More than 13 million people in Kenya and the greater horn of Africa region are at serious risk of starvation says the World Food Programme (WFP).
In recent years Kenya has received poor rainfall. Three rainy seasons have brought below average amounts of rainfall bringing us to the current situation. The March to May long rains are also forecasted to be lower than average.
The lower rains have already resulted in lowered livestock population and crop coverage.
“Available field assessments and key informant estimates suggest household herd sizes are currently 30-50 percent below baseline levels, implying that most pastoral households are entering the January to March 2022 dry season with fewer resources than they had before the peak of the 2016/2017 drought”
Rainfall in previous seasons ended prematurely meaning yields were reduced by 40-80%.
The National Drought Management Authority, in its monthly report, compared the national crop coverage between December 2020 and December 2021. Arid and Semiarid areas of the country are already in drought.
Crop coverage compared between Dec 2020 and December 2021.
Many areas in the country are also at risk of reduced crop and livestock production.
WFP is asking for $ 37 Billion to make the communities to be affected by the drought more resilient and ready for the drought. If not met this could spell a drought much worse than that experienced in 2007.
Our kitchen drains handle a lot of the waste from when we cook. That being the case, it is only a matter of time before it gets clogged. Because of the fats, oils, fruit peels, vegetable scraps etc. that end up in the drain a hard to reach and maybe even harder to clear clog may form.
Clear your clog.
Here are a few solutions to try before you need to call your plumber.
Use a plunger.
The first and possibly the simplest is to use a plunger. Almost every household has one of these. By simply creating pressure in your system it may be enough to push out the clog.
Baking soda and vinegar.
Start by pouring some hot water down your drain. Followed by a cup of baking soda then a cup of a half and half mixture of water and vinegar. The reaction between the two will cause bubbling which will loosen up the clog. Leave for up to 10 minutes before flushing with more hot water.
Removing and cleaning the sink trap.
If you’re willing to get a little dirtier, you can unscrew the trap under your sink and clean it out. If the clog is in the trap or near the start of the drainage system, this will be an effective way to clear it.
Use a drain cleaner.
You can use a drain cleaner or a digester, usually intended for pit latrines. Introduce the cleaner into the system, depending on the instructions it may be a few hours or an overnight process.
Practically every meal you prepare at home will use cooling oil, grease or cooking fat. For such a coming ingredient it’s a mystery how we aren’t more prepared and knowledgeable as to how to get rid of it once we’re done cooking.
Don’t pour fats, oil or grease down the drain.
Cooking fat and grease might go down the drain as liquids but as soon as they cool down, they turn to solids. As other food particles go down the drainage system they get trapped. They accumulate to the point where it restricts flow down the drain or even complete blockage of pipes.
A common solution is to pour hot water down the drain, but this is only a temporary solution. It also only moves the issue down the drainage system. Further down the system the oils and fats cool and solidify causing problems for the local wastewater treatment systems or your own system.
Pouring dish soap is the same story. It only temporarily breaks down oils and fats. Further down the drain it collects bringing the same problems.
How to get rid of your used cooking oil.
First of all, make sure the oil from your sufurias, pans etc. does not go down the drain as they are in the sink. Let the oil cool after cooking and wipe down your dishes before washing them.
A strainer can help prevent oil and food particles from going down the drain.
A green building according to World Green Building Council
There are a number of features which can make a building ‘green’. These include:
Efficient use of energy, water and other resources
Use of renewable energy, such as solar energy
Pollution and waste reduction measures, and the enabling of re-use and recycling
Good indoor environmental air quality
Use of materials that are non-toxic, ethical and sustainable
Consideration of the environment in design, construction and operation
Consideration of the quality of life of occupants in design, construction and operation
A design that enables adaptation to a changing environment
Water
Restaurants and hotels are known to consume large amounts of water. On the higher end, some hotels might consume up to 94,600 liters per day. Thought on average most restaurants consume between 11,300 liters and 26,500 liters per day, with quick serve restaurants usage is much less.
There are many ways to make a hotel or restaurant more efficient:
Exploring ways to improve drinking and waste water efficiency and management, harvesting water for safe indoor use in innovative ways, and generally minimizing water use in buildings.
