Water Supply
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Browsing Water Supply by Subject "Egerton University"
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Publication Access to Water in Kenya’s Coast Region: A Challenge to Community Development and Poverty Alleviation in Lamu County(Kenya Aquatica Journal, 2018-11-30) Ignatius, David O.; Hassan, Farida A.; Morara, George N.; Osore, Melckzedeck K.; Mutua, Benedict; Kitaka, Nzula K.Water is considered a basic commodity and essential for life - living on planet earth is dependent on it. However, access to water has been and will continue to be a dilemma for a majority of the residents at the coast of Kenya. A close look at the window on “Coastal Resources and People” reveals that water is a key resource but despite its immense importance, many people especially in the rural areas and the Vulnerable and Marginalized Groups (VMG’s) do not have adequate access to potable, reliable and convenient sources of water. Lamu, currently considered among water scarce counties in Kenya as per the Lamu County Integrated Development Plan (http://lamu.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/LAMU_CIDP-Revised.June_2014-1.pdf), faces serious challengeof provision of potable water to its residents. With the influx of people from other parts of the country as a result of the implementation of the Kenya Vision 2030 flagship project - Lamu Port Southern Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET), the current water stresses is only expected to worsen. The Lamu County Government plans to address the ever-increasing demand for access to water but resources to actualise these plans are yet to be consolidated. To complement this situation, Kenya Coastal Development Project (KCDP), a World Bank funded project is working with local communities in Lamu in thedevelopment and implementation of community-led water projects targeting to increasing access to water at household level.This paper will focus on community-based approaches to understand the water-web in Lamu East Sub-County to provide an assessment of opportunities, challenges and sustainability implications. Primary data is used on surveys, Social Assessment (SA) Vulnerable and Marginalised Group Plan (VMGP), observations and recommendations from the Lamu CIDP. It further proposes that of direct usage of saline water, seawater or brackish water, for sanitation purposes could alleviate the freshwater shortage.Publication Assessing Future Water Demand and Associated Energy Input with Plausible Scenarios for Water Service Providers (WSPs) in Sub-Saharan Africa(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2021-04-13) Macharia, Pauline; Kitaka, Nzula; Yillia, Paul; Kreuzinger, NorbertThis study examined the current state of water demand and associated energy input for water supply against a projected increase in water demand in sub-Saharan Africa. Three plausible scenarios, namely, Current State Extends (CSE), Current State Improves (CSI) and Current State Deteriorates (CSD) were developed and applied using nine quantifiable indicators for water demand projections and the associated impact on energy input for water supply for five Water Service Providers (WSPs) in Kenya to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach based on real data in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, the daily per capita water-use in the service area of four of the five WSPs was below minimum daily requirement of 50 L/p/d. Further, non-revenue water losses were up to three times higher than the regulated benchmark (range 26–63%). Calculations showed a leakage reduction potential of up to 70% and energy savings of up to 12 MWh/a. The projected water demand is expected to increase by at least twelve times the current demand to achieve universal coverage and an average daily per capita consumption of 120 L/p/d for the urban population by 2030. Consequently, the energy input could increase almost twelve-folds with the CSI scenario or up to fifty-folds with the CSE scenario for WSPs where desalination or additional groundwater abstraction is proposed. The approach used can be applied for other WSPs which are experiencing a similar evolution of their water supply and demand drivers in sub-Saharan Africa. WSPs in the sub-region should explore aggressive strategies to jointly address persistent water losses and associated energy input. This would reduce the current water supply-demand gap and minimize the energy input that will be associated with exploring additional water sources that are typically energy intensive.Publication Can Sanitary Surveys Replace Water Quality Testing? Evidence from Kisii, Kenya(MDPI, 2017-02-07) Misati, Aaron Gichaba; Ogendi, George; Peletz, Rachel; Khush, Ranjiv; Kumpel, EmilyInformation about the quality of rural drinking water sources can be used to manage their safety and mitigate risks to health. Sanitary surveys, which are observational checklists to assess hazards present at water sources, are simpler to conduct than microbial tests. We assessed whether sanitary survey results were associated with measured indicator bacteria levels in rural drinking water sources in Kisii Central, Kenya. Overall, thermotolerant coliform (TTC) levels were high: all of the samples from the 20 tested dug wells, almost all (95%) of the samples from the 25 tested springs, and 61% of the samples from the 16 tested rainwater harvesting systems were contaminated with TTC. There were no significant associations between TTC levels and overall sanitary survey scores or their individual components. Contamination by TTC was associated with source type (dug wells and springs were more contaminated than rainwater systems). While sanitary surveys cannot be substituted for microbial water quality results in this context, they could be used to identify potential hazards and contribute to a comprehensive risk management approach.Publication COVID-19 pandemic: Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as a critical control measure remains a major challenge in low-income countries(2021-03-01) Donde, Oscar Omondi; Atoni, Evans; Muia, Anastasia Wairimu; Yillia, Paul T.Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the deadly respiratory disease called coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), an ongoing global public health emergency that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. We review literature on the transmission and control of SARS-CoV-2 and discuss the challenges of focusing on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as critical control measures in low-income countries. A significantly higher prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 related deaths has been reported for the United States of America and other high-income countries in Europe and Asia, regardless of advanced medical facilities in those countries. In contrast, much lower COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality rates have been documented in many low-income countries, despite having comparatively higher socioeconomic burdens and suboptimal medical facilities. By September 29, 2020 over one million deaths have been reported. On the same day, the cumulative total of COVID-19 related morbidity for Africa was 35,954 with 3.5% of the global COVID-19 related deaths. We present arguments for the relatively low COVID-19 morbidity and mortality rates in many low-income countries and discuss the critical importance of WASH for preventing the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19. We observe that the key recommendations put forward by the World Health Organization to effectively control the pandemic have been difficult to implement in low-income countries. We conclude that the pandemic reinforces previous pronouncements that adequate and effective WASH measures are crucial for public health and recommend closer coordination between public health and WASH sectors.Publication Effects of Population Growth on Urban Extent and Supply of Water and Sanitation: Case of Nakuru Municipality, Kenya(Macrothink institute, 2018-01-08) Muoria, Elizabeth W.; Moturi, Wilkister N.; Eshiamwata, George W.Urbanization causes changes in social and environmental conditions with most of these changes impacting on the efficient provision of essential services such as water and sanitation. Nakuru Municipality was observed to be the fastest growing urban area in East and Central Africa. Research on patterns and trends of urban and population increase and their implication on water service provision and sanitation in urban Nakuru is very scanty. This paper presents findings from an assessment of the effects of population growth between 1999 and 2017 on urban extent and supply of water and sewage reticulation in Nakuru municipality and surrounding peri-urban areas. Data was collected through remote sensing and administration of questionnaires to urban Nakuru residents and key informants from NAWASSCO respectively to elicit information on the water supply network and sewerage reticulation in Nakuru municipality for the period 1989-2014. Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to analyze the data on time series. The results indicate that the population of Nakuru municipality and surrounding peri-urban areas has increased by 56.8% whereas that of built-up area has increased by 182.5% in the same period through densification of the urban core and expansion to the peri-urban areas characterized by urban sprawl. The water supply network and sewerage reticulation increased by 236km and 89km respectively within Nakuru municipality. The analysis of the maps shows that water supply network and sewerage reticulation are concentrated in the area around the urban core with very little spread. This means that the residents on the outskirts of Nakuru Municipality are not well served by the water supply network and sewerage reticulation. The study recommends involvement of all stakeholders in urban planning and in the water sector in order to increase water supply network and sewerage reticulation coverage both in the urban and peri-urban areas.Publication First record of dwarf Victorian mouthbrooder Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae (Schöller, 1903) in Lake Naivasha, Kenya, including data on its molecular identification: Management implications(John Wiley & Sons ltd, 2018-09-30) Otachi, Elick O.; Rindoria, Nehemiah M.; Medhanit, Meri M.; Ayeka, Peter A.; Wąs-Barcz, AnnaThe present study describes the first record of 83 Dwarf Victorian mouthbrooder (Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae Seegers, 2000) newly discovered in Lake Naivasha, Kenya, in January 2016. Membership of the species was determined on the basis of morphometric characteristics and molecular analysis. The average length (±SD) of the fish was 6.95 ± 0.86 cm, and average weight was 5.59 ± 1.99 g. The body is normal/fusiform, the dorsal head profile convex-shaped, the mouth is terminal with bright blue lips, and the anal fin with a reddish tip, being distinctive features of the fish. The sequences of subunit I cytochrome oxidase (COI) and cytochrome b (cyt b) genes obtained