Most of the Coast of Kenya has no underground sweet water. The groundwater is brackish, with a saltwater contents that makes it unusable for human consumption. In these case people rely either on Rain Water Catchment, or on Desalinisation of brackish well water.
A four person modern household requires an average of 12 m³ (12,000l) per month (washing machine, flush toilets, showers etc) As a result, to satisfy the demand, there has to be a water storage facility providing water for 10 months ( 120 m³) While the water is free as it is collected during the rain season from roofs and terraces, the storage facility is a major investment and requires space.
The water then needs to be filtered and UV treated and can be used anywhere in the house as it is 100% drinking water. However, there is also the possibility of Desalinisation of brackish water by a process called Reverse Osmosis. Reverse Osmosis removes all salts, bacteria and harmful chemicals from the water. The technical requirements for such system vary with the quality of the water of your well or borehole.
The UNHO classifies water the following way
- Salt content up to 700 ppm is considered drinking water, up to 2000ppm it is potable
- Up to 9,000 ppm its is brackish, up to 15,000 ppm it is saltwater and above it is seawater. (max.35,000ppm)
Most wells in coastal regions are within the brackish to saltwater range. Provided there is electricity connection, Reverse Osmosis (RO) Systems can be used to clean the water to pure drinking water quality.
There are RO systems of all sizes available, from 10 l per hour to several tons (m³) per hour. However, these systems represent an investment and need a minimum peripheral structure(tanks)
As pointed out, the type of system required is directly depending on the quality of the water at hand. To provide drinking water from fully salty water is a lot more cost intensive then from brackish water. Lamu Realty is providing water filtration and RO systems for all your requirements, please ask for a quotation.
