Clean water champion

Beth Koigi, 25, is the founder of Aqua Clean Initiative, a project that distributes water filters to low-income families. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • I was a fourth-year university student taking community development at Chuka University and I couldn’t afford to buy the water filter I needed for my project. Necessity led me to create one.
  • I prefer to work with women in my target areas as women are the ones who  manage homes. I target women groups. I attend their meetings and to them about the filters. If they are interested in buying, I give them the filters on loan and they act as each other’s guarantors and pay in instalments.
  • I want to venture out into other areas around the country, but it is a costly affair. Different regions have different water problems. The problem with water in the Rift valley for instance is the fluoride particles.

“It is hard to believe that I grew up wanting to become a politician because now every time someone mentions clean water, I turn. The campaign for clean drinking water has become my second nature. It all started with a school project. I was a fourth-year university student taking community development at Chuka University and I couldn’t afford to buy the water filter I needed for my project. Necessity led me to create one.  When it worked, I made another for a children’s home near the university that I visited regularly. Now, two-and-a-half years later, I have distributed 800 water filters to low-income homes in Nairobi, Limuru and Meru. I gave out the first 150. I only went commercial after a fellowship from Akili Dada in 2014.

COSTLY AFFAIR

“I prefer to work with women in my target areas as women are the ones who  manage homes. I target women groups. I attend their meetings and to them about the filters. If they are interested in buying, I give them the filters on loan and they act as each other’s guarantors and pay in instalments. Each filter goes for between 500 to 750 shillings. There are times when I get backing from NGOs which allows me to distribute the filters at no cost.

“On some days I meet potential sponsors. The most frustrating thing is that people do not think that filtering water is necessary. A lot of people think that as long as water is clear, it is clean. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It isn’t the dust that we should be worried about. It is the heavy metals like zinc and copper, which are invisible, but dangerous in large quantities.

“I want to venture out into other areas around the country, but it is a costly affair. Different regions have different water problems. The problem with water in the Rift valley for instance is the fluoride particles. This means that the activated carbon filters that I distribute in Meru would not be sufficient. I would need clay-based ones. Each time I venture out into a new area, I have to test the water and then do my research before I can make the filters.

“I distribute the filters on weekends because that is when most women are at home. I am not a social butterfly, so when I am not working, I enjoy watching epic movies at home. However, running such an initiative is like raising a baby, you don’t have much time for yourself. Most of the time, even when not at work, I am thinking about better clean water solutions. At the moment, clean water is a preserve of the rich. I dream of an ideal world where clean water would be available for everyone.”