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Sustainable management of water resources in Kenya

Between 2015 and 2018, we ran a programme to promote access to drinking water in the country, associated with the creation of a desalination plant.

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Significant data at the end of the project

inhabitants of the Siyu community
2,000
direct beneficiaries of the project
1 solar-powered reverse osmosis desalinator
drilled in Lamu County
2wells
200-meter-deep
in dry periods
6,500people
who benefit from the plant
Thanks to the osmosis unit
20,000 liters
Water production a day

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Our results

Thanks to the first hydrogeological study carried out in Pate Island, located in Lamu County, we realized that none of the more than 200 wells available in the area provided fresh water. We drilled two more wells, each 200 meters deep, in the villages of Siyu and Pate, but laboratory results indicated that the water source was still unsuitable for human consumption. For this reason, thanks to Eni Kenya B.V., we allocated other funds to build a desalination plant that could help solve the problem. We designed a reverse osmosis unit powered entirely by solar energy capable of producing about 20,000 liters per day. The direct beneficiaries of the project are the two thousand inhabitants of the Siyu community, but in the drought period the unit helps more than 6,500 people every day.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an action program signed in September 2015 by 193 UN member Countries that incorporates 17 Goals aimed at the socio-economic development of communities and territories. With this project we contribute to ensuring the availability and sustainable management of clean water and sanitation (Objective 6).

Water access in Kenya: photo gallery

We have helped build a solar powered desalination plant in Lamu County to meet the needs of local communities who had limited access to clean water resources and drinking water.

Safety first

Safety in the workplace is an imperative value we want to share with our employees, contractors and local stakeholders. We are committed to eliminate accidents and protect the integrity of our assets. We consolidate a culture of safety through management and organization models, digital tools and communication initiatives. Our goal is strengthening the awareness of our people and their sense of responsibility toward themselves and others, by expanding HSE tools and digitalization to make corporate processes safer, more efficient and faster. 

The impact on the environment and on the community

Although Kenya boasts booming socio-economic development, many East African communities are struggling to achieve adequate living standards. Lamu County, for example, has long been plagued with water problems. The population used traditional means of collecting rain or water from shallow wells, causing a high percentage of cases of typhus, Escherichia Coli and other diseases in the local community.

We conducted a social health study on the northern coast of Kenya and in the surrounding regions, with specific attention to the Counties of the Tana River, Kilifi and Lamu, historically marginalized and affected by high rates of morbidity, mortality and poor access to clean water. After sharing the results of the analysis with all stakeholders, we  designed an access to health and clean water program in agreement with the County Government of Lamu, with whom we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2014.

The project was carried out by involving the community from the construction and plant development phase through to maintenance phases. Kenyan companies were selected, a community awareness program called Baraza was carried out and adequate training was provided to people to ensure a lasting life for the plant. Our approach to solving the problem of access to water in Kenya was the first of its kind to be applied in the region and serves as reference for new local development projects and for the development of marginalized areas in the country.

The value of experience

The solar-powered desalination plant project acted as a catalyst and a model for both the County Government of Lamu and donor organizations present in the region that are now also undertaking similar projects with a view to increasing the accessibility to clean water and sanitation for Lamu’s local communities.

Partnerships

The desalination plant was built with the collaboration of the local government and the Kenyan Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. The project was also monitored by the Milan Health Unit.