This archive report was first published on 11 December 2019.
On December 11, 2019, a breakthrough in providing clean water to rural areas in Kenya was announced. Five university students had invented a solar-powered water desalinator, a game-changer in the country's quest for clean water.
The team, known as The Greatest of All Time (Goat), comprised students from Kenyatta University, University of Nairobi, and Strathmore University. They were unveiled at the IBM Digital-Nation Africa: Smart Water Challenge.
The innovation not only uses solar power to desalinate water but also employs Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to prevent water pipes from bursting. This ensures the piping system remains fully functional.
As a result of their win, the team was awarded paid internships with IBM in Nairobi. They will be assisted in further developing their innovation, which will be deployed in a large-scale pilot, providing Kenyans with access to clean water sourced from salty water sources.
Environmental scientist Sam Nyamwange expressed optimism that the innovation would be applied to solve water problems in Northern Kenya. He had previously been recognized for his work at the Cambridge Sustainability University in South Africa.
Interestingly, a similar discovery was made in 2013 by French scientist Alain Gachet. He announced the discovery of a huge underground freshwater source in Turkana, which traverses 4,164 square kilometers and holds approximately 200 billion cubic meters of fresh water. However, the Turkana aquifer remains unexploited due to a lack of expertise and cheaper technologies to desalinate the salty water.
