Prospective of Roof Rain Water Harvesting (RRWH) in Kesses Constituency, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya

Abstract

As a water scarce country, Kenya has witness an increased investment in Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) projects. Most of Roof RWH research is centred on the potential and implementation of RWH systems, however not much focus has been placed on examining the demand satisfaction of these systems. The main goal of this study was to demonstrate in spatial domains, the large potential for RRWH in Kesses Constituency and thereby provide a tool for advocacy and decision support, for RRWH in Kenya. This research was based on literature revision, statistical analysis of precipitation data set (January, 1994 to December, 2013), rainwater laboratory tests (Hardness, pH, turbidity, Chlorine, e-coli, suspended matter and colour) and concise field study using key informant interviews and structured questionnaires. The results were analyzed by Descriptive statistical methods. In addition analysis of variance ANOVA, Statgraphics Centurion XVI and Microsoft Excel were used. The study concluded that each of the study wards received a high RRWH reliability based on the amount of water available in storage and secondly, that RRWH can satisfy the minimum demand requirement throughout a year, given sufficient guttered roof area. Numerous recommendations were also made on correlated issues.

Keywords: Harvesting, Kesses, Precipitation, Rainwater, Roof.