Borealis and Borouge help provides safe water for over 50,000 thanks to PE pipes
Borealis and Borouge, The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), and the Department for International Development have funded a project that has helped bring safe and affordable drinking water to more than 50,000 of Kenya’s poorest residents.
The Water for the World project was aimed at Kenya’s capital Nairobi, where an estimated 60 percent of the population live in informal settlements, with little access to water and sanitation.
The Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company has found it difficult to invest in these services thanks to the haphazard design of the settlements, inadequate resources, and the perception that residents would be unwilling to pay for the services.
Residents without access to piped water supplies resort to buying water from private street vendors, at much higher prices.
The partners came together to improve the drinking supplies in the Korogocho and Kahawa settlements of Nairobi, which involved extended the existing network into the settlements using high-quality PE pipes.
The allowed pre-paid water dispensers to be installed, which now provide water for as low as a 10th of the price it would be at a street vendor.
Dorothea Wiplinger, Borealis Sustainability Manager, said: “Innovative PE pipes can play an important role in addressing the global water challenge. To avoid the loss of water due to leakages and to assure residents receive clean water that they can afford, PE pipes are an excellent solution because they last three times longer than existing pipes, suffer fewer breakages, and need less maintenance.”
Craig Halgreen, Vice President for Corporate Sustainability at Borouge, said: “In line with our sustainability goals, we commit to addressing global challenges and adding value to people’s lives through sustainable plastics solutions. At Borouge, we have experience in developing sustainable water systems for all kinds of environments, and we are delighted to have supported this initiative based on our high-quality polyethylene materials.”
The official inauguration took place on May 5th 2017 and was attended by Engineer Phillip Gichuki, the Managing Director for the Nairobi City, Water, and Sewerage Company, and Engineer Peter Kimori, County Executive Committee Member for Water, Energy, and Forestry at Nairobi City County Government.