Considering the impact of buildings and their surroundings on storm water and drainage infrastructure, ensuring these are not put under undue stress or prevented from doing their job.
The national government has allocated 1.3 billion shillings to develop the water infrastructure in Mombasa county specifically Kongowea, Maweni, VOK and Kisumu Ndogo. Kwale county will also benefit from the project. The ministry of water, sanitation and irrigation will install water distribution pipes from Tiwi boreholes, Marere and Mzima pipelines.
In addition, the Ministry has developed a National Water Policy, which has received Cabinet approval. The key policy direction includes progressive realization of universal access to water, management, conservation and protection of water resources; rehabilitation of riparian and catchment areas in order to eliminate pollution of water bodies.
Mombasa port.
As well as the 10,000 households that will get connected Dongo Kundu SEZ industrial and commercial hub will also get piped water. It is designed to be a multi-sectoral zone comprises of Industrial Parks, Free Trade Zones/Free Port, Dongo Kundu Port, Tourism Zone (MICE), Business Service Parks and Commercial and Residential Zone.
The project started in 2019 and is more than 80% completed.
The region experienced frequent water shortages as the current water system could barely supply half the water required by the entire region.
If you’ve ever had bottled water and read the label, you’re sure to have come across the phrase reverse osmosis. Many of us only know that it means the water is clean. What we want to know is. What is reverse osmosis? How does it ensure our water is fit to drink? How our water dispenser can easily get purified water in our homes?
Good old osmosis
To better understand reverse osmosis let’s begin with regular osmosis. Osmosis refers to the movement of solutes, in our case water, across a membrane in response to a difference in concentration across the two sides of the membranes. In the past fruit and meat were preserved thanks to osmosis. Fruit preservation uses osmosis to draw out water to dehydrate it. Meat, on the other hand, draws salt in. As a result, it stops any bacterial growth hence preserving the meat from going bad.
Reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis still makes use of the membrane but unlike regular osmosis ,the solvent moves from high solute concentration to a low solute concentration. A pressure applied on the side of the membrane with a higher solute (unpurified water) concentration forces the solvent to move through the membrane to where it is less concentrated (purified water). The solvent being water and the solutes dissolved minerals, pathogens, suspended material etc.
By that definition you can see how reverse osmosis can be a great tool to get clean drinkable water. Most interaction with water purified to this standard is mostly with bottled water. That doesn’t have to be the case.
The water dispenser to get you clean drinking water.
Top mounted water dispensers are the most common. The ones with a huge bottle of water on top that you have to get refilled at a shop. The CESP Africa bottle less water dispenser brings the same standard of clean water to the home.
CESP Africa offers home and office-based solutions with integrated reverse osmosis solutions that connects to your existing water system and filters your tap water to give you clean drinkable water. These home and office solutions are;
A standalone water dispenser system.
CESP Africa bottle less water dispenser.
A familiar form factor, similar to a regular dispenser without the large bottle of water on top. The dispenser has a couple of features; Firstly, a LED display denoting the temperature of the hot and cold water for you to get the exact temperature of water you want. Secondly, to protect any children, the dispenser has a safety knob on the hot water tap. Thirdly an energy saving settings to help conserve energy and save on your power bill when not in use.
A table top filtration and water dispenser system.
Portable tabletop filtration and water dispenser system.
A compact and portable filtration system to get you clean drinking water.
An under-sink water purifier system.
Under sink water filtration system
A more discrete solution. The under-sink system attaches easily below your sink to give a dedicated faucet for purified drinking water.
To sum it all up
All three filtration systems use reverse osmosis to purify the water. Water is passes through a 0.0001 micron membrane. All of this to completely remove water contaminants such as heavy metals, excess salt, bacteria and viruses.
Other filtration systems commonly used are nanofiltration, ultrafiltration and microfiltration. As well as reverse osmosis these other filtration methods can be used to provide the purest drinking water . These dispensers ensure water safety in your home or office without the hustle of replacing large cumbersome water bottles.
