Water is becoming a challenge to have in Kenya and even to the rest of the world over time especially in the wake of climate change. The thing is, it is not that water is unavailable completely, it is just that as soon as it is used up when clean it is hard to get it back. Additionally governments are lacking in leadership to help steer the country in the right direction to save its people and seem to be more hell bent in taxing them more than empowering them. I have decided to generate this thread to create awareness with anyone with the right connections to make this solution happen. So on to less complaining about the sinking boat(pun intended) and more on the solution at hand.
My suggested solution is simple. First the President needs to declare a state of emergency of the drought disaster. This calls counties and all levels of government to action for an immediate meeting to address it. Now they may or may not have any solutions that are permanently useful but I will go out on a limb here and assume as usual government always picks temporary solutions like handing out free water and donations and crying to the west for funds. The usual shenanigans.
On my end this is what I would advise, take the donations but instead of hand outs do the following :
Subsidize plastic water tanks and water pumps (if possible give them out for free) to areas with already good rainfall
Give long term grants/loans to landlords to build water harvesting mechanism from their homes using banks and saccos to disperse the funds while using Water Resources Authority to do site investigations and approvals for follow up on the projects to ensure the projects are done. Funds are also only to paid to suppliers too for the tanks and building materials. Only labor cost are to be given to actual owners
Connect these water tanks to the county water supply system. (ensure they are as tall as possible for easier pumping)
add a meter for reverse water supply from these homes
County to supply this water particularly to farmers at a low price
The more rainwater harvesters supply the more they offset their tank loans
Excess water to be channeled to arid areas where herders and livestock farmers hang out eg wajir
Two months from now it is likely we will have torrential rainfall almost as bad as a small Elnino. Taking the storage into account we will have lowered the cost of water by at least a half and doubled food production in the country. Now if you want to add on to this idea feel free to add any constructive criticism or great ideas that solve the problem (not make matters worse, we already know shit has hit the fan, no need to remind us)
Lakini unafikiria rain is magic water? Fanya hydrology kidogo my fren. Rain water does not got waster as you might thinks. It collects together and flows to tana river where it gets to the delta and keeps the sea at bay. Kenya receives a constant amount of rain water, which evaporates at a constant rate. Even if you store an x tons of water of water in your suggested tanks you would still need logistics to deliver it over a given distance. Alafu two inch pipe haiezi peleka maji mbali. You think countries invest billions in pumping station juu ni fun? You think people go to university to acquire phds in cibil engineering when they could simply connect plastic tanks and pipes juu ni fun?
mimi if i were to go back to school i would do water engineering kama kuna kitu kama hiyo , as long as population is growing there will be a challenge of water from infrastructure to distribution to access( imagine the sale of the merchandise required here ) , then water is a cash commodity all the water companies all financially independent .am really thinking in these lines seriously. Ebuleteni maoni wadau?
Kijana you are day dreaming,
Umesikia kitu inaitwa unregistrable courses by Engineers Board of Kenya? Ask Egerton Water Engineering graduates, or just google fate of unregistrable graduate engineers from Egerton university.
My opinion is you enroll for Bachelor of Science Civil Engineering, graduate on time and there after, if your interest will not have changed consider for pursuing a Master of Civil Engineering, Water Engineering/Water Resources Engineering Option.
Civil Engineering is broad you can work in Road, Water and Building Sector, however the industry is already saturated.
@Micymas What we want to create is a water buffer system. Just like the Ice glaciers acts as a buffer during dry seasons for earth. If each household can hold between 100,000 -1,000,000 liters for every 10 homes in the area, pumps can work the rest with short distances even going uphill. Small pumps can do a maximum of at least 10 meters high. If every 10 meters high there is another pump, the pump pressure can be sustained back to main county tanks or even up a hill. (You can also check something called pumped hydo in electricity generation) The Engineering is feasible it is a matter of political will power and coordinated management.
The 1st solution should be to vote out all incompetent corrupt leaders. Bila hio there is nothing to be done. 20 years from now bado tutakuwa tunaongea kuhusu the same problems.
A country with 2 permanent rivers running from it’s centre to it’s bottom right corner, a huge fresh water lake on it’s western point, natural springs on it’s southern side, and an enviable billion litre plus water acquifer on its north should never have water at its list of problems. Honestly, NIABM.
A small 10,000 litre tank goes for 65,000, and that is if you know the salesman in the mhindi shop, afanyie mhindi ile kitu. Hizi figures unaongelea wouldn’t work. Na sija factor in piping, tank stands, simiti yenye fundi ataiba etc.
