15 Jan The Kapcherop Water Supply Project

The community participation in this project since conceptualization has been outstanding. They effectively played a crucial role in helping formulate the project design needs. The Sengwers, the project targeted beneficiaries has an organized community management system on their local resource base (water, land, forest and livestock). They appreciate the benefit of the water supply scheme especially on health and make informed choice of technology, service level and operation management, traits which were of critical importance during the conceptualization of the project.

The project area has approximate population of 12,000 inhabitants and the project was designed to serve a population of slightly over 20,000 people, the expected population in the area in 2035, the design horizon for the project, when the water demand will be expected to be 557m3/day.

Under the project, a new treatment works was constructed, storage tanks strategically located in vintage positions for supply of water through gravity and new pipeworks and water distribution networks installed. In addition, a number of on plot sanitation facilities were constructed to improve sanitation services in the project area, and several water kiosks along the distribution lines to increase access for those who for a reason or the other would not be able to get connected to the supply system in their homesteads.

The topography of the project area favored gravity based hydraulic flow throughout the supply system. This guarantees efficiency and lower operational costs once the project is completed.

The new upstream source, the intake, is located at the Kiptargon River, 18 km away from Kapcherop town to the North. The treatment is by filtration and chlorination process, and the treated water stored in a 150m3 central clean water tank located at the treatment works.

The flow from the central storage tank is by gravity to the first two tanks, one a 60m3 located at Kipteber Primary School in Kiptaber hill, 7.6km from treatment works and the other one is located at the Kipleget in the outskirts of the Kapcherop centre. The other tanks each 10m3 are located at Kona 4 area, Leiwa, Kipsero, Kamakitwa and Kapkutung respectively. The treated is distributed by gravity to settlement areas of Kalbul, Kipsero, Benon, Laiwa, Kamarinyei and Kiptaber.

The treatment works in the Phase I scheme had a capacity of 570m3/day to serve town population. However, the town network had pressure balancing challenges in low lying areas occasioning rationing and leakage due to bursts on old pipes which often disrupt water supply. In order to arrest this, the new project has a new tank installed at Moi Girls Secondary School. This helps stabilize the flows on the old network to serve some areas within the service area that have not been connected.

Additionally, the old system implemented under the WaSSIP I programme was rehabilitated. One new tank was installed, a new line extension (200m 50mm GI pipe as augmentation works) and old bursting pipes in Kapcherop town (1680 m 50mm UPVC pipe and 20m 5Omm dia GI) were replaced, in addition to construction of a new office block in town to accommodate the operation personnel.

Kapcherop kapsopwar water supply project
The first phase of the Kapcheorop Water Supply Scheme, the Kapcherop kapsopwar water supply project was also implemented under the WaSSIP programme, to expand and increase water and sanitation services within the towns of Kapcherop and Kapsowar towns including the adjourning areas.

The two urban centers previously had old and dilapidated supply systems that could not cope with the huge demands. Kepcherop Town was being served by an old Water Supply System which was constructed in 1991 and rehabilitated in 2001 under the El-Nino Emergency Works Programme. The Kapsowar Town on the other hand had its supply from a surface water supply system constructed in 1975, and also rehabilitated in 2001 under the El-Nino Emergency Programme.

The completed project was designed to meet the demand for water in the two towns of up to the year 2025 projected at 411m3/d.