Since 1 August 2022, the Karimenu II dam has been supplying drinking water to the people of Gatundu North, Kiambu County, Kenya. The infrastructure was inaugurated at an official ceremony presided over by the President of the Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Athi Water Works Development Agency (AWWDA) built the dam which serves a total of one million people in the towns of Ruiru, Juja, Gatundu and Nairobi. The work took three years, between 2019 and 2022.
China’s funding
The 59-metre-high dam occupies a 243-hectare site. The raw water retained by the building, i.e. 26.5 million m3, is treated in a new plant. The plant has a daily production capacity of 70,000 m3. A total of 67 km of pipelines have also been laid for the transport of raw water and drinking water. The resources are stored in two concrete tanks. The facilities have capacities of 235,000 m3 and 50,000 m3 respectively.
Inauguration of the Karimenu II dam in Kenya©Presidency of Kenya
This is a flagship project of the Kenyan government’s Vision 2030, which aims to achieve universal drinking water coverage in the East African country. By 2021, Kenya had a water access rate of nearly 70%, according to the Kenyan Minister of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Sicily Kariuki.
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In Gatundu, one of the towns benefiting from the drinking water project, a drinking water supply system (DWSS) has also been built. The water supply system consists of 15 boreholes and 280 km of pipes. The entire project cost 24 billion Kenyan shillings, the equivalent of over $251 million. A joint investment by the governments of Kenya and the People’s Republic of China.
Inès Magoum