Groundwater forms the most important source of water supply in many urban, peri-urban and rural areas of Kenya, and generally in most Africa countries, sometimes requiring 100 per cent of the demand.
Inadequate planning and provision of basic services means that most inhabitants lack improved sanitation, making underlying aquifers vulnerable to pollution from human waste, among other factors.
Today, 3.6 billion people globally are still living with poor quality toilets that ruin their health and pollute their environment, according to WHO and UNICEF. More than one billion people face the indignity of open defecation, causing risks and danger to women and girls. Only 33 per cent of Kenyan households have access to basic sanitation facilities; nine per cent defecate in the open whereas 40 per cent still lack hygiene facilities.
With regard to healthcare facilities, only four per cent have basic sanitation services whereas 11 per cent lack hygiene services. According to The Water Services Regulatory Board, sewered sanitation coverage was only 16 per cent, with 23 counties having sewer connection only in their urban areas.
Inadequate sanitation systems spread human waste into rivers and lakes, contaminating the groundwater. Thus, if waste water is not safely managed due to blockages and overflows in the sewer network or not treated, this will lead to public health risks and pollution of the environment, including contamination of groundwater and ecosystems.
This situation poses a global sanitation crisis. Climate, water and sanitation solutions for health and sustainable development, was one of the key thematic areas of discussions at COP27 climate conference in Egypt.
There is an urgent need for everyone to have access to a toilet connected to a sanitation system that effectively removes and treats human waste. This means that safely managed sanitation can protect groundwater from human waste pollution. The link between sanitation and groundwater cannot therefore be overlooked, thus the need to improve sanitation to protect underground water resources.
This calls for government leadership across the continent to effectively manage the groundwater aquifers as a system for all water users including the local communities.
Once again, the world focuses the attention of everyone to the importance of sanitation during the World Toilet Day under the theme Sanitation and Groundwater: make the invisible visible, celebrated on November 19.
With more than 19 million Kenyans still using unimproved water sources and 26.7 million using unimproved sanitation facilities, there is an urgent need for players in the water supply and sanitation sector, especially the private sector, to leverage their skills and efforts to improve access to water and sanitation for all.
The writer is the Africa Regional Director at water.org
