The government of Kenya has installed a new sanitation system in Narok County, with an improvised technology set to last over a century without constant repairs and breakages.
The project, funded by African Development Bank (AIDB) and the Kenyan Government, was implemented through the Rift Valley Water Board (RVWSB). The county government in conjunction with a local company Megapipes announced the installation and said the project involved installation of over 5km of Weholite HDPE Structured Wall Pipes.
The system is set to serve the community which until late 2020 had no sanitation system. The government had kept a quarry near Narok town for disposal, but it closed in 2019 after it got full and was spilling into the adjacent Enkare Narok River which had a negative impact on sanitation in Narok.
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Weholite HDPE
Weholite is a lightweight, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) structured pipe and also the global leading large diameter plastic pipe. The brand stands for quality, durability and flexibility all over the world.
“One of the advantages of using Weholite instead of concrete or traditional materials is the relative speed and simple structure procedures and costs are reduced. You don’t have to use such large machines and therefore it is very cost-effective. You get to save time and money with Weholite when putting them into the ground. Pipes were delivered in 12 metre lengths, and we were able to weld 132m or eleven pipes nearly every day,” said Eng. Ranjit Singh Rupra of Mangat I.B. Patel (MIBP) Limited, Consulting Engineers, who designed and managed the project.
The pipes were then joined using portable heat fusion equipment providing a 100% leak-free system. This means you won’t experience the same input or output issues as traditional materials and thus reduces the burden on the new sewage treatment plant built as part of the project.