Maragua and Makuyu, among the towns most affected by water shortages in Kenya's Murang'a County, are at the heart of a bulk water supply project, the first phase of which was launched on February 15, 2024. This stage of the project will produce 15,000 m3 of water per day for households and farmers.
For its first phase, the “Maragua Bulk Water Supply Project” will harness the resource of the Maragua Dam recently inaugurated in Kenya (storage capacity of 800,000 m3), to supply the populations of Maragua and Makuyu, in Murang’a County. The aim is to supply 15,000 m3 of water per day.
According to the Kenyan Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, the 15,000 m3 of water produced daily will be divided between households and farmers, at 8,000 m3 per day and 7,000 m3 per day respectively.
Increasing the population’s drinking water coverage
To achieve these objectives, a number of works are planned on the water project site. Firstly, a pump room will be built. Then, 16 km of 600 mm-diameter gravity mains will be laid to transport the water pumped from the Maragua reservoir, which will have a daily abstraction volume of 15,000 m3 and a compensation flow of 194,400 m3 per day. The infrastructure built by the Murang’a Water and Sanitation Company (Muwasco) also features a 30 m wide spillway, a 3 m high freeboard for excess flow, and a 112 m long, 5 m wide dyke.
Raw water will pass through a 150-liter-per-second mixing chamber, a sedimentation basin where 4,000 m3 will be treated daily, before storage in a 2,500 m3 capacity clear water reservoir. A 108 m3 elevated washing tank is also planned.
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Drinking water will be conveyed to the population via a 5 km distribution network. The resource is expected to cover 20% of drinking water and irrigation needs in Maragua and Makuyu, thus increasing service in Murang’a County, one of the counties facing an acute water shortage following a prolonged period of drought in this East African country. Other counties affected are Nairobi, Nakuru, Kakamega, Mombasa, Kericho, Migori, Bungoma, Murang’a and Eldoret.
In Kenya, the Maragua dam also serves the towns of Kahuro, Kiharu, Kandara, Kigumo in Murang’a, and parts of the Gatanga sub-counties.
Inès Magoum