in the present study were compared with records deposited in BoldSystem and NCBI databases. Using two genetic markers enabled unambiguous determination of the species membership. The queried specimen was assigned to the Cichlidae family, as Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae (100–96.68% similarity). These results constitute the baseline study for this fish in Lake Naivasha.Publication Household Water Handling Practices in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands in Kenya(2019-04-13) Kurui, Edith J.; Ogendi, George M.; Nyawanga, Wilkister N. Moturi and Dishon O.; Kurui, Edith J.; Ogendi, George M.; Nyawanga, Wilkister N. Moturi and Dishon O.Utilisation of water from unimproved water sources coupled with inadequate access to sanitation can adversely affect human health. This study undertaken from November 2014 to March, 2015 sought to assess the household water handling practices and relate them to the prevalent diseases in Baringo Central and South, Kenya. A Household sanitary survey was conducted and questionnaires were administered to 100 household heads within the study area. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated that 72% of the households (n = 100) collected water for cooking and drinking from the water pans. Only 34% of the households treated water commonly using boiling (19%), filtration with cloth (2%), chlorine (11%) before using it for drinking. There was a positive correlation between methods used in accessing water from drinking water storage containers and water related diseases prevalent in the study area (p < 0.05). Household drinking water in the study area did not meet the WHO drinking water quality guidelines mainly due to poor handling practices at the household level. There is a need to promote water, sanitation and hygiene campaigns in the study area to prevent water related diseases at the household level.Publication REAL-TIME MONITORING OF WATER QUALITY IN LAKE NAKURU USING WIRELESS SENSOR TECHNOLOGY(Egerton University, 2022-04-01) Manene, FranklinWater quality monitoring in a water body is necessary to determine the major pollutants and their temporal variations. This in essence leads to informed decision-making on the appropriate mitigation measures and to determine the effectiveness of the existing water quality control measures. In this paper, a Low power communication technology for wide area networks (LORAWAN) is applied to connect sensor nodes to collect real-time data on Lake Nakuru waters. The system consists of sensors, a wireless sensor node, a communication network, and data visualization and cloud storage. The various sensors connected to the sensor node sense environmental parameters such as temperature, electric conductivity, pH, and dissolved oxygen. The wireless sensor node is deployed in a floating buoy on the lake and is powered by a solar panel. It sends the data to the gateway over the long range at a very low data rate with low power consumption. The cloud server applications such as Things network together with Thingsspeak are employed to receive, present, and store measured data.Publication Vulnerability of Kenya’s Water Towers to Future Climate Change: An Assessment to Inform Decision Making in Watershed Management | CoLab(Scientific Research, 2020-09-03) Mwangi K.K., Musili A.M., Otieno V.A., Endris H.S., Sabiiti G., Hassan M.A., Tsehayu A.T., Guleid A., Atheru Z., Guzha A.C., Meo T.D., Smith N., Makanji D.L., Kerkering J., Doud B., Kanyanya ERecent trends show that in the coming decades, Kenya’s natural resources will continue to face significant pressure due to both anthropogenic and natural stressors, and this will have greater negative impacts on socio-economic development including food security and livelihoods. Understanding the impacts of these stressors is an important step to developing coping and adaptation strategies at every level. The Water Towers of Kenya play a critical role in supplying ecosystems services such as water supply, timber and non-timber forest products and regulating services such as climate and water quantity and quality. To assess the vulnerability of the Water Towers to climate change, the study adopted the IPCC AR4 framework that defines vulnerability as a function of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. The historical trends in rainfall indicate that the three Water Towers show a declining rainfall trend during the March-April-May (MAM) main rainy season, while the October-November-December (OND) short rainy season shows an increase. The temperature patterns are consistent with the domain having a common rising trend with a rate in the range of 0.3°C to 0.5°C per decade. Projection analysis considered three emissions scenarios: low-emission (mitigation) scenario (RCP2.6), a medium-level emission scenario (RCP4.5), and a high-emission (business as usual) scenario (RCP8.5). The results of the high-emission scenario show that the annual temperature over the Water Towers could rise by 3.0°C to 3.5°C by the 2050s (2036-2065) and 3.6°C to 4.8°C by the 2070s (2055-2085 results not presented), relative to the baseline period 1970-2000. The findings indicate that exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity vary in magnitude, as well as spatially across the Water Towers. This is reflected in the spatially variable vulnerability index across the Water Towers. Overall vulnerability will increase in the water towers leading to erosion of the resilience of the exposed ecosystems and the communities that rely on ecosystem services these landscapes provide.