A solar-powered desalination plant set up by an international NGO is bringing clean, safe drinking water to thousands.

The Solar Water Farm is located in Kiunga, a small fishing community on the eastern coastline of Kenya that is home to around 3,500 residents. The desalination facility was established in 2018 by the NGO GivePower, which aims to facilitate solar projects in locations where harnessing the sun’s energy can bring tangible benefits to local communities.

Kiunga was chosen to be the location of GivePower’s first solar water farm due to the extreme drought experienced in the region through recent years. Residents of the village were forced to travel for an hour by foot to collect available water that was typically brackish and filled with numerous contaminants.

GivePower's facility uses solar panels to harvest energy from the sun, which produces enough energy to power two water pumps that run 24 hours of every day. These pumps force the water through advanced filtration and desalination systems that transform the saline water into safe drinking water.

The plant currently provides more than enough water for Kiunga’s 3,500 residents, with GivePower claiming each solar water farm is capable of producing enough fresh drinking water for around 35,000 people. This is also achieved without the negative environmental impacts that other water filtration facilities might cause.

 

Positive Action

• Check out the range of clean energy solutions offered by our sister company, Planet Ark Power.
• With severe drought conditions affecting much of Australia, it’s up to all of us to be waterwise and cut back on our usage where possible. For advice, read up on our Water Saving Tips.

 

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Positive Environment News has been compiled using publicly available information. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.