ICN Challenge: WASH needs in Kenya
🗓️ Deadline: December 12th, 2025
✍🏻 Apply with your solution here
Kenya’s water sector is rapidly evolving, creating an urgent need for innovative, scalable, and sustainable solutions. By participating, your company can position itself as a key solution provider for the country’s emerging Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) priorities — addressing critical gaps in efficiency, quality, and circular water use.
1. Smart Water Metering Solutions
Kenya’s water utilities face non-revenue water (NRW) losses exceeding 40% in many regions, mainly due to leaks, theft, and inefficiencies in manual billing. Smart water meters present a transformative opportunity to digitize and modernize water management. These devices enable real-time consumption tracking, automated leak detection, and remote billing—reducing losses and improving utility revenue. The national government’s digitization agenda now prioritizes smart metering as a policy goal, with utilities actively exploring lease-to-own investment models that reduce upfront costs while enabling long-term financial sustainability.
2. Onsite Digital Water Quality Testing
Water quality monitoring is central to public health, regulatory compliance, and climate resilience. Kenya’s laws mandate regular water testing for utilities and service providers, creating strong demand for portable digital testing tools. Compact hardware and software bundles can deliver rapid, affordable assessments of key water quality parameters in the field. These tools empower utilities and communities to detect contamination early, prevent disease outbreaks, and build public confidence in water services. Digital water testing also supports data-driven decision-making for environmental management and policy enforcement.
3. Wastewater Recycling and Circular Economy Approaches
As climate change intensifies water scarcity, decentralized wastewater recycling is becoming a cornerstone of sustainable development. Technologies for greywater reuse, sludge-to-energy conversion, and localized treatment systems are increasingly viable in Kenya’s urban and peri-urban areas. These circular economy solutions enable resource recovery for agriculture, industry, and landscaping—reducing dependence on freshwater sources and promoting economic resilience. Investment in wastewater reuse also aligns with Kenya’s green growth strategy, offering both climate adaptation and commercial opportunity.
Join the WASH Innovation Movement
By engaging with this initiative, solution providers can demonstrate technologies, build partnerships with utilities and municipalities, and contribute to Kenya’s water security and sustainability goals. Whether your expertise lies in smart metering, digital testing, or circular water systems, your innovation can help shape the future of WASH in East Africa.