Kenya: UV Rays to the Rescue

Tag : Compound Mat

Her family's health also relies on four water bottles lying on theroof of her makeshift stall. The water is undergoing purificationusing the sun's rays through a technique known as solar waterdisinfection process (Sodis).
It is an open secret that tap water in the slum is contaminatedwith sewage. The water, which Ms Mohamed usually buys from vendorsor community-based organisations in the slum, gets infected in thepipes on its way to the reservoirs. In Kibera, sewage and waterpipes run side by side through the only open spaces available inthe crowded slums. Here water pipes, sewage and garbage alsocompete for space with the few pit latrines available.
By late afternoon when Sophia is ready to retreat to her shack, thewater in the four bottles too, after hours under the sun, is safefor drinking.
This water purification process involves simply exposing the liquidto the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays. In just hours, the UV radiationfrom the sun's rays will have killed the micro-organisms in thewater.
BEFORE ADOPTING THE SIMple household water purification technology,Sophia and her family suffered from various water-borne ailments."My children and grandchildren used to vomit and suffer fromfrequent bouts of diarrhoea," she said. "I was always atthe hospital because I never used to boil the drinking water."
But that was more than three years ago.
According to Joshua Otieno, programme officer in charge of Sodis atthe Kenya Water For Health Organisation (Kwaho), one only needs toput contaminated water in a transparent plastic bottle and exposeit to the sun's rays for six hours or more. The UV rays kill allmicro-organisms in the water. On a cloudy day, the water should beleft outside for longer, said Otieno.
Started in Kibera by Kwaho in 2004 after a successful pilot projectin 2001, the use of Sodis has spread among the slum dwellers.
It is a straightforward water treatment process which, according toOtieno, involves three simple steps: cleaning the bottle, fillingthe bottle with water and exposing the bottled water to the sun forsix or more hours.
Kwaho has recruited promoters who sell new two-litre water bottlesat a subsidised price of Ksh10 to the slum residents. Theorganisation also collects empty water bottles from local eateriesand big hotels in the city, which they then pass on to the peoplein the slums to use in the water-prurification process.
Otieno, however, cautions that the technique only works duringbright sunny days. If there is more than 50 per cent cloud cover,the water should be exposed to the sun's rays for at least twodays. The drawbacks are that Sodis cannot be used during rainy daysand only a small amount of water at a time - below three litres -can be purified this way, he says.
At the Stara Primary School and Rescue Centre, a few metres fromMohamed's shack, pupils pick their purified bottled water from theironsheet rack in the middle of the school compound and replacethem with new ones filled with untreated water to be pickedtomorrow.
The pupils use two sets of bottles to maintain an adequate supplyof safe drinking water to the school of more than 550 children saysteacher Mary Muthini.
Muthini - who heads the Sodis programme in the school - founded theschool in 1999 as a feeding programme for orphans and extremelypoor kids in Kibera. Since adopting Sodis, Muthini says cases ofwaterborne diseases among the pupils are fewer.
So far, it is estimated that 65,000 households in the Kibera andMukuru slums in Nairobi have adopted the simple technology, saysOtieno.
Mother of one Habiba Ismail, 25, has more than 15 bottles she usesfor the water purification. On any given day, she says she putsbetween five and seven bottles on her roof, to expose the water tothe sun's rays.
SHE SAID THE TECHNOLOGY IS not only simple but affordable comparedwith boiling.