From Sewerage to Sanitation: The Conundrum of Water Utilities in Kenya
Dr. George Wainaina
Linking WASH professionals to resources and knowledge daily| Knowledge Broker | Eawag-Sandec
Water utilities/companies in Kenya are transitioning from sewerage to sanitation by law. In the last panel discussion of the #KenyaSan2024 conference organized by Water and Sanitation Providers Association , I was tasked to suggest how these utilities can close existing capacity gaps and what Sandec-Eawag offers.
Here is the 6-point blueprint that I suggested to close the capacity gap:
1. Acknowledge that the capacity gaps at the organizational and individual levels exist and actively discuss solutions
2. Pinpoint the general missing capacities relevant to non-sewered sanitation where the gap is wide. This is best done at national government level to guide counties and utilities.
3. Assess capacity gaps for non-sewered sanitation at utility level.
4. Develop capacity of existing staff utility level
5. Employ new staff with relevant competencies as needed e.g data management, AI modeling, Internet of things
6. productively mentor future staff currently at universities and colleges so that they are job-ready and embrace new ideas they might have.
Sandec-Eawag can offer the following in this regard:
In general:
The Compendium for Sanitation Technologies outlines different onsite technologies,
The BSF manual gives a step-by-step manual for black soldier fly biowaste processing
The FSM book is a free book that explores fecal sludge management along the whole sanitation chain
Sanichoice, a tool for sanitation technology selection
These can be accessed on this link.
Planning and design of sanitation systems and technologies - Link
Introduction to Faecal Sludge Management?- Link
Specially for Kenya:
PREF4WASH - Kenya a collaboration that aligns practice, reasearch and funding to provide context relevant solutions at the same time developing and aligning capacity of stakeholders in water and sanitation activities. If interested in joining this, please get in touch.
MSc Tropical public health engineering Water Research Commission of ????
8 个月George on the nail . U cannot put more and more wastewater engineers to deal with sanitation. We need to train more sanitation engineers to deal with sanitation. This should be the new jorm
Consultant | Water & Sanitation | Market Systems | Sustainability | Program Management|Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering|Entrepreneurship
8 个月It's crucial to look beyond just the term "Sanitation." While efforts predominantly focus on emptying and containment, which remain underserved areas, it's equally important to extend our energy towards end-source recovery, particularly in onsite sanitation management. This area holds significant potential.
Assistant professor
8 个月Very excellent issues are raised by Dr. George W. Those issues are the responsibility of Policymakers, organizations, and individuals. The field demands a high demand for multisectoral collaboration.
Head of Programme @ Grdr | Solid Waste management Expert/Water management/sustainable House|GIS-Cartography|Climate change adaptation| 10k Ambassador|
8 个月Thanks for sharing Dr. George Wainaina, it's fascinating, I would like to ask : How can we effectively identify and acknowledge capacity gaps at both the organizational and individual levels?What strategies can we employ to foster open discussions about these capacity gaps and their potential solutions?
?? Humanitarian & Development Leader | ??? WASH, DRR & Infrastructure Expert | ?? Fundraising & Strategy Development Specialist | ?? Partnership Builder | PhD in Disaster Management I Climate and Water Security
8 个月Dr. George Wainaina - BTW, do you think it is just capacity or corruption that is the driver of non-performance of Kenyan utilities? Having interacted with a number of utilities in 2016/17, I realised we have very qualified Kenyans running the utilities, lakini kitu kidogo or kubwa is messing up the companies.