Who gives you your water?

The world’s oldest engineering profession simplistically observed as the construction of roads and
buildings. But is Civil Engineering really just about building roads? Isn’t the scope of the oldest
engineering profession wider than just road-building?

It is true that Civil Engineers engage in the design, construction and maintenance of roads. But it is also
true that the scope of Civil engineering has greater reaches than the building of roads, dams and bridges
as is the common perception. Civil engineering has numerous sub-disciplines such as Coastal
engineering, environmental engineering, water resources engineering and structural engineering.

In fact, Civil engineers deal with all matters civil, that is all engineering matters pertaining to and in
relation to the lives of civilians! Systems that civilians put to use- roads, bridges, ports, dams, reservoirs,
railways- all fall under a sub-discipline or other of Civil and Structural engineering. But perhaps the
greatest of these and often overlooked sub-discipline is Water Resources Engineering.

What does Water Resources engineering entail?

Broadly speaking, Water Resources Engineering broadly is concerned with the collection and
management of water as a natural resource. This area of civil engineering relates to the prediction and
management of both the quality and the quantity of water in both underground (aquifers) and above
ground (lakes, rivers, and streams) resources. Water resource engineers analyze and model very small to
very large areas of the earth to predict the amount and content of water as it flows into, through, or out
of a facility. Although the actual design of the facility may be left to other engineers. This area of civil
engineering is intimately related to the design of pipelines, water supply network, drainage facilities
(including bridges, dams, channels, culverts, levees, storm sewers), and canals.

In Kenya, Civil and Structural Engineers and specialist Water Engineers are pivotal in the water sector
reforms that were initiated by the popular NARC government in 2003. The Water Act of 2002 is the
spine of these reforms. These reforms sought to provide clean and safe drinking water to all in line with
Kenya’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 2030.
 Photo: Many Kenyans still do not have access to clean, safe drinking water

Engineers and the water sector reforms

The Water Act of 2002 took a pragmatic shift in Water Policy by decentralizing the provision of water
services from the National Water and Pipeline Conservation Corporation to regional water Service
Boards (WSBs). There are eight Water Service Boards in Kenya; Athi, Coast, Tana, Lake Victoria North,
Lake Victoria South, Rift Valley, Northern and Tanathi Water Service Board.

The WSBs are mandated to manage assets and to develop and rehabilitate existing water provision
facilities. They then sub-let the actual provision service to commercial Water Service Providers (WSPs).
For example, Eldoret is supplied by ELDOWAS (Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company). Nanyuki is
supplied by NAWASCO (Nanyuki Water and Sanitation Company) and so forth. The WSPs are numerous
and could be community based, parastatals or private companies.

The Ministry of Water through the Water Service Boards have undertaken an ambitious drive to have all
urban and rural areas in Kenya supplied with drinking water. And who is carrying out the bulk of the
work in implementing policies drawn up by the ministries? Civil Engineers!

Just what do Civil Engineers do then?

The Engineers’ role is threefold- Design, Construction and Implementation of the following key aspects
of:
  An abstraction method (how to get the water from the source. Is it a dam-reservoir? A
borehole? A weir?)
 A treatment system (to ensure that harmful elements in the water are removed, making it safe
for human consumption)
 A supply system (how to get the water from the source to the consumers. What kind of
pipeline? What size? How far? Is it pumped or does it flow by gravity?)

The above require meticulous detail and planning. Input from various other experts such as
geographers, surveyors, statisticians and other engineers is handy, too.

Yes, Civil Engineers' work is kujenga barabara na nyumba. But what is forgotten often is Civil Engineers
are central players in the task to provide safe and clean drinking water to the people. Indeed, the water
that is used in the road construction is supplied by systems built and designed by civil engineers!