Donald Wafula is a resident in Kiambiu and a father to seven children. He moved from his rural home to Kiambiu in 2010 and has since been working as a casual labourer, subsequently enrolling as a Community Health Volunteer. Previously, he was buying water at a cost of Kshs 5.00 per 20 litre jerrican and needed a minimum of 10 jerricans per day. Donald had this to say:

“I have seven children, mostly daughters and they use water like ducks causing conflicts between me and my family members because I felt water was very expensive and they were misusing it”.

As a result of this, Donald was very particular on how water was used. He continues to say:

“I used to use a minimum of Kshs 50.00 and a maximum of Kshs 100.00 per day which was too expensive for me”.

With funding from The One Foundation, our implementation partner worked with Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company to install 30 Prepaid Dispensers (PPDs) that aimed at reducing the cost of water and reducing the Non-revenue Water within Kiambiu.

The installation of the PPDs has been a game changer in access to improved water services. The prices of water drastically came down from an initial cost of Kshs 5.00 – 10.00 to Kshs 0.50 per 20 litre jerrican. The intervention has contributed to the optimization of the already existing network, giving the tenants the power and control of access to water services.

The PPDs now allow Donald twenty-four-hour access to improved water services at a very affordable price of Ksh 0.50 and he is making substantial savings:

“I have opened a home bank where I save the extra money that I used to spend on water”.

Donald also notes that the water-related conflicts in his household and the community at large have reduced. Furthermore, water wastage and spillage has reduced because the PPDs dispense 20 litres and automatically shut when the jerricans are full.Photo credits: WSUP