More than six hundred schools in Kisumu County have received free water tanks and water treatment services from the Impact Water Organization to improve hygiene.
Impact Water Organization distributed 2,952 units of 100 litres of water tanks to the primary and secondary schools in all eight sub-counties in Lakeside County.
The initiative targeting both public and private learning institutions across the county, seeks to address the problem of water-borne diseases by providing clean and safe drinking water to ensure students concentrate on their studies.
Lucy Owiti, an official from Impact Water, pointed out that many school-going children miss learning programs due to constant illness occasioned by a lack of safe drinking water.
Speaking during the water tank distribution exercise in Kisumu East, Owiti stated that the organisation tests the institutions that benefit from the donation to ascertain if they deserve the facilities.
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“The safe drinking water solutions that we offer comprise water purification methods like Aqua Tabs, Ultraflo, and the inlet systems,” she explained.
Further, she noted that some schools had qualified for the Aqua Tabs, which involve putting a single chlorine tablet in a 100 litres tank recommended for schools without piped water.
“When a school qualifies to benefit from the Aqua Tabs program, it means that they don’t have tapped water but mostly use the river, well, or rainwater, in which the flow system cannot be connected to the gutter,” she said.
For institutions with piped water connections sourced from either water companies, rivers, or rainwater, the organisation installs the inlet system.
Moreover, she noted that some schools had piped water connections from the water services companies, qualifying them for the inlet system installed on the meter to treat the in-flowing water.
She added that the number of safe water tanks depends on the school’s population, with a tank estimated to cover 100 students. Some schools got eight, six, five, and three water tanks, depending on the number of learners.
Owiti reveals that schools always create awareness among the students and teachers about safe drinking water and hand washing measures.
The organisation has so far managed to reach over 32,000 schools in Kenya since its inception in 2013.
