kenya installs first solar water farm turning ocean water into drinking water

non-governmental organization ‘givepower’ has built its first solar water farm in kenya, turning the region’s saltwater into clean and sustainable drinking water. the farm uses a filtrating system that desalinates the brackish liquid to produce enough water for 35,000 people every day.

images courtesy of givepower

the farm is located in kiunga, kenya, a small fishing community of about 3500 people located just a few miles south of the somalian border. the village is situated along the coast of the indian ocean and the area is home to an important marine conservation reserve. it’s proximity to the ocean makes it an ideal location for the givepower‘s first solar water farm.

powered by solar energy, the desalination systems are housed in 20-foot shipping containers. they are capable of producing 50 kilowatts of energy and power two water pumps. with this, they transform 75,000 litres of brackish and/or seawater into clean, drinkable water every day. at the cost of just $20 per person, the farm is able to provide 20 years of access to clean water.

according to the world health organization, 844 million people across the globe lack access to clean drinking water and among them are more than 300,000 children who die every year due to water-born diseases. 2 billion people currently live in water-scarce regions and as many as 3.5 billion could experience water scarcity by 2025.

‘humanity needs to take swift action to address the increasingly severe global water crisis that faces the developing world,’ says hayes barnard, founder and president of givepower. ‘with our background in off-grid clean energy, givepower can immediately help by deploying solar water farm solutions to save lives in areas throughout the world that suffer from prolonged water scarcity.’

givepower have deployed more than 2,650 solar-powered energy systems to schools, medical clinics and villages in 17 developing countries. now it is focusing its efforts on the most critical use case of sustainable energy: clean water. the company is actively researching four additional locations to deploy its solar water farm technology.