Ingenuity of Kangu Kangu Water Scheme

Kitwasco officer at River Athi intake

Guest Reporter 

Kangu Kangu Water Supply Scheme, tucked deep in the remote Usai village in Kitui Rural constituency is an iconic water project which is viewed as a permanent solution to the biting water crisis that bedevils the arid and semi arid Kitui County.

The magnificent water project is a joint initiative of the Kitui County Government and the World Vision and stands out at the core of Governor Julius Malombe's agenda of making the county water secure.

Indeed, the project commenced in 2014 during Governor Malombe first term in office. However, it stalled as soon as the governor exited office in 2017, plunging the residents of Kitui South into untold water scarcity.

Completion works underway...

Fortunately, Governor Malombe is back in office and has moved in to ensure that the water project is completed in time to provide water to residents of Kitui South and Kitui Rural subcounties.

As a matter of fact, when the project is running at its optimum, it is expected to supply enough, consumable water to four million people, that is almost four times the population of the county. 

This is according to Water Chief Officer Nathan Vungo, himself a water expert and who has been working round the clock with other experts among them Water Deputy Director Engineer Kennedy Mutati to ensure that the project is succeeds. 

According to CO Vungo, completion works aimed at optimizing the project are currently ongoing, particularly at the River Athi intake which has been redesigned and is being expanded to increase the volume of water abstracted from the river. 

"This will allow for continuous 24 hour pumping," says the chief officer.

Vungo explains that once the expansion of the intake is completed, water abstraction capacity will increase from 500 cubic metres to 1080 cubic metres per day, which means constant water pumping to the treatment plant located about 6km away.

Water tanks at Kangu treatment plant... 

Two giant tanks with capacity to hold a total of one million litres are used to store the treated water, before it is released to flow by gravity to other holding tanks in Mutomo town, some 42 km away. 

500,000 litre tank at Kangukangu treatment plant 

From here, the precious commodity is distributed to Mutomo town residents and those from far flung areas such as Kanziku, Mathima, Ikutha and Kamutei.

“Currently, the project is meeting 40 – 50 percent of the water demand in Kitui South. Our plan is to ensure continuous improvement approach of the project even as we work towards its optimization,” CO Vungo adds. 

 Part of the continuous improvement approach is to replace weak and old pipes with high density pipes which are not prone to bursts, he says.

Sedimentation chamber 

The Chief Officer notes that by the end of 2024 – 2025 financial year, the project will be at 80 percent complete, with plans to set up a semi autonomous water company domiciled in Kitui South by 2026 to look into the issues of water management and governance particularly in the vast Kitui South and parts of Kitui Rural subcounties.  

Gov Malombe's commendable water plan...

Governor Malombe has been commented for his solid strategy to arrest the biting water scarcity in the County. His administration's strategy involves construction of earth dams, sand dams, boreholes, water pans and sump wells. Hundreds of these have been done.

CO Vungo says that the County administration is focused on optimizing all these sources of water to ensure that residents have ready to access and quality, consumable water - at all times.

Governor Malombe is indeed making Kitui great again.

Water CO Vungo

Water Director Eng Mutati