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By PETER ORENGO
The bottled water craze is catching up fast among urbanites as the belief that water bought from shops and supermarkets are safer than tap water spreads.
Trust in the office water dispenser and bottled water comes from the apprehension of suffering from waterborne ailments such as typhoid, cholera, amoeba and dysentery.
But the fad has left the Government pondering about how to protect the environment from millions of disposed plastic bottles.
Experts say Kenyans pay 10 times for the kind of water they could get from taps in their homes with proper treatment.
This reality spurred an entrepreneur to start a project that installs a water purifier on taps in the home.
Collaboration Engineering Solutions and Products (CESP) is providing alternative water purification in houses by connecting a hyper filter at the nob of taps.
CESP CEO Christopher Gathini demonstrates how to operate the water purifier. [Photo: Govedi Asutsa]
Also known as Reverse osmosis, CESP Kenya CEO and founder Christopher Gathini, says the filtration system is in use in the developed world. "Reverse osmosis uses a semi-permeable membrane that allows the fluid that is being purified to pass through it, while rejecting the contaminants," said Gathini.The process requires a driving force to push the fluid through the membrane, and the most common force is pressure from a pump. The higher the pressure, the larger the driving forces. As the concentration of the fluid being rejected increases, the driving force required to continue concentrating the fluid grows.
It can allow the removal of particles as small as dissolved individual ions from a solution, and is commonly used to purify water and remove ions and dissolved organic molecules. The water that comes at the end of the tap is believed to meet the most demanding specifications in place.
Gathini says new homeowners in Nairobi and Mombasa are warming up to the system because it is practical and the raw materials are easily available. "Reverse osmosis has been in use in the US for years while South Africa adopted it recently. In Kenya, new home owners now request the installation of the system before they occupy the new houses," said Gathini.
Disposal
He says lack of evidence that demonstrate bottled water is safe to drink frees vendors to produce all sorts of statements about the advantages their merchandise gives.
Lack of standards is causing a shift from bottled water dispensers to the purifier.
It is believed that tonnes of bottled water is distributed each year. Transporting this water involves burning massive quantities of fossil fuels to reach consumers via lorries, trains and boats. "The option to use the water we are already paying for is one of many reasons for the switch over, besides health and safety issues. Others are how to store the empty and full bottles, and the hassle of lifting up to 18 litres of water onto the dispenser," said Innocent Wanyonyi, a marine scientist at the Coast.
And once bottled water has been consumed, the disposal of the plastic bottles is a major issue as they take 1,000 years to biodegrade. These bottles are commonly produced from polyethylene terephthalate, which is derived from crude oil.
Reverse osmosis ensures enormous cut-down of expenditure on buying packaged mineral water. Quality of your drinking water is also assured.
"The system contributes immensely towards reduction of the carbon foot print since hauling of heavy water jars over long distance is reduced," said Gathini.
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