Introduction:
Kiunga is a remote coastal settlement located along Kenya’s border with Somalia in Lamu County. The area has historically experienced severe water scarcity due to prolonged drought, limited freshwater sources, and the presence of naturally saline groundwater. Although underground water exists within the area, high salt concentration makes it unsafe for human consumption and unsuitable for domestic use. Conventional boreholes therefore failed to provide a sustainable solution to the area’s water challenges.
The town has an estimated population of approximately 3,500 people, including host communities, internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Boni Forest area, refugees, cross-border communities from Ras Kamboni in Somalia, students, traders, and security agencies stationed in the region. The lack of reliable clean water significantly affected households, schools, health facilities, and local economic activities. Women and children were often forced to walk for up to six hours daily in search of brackish and sometimes contaminated water, exposing them to safety risks and disrupting education and livelihoods.
Conventional water supply interventions such as shallow wells and water trucking proved unreliable, expensive, and unsustainable for the remote settlement. At the same time, increasing pressure on the few available water points contributed to tensions among different user groups competing for access to water.
Faced with persistent water insecurity and the limitations of traditional approaches, Lamu County explored the use of solar-powered desalination technology to convert saline groundwater into safe drinking water. The initiative aimed to provide a sustainable, climate-resilient, and off-grid water supply solution suitable for remote coastal communities facing saline groundwater challenges.
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