TURKANA COUNTY: Lodwar residents will benefit from a cheaper and more reliable water supply, thanks to newly-created solar-powered boreholes.

The Sh16 million project is a partnership between Lodwar Water Services Company (Lowasco), Davis and Shirtliff and the Japanese aid agency (Jica), and will see the installation of solar hybrid borehole pumping systems in three out of seven borehole fields in Lodwar.

The project is expected to lower the cost of water supply by 33 per cent and improve reliability.

The exorbitant cost of electricity has kept the cost of supplying water in the area high, with Lowasco spending Sh45 to supply each cubic metre of water while charging clients Sh33 per cubic metre, thus incurring a loss of Sh12 per cubic metre supplied.

The boreholes will now pump water using solar energy by day and switch over to mains power by night, when the demand for electricity from the grid is at its lowest.

 RELIABILITY

Until now, water from the boreholes has been pumped solely with electricity, which was both unreliable and costly.

The solar hybrid borehole pumping system will reduce water supply costs to Sh30 per cubic metre.

“Supplying water to Lodwar had been costly due to the electricity used in pumping water from the boreholes. We wanted to keep the tariffs low and as such it was imperative that we found solutions to lower our costs to under Sh33 per cubic metre to at least break even,” said John Esekon, Lowasco MD.

Lodwar town receives an average of 9.6 hours of sunshine a day, according to the Kenya Meteorological Department.

Davis and Shirtliff installed 94 solar panels on one borehole and 144 solar panels on each of the other two and added hybrid generators, so that each borehole supplies between 125 and 250 cubic metres of water a day.

 FLOW OF WATER

The installations feature a remote monitoring mechanism that measures the flow of water, current consumption and radiation.

Turkana County has been the focus of concerted investment due to the recent oil exploration in the county. Lodwar, the business hub of the region, has seen sizeable growth in the hospitality and trade sectors, as a spillover effect, increasing the need for a reliable and affordable water supply to meet the demands by businesses.

—homeandaway@standardmedia.co.ke