Safe access to sanitation for Nairobi households, Kenya, Africa

Today, more than 40 per cent of households in Nairobi do not have access to safe sanitation. Instead they dispose of wastewater in septic tanks, soakage pits or into open drains.

The Athi Water Services Board called for an update and asked COWI to identify the most appropriate sanitation services for all populated areas in Nairobi and in seven satellite towns.

As an initial step, COWI carried out an assessment of the existing sewerage network and prepared specifications for an immediate, urgent works programme for the rehabilitation of projects in the short term.

This was followed by detailed designs of short-term works, preliminary designs of medium-term works, as well as preliminary environmental impact assessments and the formulation of the integrated sanitation management plan, including financial and economic analyses.