Meet the Board
Meet the Board
MARA CONSERVATION
encouraging empathy for other life
MLP Team in Morocco
Advisors in Morocco
Imagine walking 12 km each day with 20 liters of water on your back
Community Water Projects
Getting access to safe, clean water is the single greatest daily challenge for 1000s of families in the Maasai Mara. Many families get their water from open sources such as rivers and pits shared with wildlife and cattle. An estimated 80% of hospitalizations here are related to consuming unsafe water. We have addressed this challenge by developing solar-pumped groundwater systems that put safe water and taps right inside villages.
Fetching water also puts a crushing burden on women, as they are responsible for finding it and carrying it home on their back day after day, often over long distances. Once a community has access to safe water, this also means women have time for meaningful activities such as taking care of their families and earning an income by joining a women's work center or developing a small enterprise of their own.
Solar-Pumped Groundwater Systems
We've built solar-pumped Groundwater Systems in 6 Maasai communities with our Kenyan engineering partner. We begin each project with hydrogeological analysis to determine if the site is suitable for drilling. This checks for specific concerns in groundwater in this region, including excess fluoride common in the area. If a location is determined suitable with water healthy for people and minimal environmental impact, a Groundwater System can be developed with solar-pumped borehole 200+ meters deep, 20,000 liters of water storage, and taps within the community for year-round access. The System is then handed over to the community for their management.
Enoorokon Village, Siana Ward
One of our Groundwater Systems serves a large community around Enoorokon village in Siana Ward of the Mara, providing water for 2700 people (400 families) along with a school. This was a challenging area for access to water, as women here were walking 12 km every day to fetch water from a river in distant hills. Now they fill their bottles from a central water point with 8 taps right in their community.
Purified Water for Communities & Business
In response to the market demand for filtered drinking water in the Maasai Mara, we developed the Lemek Hills Purified Water Facility in Mara North. With 260-meter borehole, solar pumping, purification and bottling, and distribution center, this program is a partnership with Global Water First. The purified water has been certified by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS).
The deep-well water from Lemek Hills is available free to families in the area from a tap out of the borehole. We will begin selling the purified water in 10- or 20-liter refillable bottles (no single-use plastics), at low cost to communities and schools and at a competitive price to safari camps and businesses. Sales and delivery of purified water will employ members of the local community and help sustain our programs, including education, micro-enterprises for women, and water projects.
Lemek Hills, Mara North
The water at Lemek Hills is sourced from the large aquiver at the foot of nearby mountains in Mara North, then filtered through Reverse Osmosis (RO) and ultra-purification systems, and tested and certified by the Kenyan government for sale. RO removes the heavy fluoride salts often found in groundwater in this area. .
Please contact us to inquire about ordering water from Lemek Hills.
Rainwater Catchment
In some cases, a simple Rainwater System works well. If rainwater is not adequate year-round, this may be combined with other sources.
We installed Rainwater Catchment at our Women's Center, drained from the aluminum sheet roof. The women were previously getting water from the nearby Talek River, which is contaminated with fecal matter from animals. This system is close to where the women live and easy to access when they're at the Center.
This system requires sediment filtering on site. We also recommend filtering the water for drinking and provide a stacking bucket system for home use that incorporates portable Sawyer filters
