A Mission To Make Water Safe
A Chinese entrepreneur is using a unique business strategy to expand access to safe drinking water in Kenya
Isabel Ngugi is among many children and women in Kenya who must walk every day to fetch water not only for drinking, but also for cooking, cleaning and bathing. Ngugi, 20, wakes up early each morning to help her mother to carry water by pushing a wheelbarrow with a jerry can of untreated water from a tap on the outskirts of the township. But access to water is not the only problem.
Ngugi lives in Kibera, the biggest urban slum nestled in the heart of Kenya’s capital Nairobi where water pipes run through sewer tunnels, which contaminates the water. For a long time, residents have been suffering from the unhygienic water supply.
“Growing up in this community has really been difficult due to unsafe water that we consume from contaminated sources, as a result of which, many people here suffer from cholera, dysentery, typhoid and other water-borne diseases,” Ngugi told ChinAfrica.
Amref Health Africa recently observed that Kibera, like other slums, lacks basic infrastructure including water, sanitation, and access to food and nutrition.
Martin Muchangi, programme director for water, sanitation and hygiene at Amref Health Africa, said, “The reality is that diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid are more common in this area as opposed to other suburbs which are more developed and have social infrastructure.”
As Africa’s population continues to grow and climate change continues to rob the continent of the limited resources, the UN predicts that by 2025, close to 230 million Africans will be facing water scarcity, and up to 460 million will be living in water-stressed areas.
Water purification
A Chinese startup with innovative technology is trying to ameliorate the dreadful water situation with a mission to revolutionise water treatment by using reverse osmosis (RO) for households and offices in the East African nation.
RO membrane filtration uses pressure to push water through filters with extremely small pores to trap a large quantity of water contaminants, including microbes, naturally occurring trace contaminants, industrial contaminants and agriculture contaminants. These contaminants are discarded in “reject water,” the water that is released as waste in the filtration process.
Community health experts say RO can remove 90 percent of the minerals and 99.99 percent of bacteria, purifying the salty and hard water into refreshingly pure drinking water.
“Since clean drinking water is a common problem for most families in Africa, I thought what I could do to help people to solve the problem and ensure everyone has access to clean drinking water,” Zhong Yanxiong, CEO of iClear Wellife Service Ltd., said recently.
Zhong said that providing clean water for Kibera slum and other communities in Kenya has always been his dream. After his interactions with both rural and urban families, he realised that access to safe drinking water was a mirage. To realise his goal, Zhong concluded that only a novel approach could offer a lasting solution, and focused his efforts on exploring cost-effective and locally appropriate technology for treating water, thus minimising the incidence of water-borne ailments.
Unique business model
Zhong’s iClear adopted a unique business model under which it leases water purifiers equipped with RO technology to clients including households, instead of selling the entire equipment, which has a high cost.
It is estimated that 15 percent of the Kenyan population of 53 million rely on untreated water from natural sources such as ponds, shallow wells and rivers, while 41 percent of Kenyans lack access to basic sanitation facilities, according to water.org, a global non-profit organisation working to bring water and sanitation to the world.
With a cost of up to 50,000 Kenyan shillings (about $411) per piece, Zhong noted that leasing out RO purifiers could make water purification more affordable to poorer households, instead of buying filters every half year.
Zhong said that through leasing, clients only pay an annual fee of at least 10,000 shillings ($82.27), and an installation fee of 2,000 shillings ($16.45), which covers door-to-door after-sales service twice a year, including filter replacement, water system pipe disinfection and equipment maintenance.
The Chinese firm also offers flexible payment terms to allow households with humble budgets to pay annually for leasing purifiers, as a means to boost water treatment and reduce the burden of diseases.
iClear has fast-tracked localisation of its workforce and has recruited diverse professionals including plumbers, after-sales specialists, marketing staff and human resource specialists. It also partners with local e-commerce platforms to expand its reach to retail and corporate clients.
“I am finally able to use RO water purification at my home thanks to this initiative to lease purifiers to even domestic consumers like me. The purifiers are easy to operate and my family is now protected from water-borne diseases,” said Raphael Odiambo, a local resident.
Zhong’s RO purifiers are manufactured in China, and have a lifespan of up to five to 10 years when properly maintained. His company aims to link directly with local clients and educate them on the proper use of the equipment. At present, iClear has chosen Kenya for piloting the water purifier leasing programme before venturing into other African countries.
With the Kenyan water treatment and vending industry just beginning to emerge, there is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to enter the market and make easy cash. Entrepreneurs who act quickly are likely to be rewarded and be able to open a network of successful shops.
The leasing of RO purifiers has come in handy for most small and medium-sized enterprises that are cashing in by supplying fresh water to their clients with ease.
Bruce Kamotho in Naivasha Town in Nakuru County is such a small-scale water treatment and vending business owner. He noted that his water vending store has been attracting clients due to the quality of water. “Thanks to the leasing model, we small business owners can get affordable equipment,” Kamotho said.
As Africa’s population continues to grow and climate change continues to rob the continent of the limited resources, the UN predicts that by 2025, close to 230 million Africans will be facing water scarcity, and up to 460 million will be living in water-stressed areas.