How water hyacinth is saving Maasai Mara University millions in water costs

As the main gate swings open, it becomes apparent that it is the only green spot in the vast desert-like land, with its lush green vegetation coming as a surprise on both sides of the walkway.   

On the sides of the administration block and other establishments, there are plush and manicured lawns with alluring green fences.

Water pipes snake through the fences and laws, dripping water in intervals.   

The institution has maintained a green face amid adversity, watered by kitchen and hostel effluents-turned-irrigation water.

Over 80 percent of the thousands of litres of water used daily at the university are recycled back into the institution’s iconic botanical garden.    

At the institution, nothing goes to waste—from kitchen and hostel sink water to vegetables, especially cabbage chippings—all are in use. Food waste is lumped into a recycling bin to produce manure and cooking gas.  

When Citizen Digital visited the water recycling plant, Prof. Francis Mburu, the Dean of the School of Natural Resources, Environmental Studies, and Agriculture at the university, who doubles up as the patron of the recycling plant, was inspecting his pet project.

He has a gusto for traditional herbs and is a staunch conserver of near-extinct medical trees in the garden.   

He has almost all species to treat different ailments. It is a busy site, secluded from public access, and far from the students’ classrooms, kitchen, and administration block.   

“We are recycling wastewater from the university hostels and the kitchen. When that water is taken through the purification process, it is pumped upland and released by gravity to water our garden, lawns, and the university fence,” Prof Mburu explains.   

Three shallow ponds are filled with effluents from the kitchen and hostels and channelled through nearly ten chambers filled with water hyacinth, which Prof Mburu says are used to naturally purify water.   

He adds that the series of chambers slowly move water by gravity from one point to another, leaving behind solid waste but purifying it entirely. They are constructed in such a way that they do not have the same gravity level.

"Water settles undisturbed in the first pond for up to six days before being channelled into the second pond." In these initial stages, setting is important because any solid waste is left here and the water is later released into the second and third ponds for the same process,” he adds.    

Water hyacinth, which has been condemned by Lake Victoria fishermen, has found a home at Maasai Mara University.

The weed removes algae, faecal coliform bacteria, trace toxic metals, organics, and a variety of other dissolved impurities from the university's wastewater.

“We have not introduced any chemicals at any given point. Everything here is naturally done. These water hyacinths are the biggest purifiers we can find. That plant has saved the university thousands of shillings since we don’t buy irrigation water,” Prof Mburu says.    

Prof. Mburu, who is well-known for his interest in herbal medicine, suggests that towns and cities could recycle bathroom and kitchen water effluents back into use by simply collecting them and purifying them with water hyacinth.

“Water hyacinths can grow in sewage, absorbing and digesting contaminants and transforming sewage effluents into clean water. As a result, the plants have the potential to be used as natural water purification systems at a fraction of the cost of a standard sewage treatment facility,” he advises.   

While it may not have gained prominence in Kenya, recycled wastewater has been in use for decades and could potentially be a go-to solution in the face of conflict over resources in the face of climate change.   

In Namibia's capital, Windhoek, wastewater has been recycled back into the drinking water system for over five decades. Windhoek embarked on recycling and reintroducing it into its water supply network, making it the first city in the world to reuse domestic wastewater for human use.   

After a year-long drought, South Africa’s Cape Town turned to water recycling and reusing its city wastewater. The country is using Phyto mediation, a scientific term for the use of algae, to treat wastewater in numerous of its provinces.   

Household kitchen gardening

Due to the country's reliance on rain-fed agriculture, climate action in Kenya has recently been heavily focused on tree planting in the hope of attracting rain.

Experts, including Prof Mburu, believe that the use of bio-purification systems can be expanded to increase crop production rather than just watering flowers and fences. This is particularly feasible near high-water-use institutions such as towns.

“Cities like Nairobi, Kisumu and many others can use the same technology so that we have fairly clean water for agriculture, but at the same time, not polluting the environment to enhance kitchen gardening that can contribute to household food security,” says Prof Mburu.  

Meanwhile, water access, or the lack thereof, in arid and semi-arid areas remains a challenge to kitchen gardening and animal production in Kenya. As a result, livestock deaths have continued unabated during drought seasons, putting human lives at risk.

Dr. Susan Chomba, the director of vital landscapes at the World Resources Institute (WRI), explains that weak policies on water use in the Horn of Africa, has had a ripple effect in mitigating the drought-related impacts, urging the state to make use of wash-away El Nino rains.  

“There is need to strengthen these policies but before then, sensitization of smallholder farmers is key. Had we as a country invested in sensitising farmers on the need to harvest water, we would be food secure,” she says.    

In earnest, climate change in Kenya has presented a challenge for reaching Kenya’s sustainable development goals, including agriculture.

Because of over-dependence on rainfed agriculture, the risk is high in cases where the rains fail for over five seasons but are later battered by the waters, which are then left to flow to the ocean.  

As the world gathers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the 28th session of the UN’s Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28), it is hoped that prudent water use agreements will top the agenda, in addition to the hyped carbon trading talks.