Davis and Shirtliff Head on towards MDG 7

By Eric Akasa

As the Kenya Coast continues to experience challenges of water shortages due to an ever growing population in a province that is 80 per cent semi- arid, coastal businesses are investing in new ways of getting constant clean water supply.

“We have been buying a truck of 100,000 litres of water daily at Sh5, 600, but the prices have kept rising to unsustainable levels,” said Mr. Kemboi, the Chief Engineer at Mombasa Beach Hotel, which has now invested in a Sh6m reverse osmosis plant from Davis and Shirtliff to desalinate sea water.

 Davis and Shirtliff, the country's leading water and energy equipment supplier, which already had four branches at the Coast, is also now opening a new branch at Nyali, driven by the surging coastal demand.

 The company's other coastal branches are in Lamu, Malindi, Diani and Mombasa town, offering water treatment, borehole services and generators, swimming pool services, water pumps and solar equipments.

“We are selling a wide range of our locally assembled desalination equipments using reverse osmosis technology, from 12litres/hr under sink reverse osmosis units for domestic use to 10,000litres/hr units for large scale use,” said Mr. Abdalla Ibrahim, manager at the new Nyali branch.

 Mr. Abdalla confirms that since opening they have recorded high demand of the Dayliff water treatment products and services including reverse osmosis plant, ultraviolet treatment units, manual water softeners, chemical dosing pumps, and swimming pool chemicals and other equipment related to their water business.

Shortages of water at the Kenya coast has been a prolonged problem, but has become steadily more severe, with recent data from the Coast Water and Sewerage Board indicating dwindling supplies of 149m litres per day against a daily demand double the figure at 364m litres per day.

Currently, a litre of the cheapest brand of mineral water costs Sh35 to Sh40 in Mombasa while upmarket brands are now more expensive than a litre of kerosene (Sh76.87).

 “Mombasa has been experiencing tremendous developments in the hospitality and property industry, hence the continued strain on the few water resources available,” said Mohamed Farook, the General Manager of Davis and Shirtliff Coast.

 The Coast Water and Services Board confirm that 60 per cent of their supply comes from the Baricho Well Field and 24 per cent from the Mzima Springs, which are 220km away from Mombasa and constantly affected by vandalism of pipes and air valves.

  “As developments, often of multi-storeyed buildings with large water storage tanks, continue to emerge with no additional water sources, residents needs to adopt new methods to ensure continued water supply, like desalinating their own water from boreholes or harvesting and treating rain water," said Mr Farook.

 In addition to the supply of water pumps, boreholes, and water treatment solutions, Davis and Shirtliff also leads in the supply of solar products and generators under the exclusive Dayliff brand fully supported with technical selection advice and service backup.

 Davis and Shirtliff Limited is a Kenyan multinational, operating through a network of Kenyan branches and regional subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda and Ethiopia. Founded in Kenya in 1946, it is the leading supplier of water related and alternative energy equipment in East Africa.