Water Ministry Keen To Curb Water Shortage

The Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation is encouraging counties to use Water Magnetic Flow Meters in the management of water. State Department for Water and Sanitation Principal Secretary Dr. Paul Ronoh says this form of technology is very effective in monitoring the flow of water from the source to the areas of use. According to him, the use of the Magnetic Meter technology would aid in detecting leakages in the pipes since every leakage is a loss of taxpayer money. ‘This week we held a conference to discuss utilisation of technology for effective and efficient delivery of water services to Mwananchi,’ said the PS. ‘We want to manage water from the source to the end, which includes knowing every household’s consumption,’ he added. According to the PS, the government has been investing billions of shillings in the construction of dams and other forms of water infrastructure to increase the water supply in the country, but poor water management has always negated the government’s efforts. ‘Water management is a very critical component in the whole ecosystem of water deployment, and we are saying that going forward, we need to utilise technology in the management of water,’ PS Ronoh stated. Dr. Ronoh stated that the ministry will forgo all its plans and embrace technology whenever a better form of technology that will ease service delivery to Wananchi emerges. ‘When we are designing the water infrastructure, if we realise that there is a technology for a better dam, a better pipe, or even a better system of management, we will embrace it,’ he said as he told Nandi County leaders on ways to solve the water shortage in the county. The PS stated that the use of technology will not stop at water management alone but will also include the construction of sewerage systems. According to him, the ministry will embrace what he termed as compartmental sewerage systems, where containers are used as opposed to the conventional sewerage systems that are constructed. ‘The containerised systems are very effective since if there is a population increase in a certain town, we just add another container instead of constructing a new system,’ stated the PS before adding that the containerised system is neat, fast in deployment, and reduces the cost of land. The PS said that the need to embrace technology was inevitable as the world is currently staring at a water crisis as the International per capita for water (which is the individual consumption of water in a year) was reducing. He stated that the recommended per capita amount of water per person is 1000 cubic meters. ‘Ten years ago, the per capita stood at 647 cubic meters, last year, the per capita stood at 452 cubic meters, this year, it stands at 446; and next year, it will drop to a scary 206 cubic meters,’ said the PS. According to him, numbers showed that the water bodies were drying, and if nothing was done, a worldwide crisis would be inevitable.

Source: Kenya News Agency