because of community wide WASH trainings.

Challenges:

High iron and manganese levels were detected and continues to be a challenge. This is causing the water to be colored and not attractive to some people. An additional treatment system is needed to remove the iron and manganese.
Low water sales during the rainy season because most people are using rain water collection. Rains have been experienced in the entire reporting period i.e. March-May.
The community prefers using rain water for cooking and drinking while the project water is used for other uses because of the water quality issues.
Some community members still must walk for long distance to access water and given that the borehole yield is sufficient, an extension would be helpful to them.
Delay by the community to finalize trenching to one of the tap locations. This delayed work and lead to increased implementation cost because of delaying project completion schedule.