Water and Sanitation Financing

The development phase of the collaborative urban water and sanitation initiative in Gatwekera, Kibera began in May 2008.  This phase (June- December 2008) targets around 5,000 community members and involves the following:

• Improving the existing water supply network and constructing 6 water chambers with water kiosks to provide safe drinking water;
• Designing and constructing 5 sanitation blocks to cater for up to 3000 users;
• Designing and constructing approximately 35 plot-based toilets (individual toilet cubicles attached to identified households) to cater for an additional 600 users;
• Trialing safe effluent disposal for sanitation blocks and toilets; and
• Improving drainage in the pilot area.

The lessons learnt from the development stage will be used to design a scaled up implementation phase.

The plan is split into 5 sections:

Time costs
These are for project development work by the 4 main partners (Halcrow, Umande Trust, Care and Nairobi Water Co.) and are broken down into the following sub-sections: Read more >>>

Supplementary inputs by third parties

Two areas of capacity building activities are envisaged – for the community and the local services provider.

It is envisaged that these activities will be undertaken by third parties such as WSP and any others that are identified for capacity building or financial modelling etc. It is envisaged that WSP would be able to undertake their activities as part of a non-chargeable contribution to the project and be included in the MoU. Therefore the cost of the WSP activities is shown as being deducted from the total cost.

Financial modelling for this project is not thought to be practical as the existing situation is difficult to model.

Pilot project
The pilot project will start at the same time as the development phase. Preparation during the first weeks will include finalising designs and clearing sites.

Bio-centres
Communal sanitation blocks, based on the bio-centre concept, will be constructed to serve up to 3000 people.  Effluent disposal methods will be trialled.

Water kiosks and chambers
Water meter chambers will be constructed, following the pattern already established in the community. It is envisaged that there will be a water kiosk adjacent to every meter chamber to help improve the security of water supply. The Athi Water Services Board will supply some of the materials, including tanks.

Drainage
Drainage will be improved in the vicinity of water kiosks to allow water to flow away from homes.

On-plot toilets
Eco-san latrines will be constructed to serve housing clusters and provide sanitation to around 600 users.

The costs consist of materials, labour and supervision. It is envisaged that the community will provide workers as part of the community contribution to the project. Specialist artisans will be employed for critical elements such as construction of the bio-digester and gas piping.