Kenyan rural community enjoys safe drinking water made by SolarRO 1500 desalination system
Last January, Business Finland reported that a transformative SolarRO unit was on the way to Kenya in a shipping container. The solar-powered water purification unit was installed on time in Tseikuru location, a rural area in Kenya. The system produces safe drinking water for 700 villagers, 400 of whom are school children.
Forty percent of the Kenyan population has a lack of safe drinking water. For water resources, they use contaminated water from boreholes or stagnant water from ponds. Mainly, the problem exists in the rural areas and the slums of big cities.
SolarRO system is based on the reverse osmosis method, and it produces drinking water from any water resource without chemicals.
“Worldwide our technology is unique because it can use the solar energy directly without expensive batteries”, CEO Antti Pohjola says.
WATER TECHNOLOGY IS A NEW THING FOR KENYAN VILLAGERS
Technical specialist Toni Korttila was involved in the installation project in Tseikuru village, where the problem is salinated groundwater.
Despite careful planning, Korttila faced many challenges on the site.
“Installation was implemented as planned, but the circumstances surprised me. For example, the road to the destination was terrible because of the rainy season. I had to bring all my tools with me because such tools were not available in the local hardware stores”, Korttila describes.
Korttila thinks that the expertise of local partners is vital in these kinds of circumstances: “Our partner, Epicenter Africa, drilled the borehole and installed the solar panels, pipes, and tanks very professionally.”
The villagers welcomed the unit with great gratitude; however, they didn’t have previous experience of water purification, and it took time to build up their confidence.
In the beginning, the villagers got drinking water free of charge, but later, they bought it from the water kiosk. The village and regional government will determine the price of the water.
FUNDING INSTRUMENTS ARE CRUCIAL IN EMERGING MARKETS
The Tseikuru project was implemented with World Vision. After good experiences, the company continues to enter the markets in Kenya and its neighboring country, Tanzania.
“There are large markets for water technology in Kenya, but the consumer price needs to be cheap enough so that low-income families can afford to buy it. Otherwise, the wanted development impacts will not be realized”, Pohjola says.
“Even if we can bring down the price of the water as low as a dollar per cubic meter, the investment is huge for Kenyans. Therefore, developing financial instruments is important to get into the markets.”
The company has got support from the BEAM program, which is a joint initiative of Business Finland and The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, to develop a service concept where drinking water is produced locally and cost-effectively and sold to consumers at an affordable price.
“BEAM funding aims to promote new competitive businesses, new jobs, and welfare in developing countries as well as in Finland”, program manager Christopher Palmberg emphasizes.
Text: Tanja Harjuniemi