OUR KIBERA COALITION
Under the direction of the Governor of Nairobi, in cooperation with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the Kenya Water Services Regulatory Board [WASREB], the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, the Athi Water Services Board, the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, the National Environment Management Authority, the Kenya Bureau of Standards, and the Kenya Water Institute, we are forming a coalition of Kibera organizations to develop the formation, design, construction and operation of the Kibera Water Services District.
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After a century of little change. technologies of water and sewage treatment, piping and distribution system engineering, and real-time information systems are changing rapidly. The sewage treatment center now operating in Kibera at the Kibera Town Centre is one of the most efficient in the world, but is a cleverly designed assembly of 19th century technologies: pipes, pumps, valves, anaerobic and aerobic tanks, slow and fast sand filters, UV and chlorine disinfectants, and a semi-automated control system.
What's changed? Global water scarcity has accelerated research and development world-wide, with new attention to fundamental issues of water conservation and reuse; developent of new distributed systems of sources, treatment, and reuse; new energy management enabled by distributed information systems; new metering systems; new water quality sensors; new surveying, spatial analysis and topographical tools for system design; and for customers, new digital payment systems enabling new transparency in operations and finance.
We plan to bring the world's expertise to bear on this design. What we design for Kibera could be an example for cities everywhere.
Kibera Community Organizations
Maji Bora; Carolina for Kibera; Shining Hope for Communities; Kibera Kounkuey Design Initiative; Map Kibera; Human Needs Project Kibera Town Centre; Olympic Primary School; Olympic High School; Pamoja Trust; TunaPanda; Nubian Council;
Kenya Organizations
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IBM Research Africa; University of Nairobi; KEBS; Kenya Water Institute; Procter and Gamble, Kenya; Coca Cola, Kenya; Dow Chemical, Kenya.
International Organizations
University of California, Berkeley; Johns Hopkins University; Harvard; MIT; Portuguese National Civil Engineering Institute;
Global Engineering Standards for Water Distribution Systems
These are the sources of best global engineering standards we utilize in developing a design. As the world faces extreme water shortages, the Kibera system should utilize technologies for water efficiency, water reuse, water treatment and testing.
Sources of training and organizational standards
External expertise