Residents take to UV rays for protection

• Illegal connections, which are srampant in the slum areas, often use plastic pipes, which easily crack and expose water to contamination.
• Sodis method of purifying water was introduced four years ago by Kenya Water for Health Organisation (Kwaho).
• The water purification method has reduced incidents of diarrhoea by 42 per cent where it has been used.

“I would go down with typhoid every now and then, but for the last few months, I have been well,” she asserts.

The 40-year-old woman places her water-filled bottles on the roof, everyday before she leaves to attend to her business. She explains that she has managed to save on fuel and time.

“I am not unwell now, I am more productive,” she says. “Besides, we can now afford a better diet and a few items that we could not have a few months back.” That’s because by not having to buy extra kerosene for boiling water, Khadija is able to divert the expense to a better diet.

Such is the appreciation of the simple way of purifying water that even schools are adopting it. Makina self-help primary school is one such institution.

The principal, Ms Leah Mutuse explains that she has noted a decline in the number of children falling ill since she adopted the UV treatment of drinking water.

“The children were getting sick too often as they drank raw water from the taps, and there was a lot of absenteeism. This led to poor performance. But now things have changed.

"Our performance has greatly improved and absenteeism cases due to ill-health are so rare, may be one or two in a week,” she says happily, though her worry is whether all the pupils use the similarly treated water back at home.

According to Catherine Mwango, the executive director of Kwaho, this method of purifying water has reduced incidents of diarrhoea by 42 per cent where it has been used, such as in Maseno in western Kenya, and now Kibera.

“We have on several occasions put water in two bottles — one with Sodis water and the other one with untreated water from the taps — and taken them to the Government Chemist for testing.

"The water that has been disinfected with Sodis comes out as 100 per cent clean, whereas, raw water from the taps show e-coli bacteria,” she explains.