clean water - The African Mirror

Nov

2023

Water startup initiates safe water access for Lake Victoria residents

WHEN Odak Onyango and Vallery Adhiambo were growing up along the shores of Lake Victory in western Kenya, clean water was abundant and not something people were concerned about. “We grew up at a time when this water was not a problem in terms of quality. There were not so many agricultural activities and microplastics,” said Onyango, a local entrepreneur who has turned the growing problem of contaminated water into an opportunity - thanks to a unique and locally applicable solution. Onyango has a master's degree in community arts and also studied entrepreneurship at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. He…

May

2023

By SALAM TITINCHI

From waste to clean water: tiny carbon particles can do the job

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

MANY futuristic novels and films have explored what the world might look like without water. But water scarcity isn’t a problem for the far-off future: it’s already here. In its 2021 report, UN-Water outlined the scale of the crisis: 2.3 billion people live in water-stressed countries and 733 million of those people are in “high and critically water-stressed countries”. In 2018 Cape Town, where I live and conduct my research, residents found themselves staring down “day zero”, when household water supplies would run dry. Good rains spared the South African city, but now other parts of the country face similarly…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Turning waste to gold: Transforming wastewater and solid waste into sustainable solutions

ENVIRONMENT

BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY TO Jean James, Africa's fast-growing and rapidly urbanising population and the associated problems of managing wastewater and solid waste are not just challenges but also represent a unique opportunity. "They create various avenues for the circular economy… an ideal business environment, reduce cases of public health and promote clean water consumption," said James, a Nairobi-based circular economy expert, in an interview with bird story agency. James said the massive investment into waste infrastructure was an opportunity for governments to partner with the private sector to facilitate the financing of what will need to be an…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

River of bacteria: a South African study pinpoints what’s polluting the water

ENVIRONMENT

IN 2010, the United Nations recognised access to clean water and sanitation as a fundamental human right. However, over 4.1 billion people around the world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, still do not have access to this human right. AKEBE LUTHER KING ABIA, Research Scientist, University of KwaZulu-Natal Clean and safe water is necessary for basic life functions — for drinking, for cooking, for bathing, and more. When it is not available, people resort to alternative sources, which are often polluted with pathogenic bacteria arising from human waste. Using such water exposes people to waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea.…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenyan villagers nurture local springs as founts of clean water

ENVIRONMENT

WESLEY LANGAT MONICA Kirui, 30, a mother of five from Kipsegon, remembers queueing for hours as she waited to fetch water from the local springs, the only source of fresh drinking water in her village in the southern part of Kenya's Rift Valley. One of the few springs in the area that has water year round, Kipsegon attracts people from all over. In the past, some would wait overnight to get their water, often contaminated by so many people dipping containers into the springs, Kirui said. But that has not been a problem since April, when a concrete barrier was built…