Water Resources

Water Provision

After coming into Law of the Water Act 2002, Athi Water Services Board (AWSB), a parastatal in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation which licensed nine (9) Water Service Providers (WSPs) Companies namely: Limuru Water and Sewerage Company, Kikuyu Water and Sewerage Company, Kiambu Water and Sewerage Company, Karuri Water and Sewerage Company, Githunguri Water and Sewerage Company, Ruiru- Juja Water and Sewerage Company Limited, Gatundu South Water and Sanitation Company, Karimenu Water and Sanitation Company and Thika Water and Sewerage Company Limited. The Water Companies mainly cover the areas which had Water Schemes operated by Government or Municipalities and they had mainly concentrated in extending and improving water and sanitation services in their areas of operation.

Therefore areas outside the jurisdiction of these Companies either have no water infrastructure or are served by community water projects. Most of these water projects are either not operational or are poorly managed and thus limiting their water coverage. To mitigate this issue, there is a proposal to extend the service area of each WSP so as to ensure there is no area left out. Once any new project is constructed, it will be handed over to respective WSPs for operation and maintenance. The well managed Community Water Projects will sign third party agreements with respective water companies, to enable the WSPs monitor their service delivery.

Water Sources

About 90 percent of the county’s water resources comprise of both surface and ground water resource potential. Domestic water supply has recorded a noticeable growth over the last 5 years; 35 percent of the population have access to potable water.

Garbage Collection and Disposal

Garbage disposal around the urban centres within the county of Kiambu cover a small percentage of waste/garbage collection as only 2.6 percent of the total population has facilities for waste disposal, about 0.7 percent of the total population uses private firms, 29.1 percent use garbage pits, 29.6 percent use farm gardens, 12.1 use public garbage heap and 25.9 percent opt to burn the waste/ garbage. This has a negative effect on the environment and hence proper mechanisms for waste disposal need to be put in place to ensure the county remains clean.

There is a proposal to construct a county landfill which will handle all solid waste from sub-counties which should be accompanied by modern incinerators to burn hazardous waste as well as waste that cannot be decomposed. With this kind of think the County can use solid waste to generate revenue through generation of electricity, biogas, compost manure etc. The County will formulate policies to increase efficient of collection of solid waste to incorporate stakeholder participation and private players.