Britam has made history by receiving the Emporis Skyscraper Award and emerging as the 10th outstanding skyscrapers in the world.
The winners of the Emporis Skyscraper Award – which is the world’s most renowned prize for high-rise architecture- are chosen by a jury of architectural experts from all over the world, while the nominated buildings are judged based on their achievements in functions and aesthetics.
Britam Tower which was designed by GAPP Architects and Triad Architects stands 656 ft. and 32 floors above the ground. The magnificent tower made its appearance on the list for its prismatic shape, fascinating facades and its functional design. Its form offers a variety of shapes and sizes to the floors with eye-catching views of the city.
“Britam Tower exceptionally relates with its environment by respecting the science of sustainability and energy efficiency. Its innovative engineering and well-considered geometry puts it at the world’s spheres of marvellously crafted skyscrapers,” said the team at CCE News.
CESP is proud of the work that we did and continue to do with Britam Towers. Britam contracted CESP Africa for the provision of state-of-the-art water treatment systems for purification of all their water. The water used to clean the glass is passed through a Reverse Osmosis System that purifies at a rate of 0.3 liters per second. The purification process removes any sediments and chemicals in the water that may cause damage to the glass of the building’s façade during cleaning.
A second Reverse Osmosis System operating at a rate of 0.4 liters per second was installed together with an ultra-violet system to purify all the water from the borehole before it is distributed throughout the building’s consumption points. This means that water flowing through each and every tap at the Britam Tower is safe for drinking!
CESP Africa also installed a 50 cubic meter per day waste water system that treats all the grey-water that is produced throughout the entire building before release into the sewer line. This ensures that hazardous waste water is in no way released to the environment from the Towers.
It is a wonderful and progressive thing to see architects in Kenya putting their best foot forward and not only designing remarkable buildings but environmentally sustainable ones. Once more, we say a big Congratulations to Britam Towers!!
We are officially done with half of the 2019 year! The rains are finally here, our crops in the farm are growing and we are collectively thankful and grateful for all this. However, not all has been well. In the last couple of months, we have unfortunately seen some companies closed down by NEMA for releasing their waste directly into our river sources contaminating them. This together with other kinds of pollution of our water sources has impeded our country’s development in very many ways as discussed in our end-of-June newsletter issue.
In this newsletter issue, we focus on the impact water pollution is having on our environment and the steps we can take to remedy this in sustainable ways. Also of interest in this issue is CESP’s project feature on Unilever’s wastewater treatment system. This is a catching article especially for the manufacturing companies in Kenya wondering how they can treat their waste in a bid to comply with NEMA’S set standards.
As always we look forward to your feedback. Happy reading!
Kenya has experienced a severe dry season between October 2018-April 2019, resulting in the loss of life due to starvation; this is a clear indication of the changing weather patterns directly corresponding to increased degradation of our water towers and pollution of water bodies countrywide.
These are some of the topics looked into in this issue of the Water Review as well as a discussion on water scarcity and its effects from a global perspective to a local one.
Find eye-opening recommendations and lessons learned from the recent water crisis experienced in Cape town applicable on a national, county and individual level outlined in this issue.
As always wishing you a happy and enlightening read that will challenge you to make a positive change towards conservation of our water resources.
Kindly leave your comments on our website: https://www.cespafrica.com/index.php/contact-us/ or visit our Facebook page to let us know what you think of our newsletters. Your feedback is highly appreciated.
Leave no one Behind is the 2019 World Water Day theme and it is especially crucial in the African continent. The rights to clean drinking water must be reviewed from a holistic point of view, it’s not just treating the available fresh water for access, it’s about ensuring longevity of this clean water by maintaining what is already available hence the term Water is Water – Not Waste.
Some of the other topics discussed in this issue of our newsletter include:
The Hamburg Hesser Wastewater Plant – A case study of Germany’s Wastewater Treatment System
Wastewater or Waste Water? – A discussion on new and upcoming ways of treating Wastewater
We hope that you have an enlightening read and kindly leave your comments on our Facebook page to let us know what you think of our newsletters. Your feedback would be highly appreciated.
