From Nairobi to Lake Turkana: co-designing a mobile solution for clean drinking water

From the bustling streets of Nairobi to the remote desert lake in northern Kenya, a journey that Q-Point will become increasingly familiar with in the coming months.

Together with our project partners, we are developing a Tuk Tuk Cargo Water Filtration System, centred around three key principles: mobility, off-grid functionality, and turning alkaline lake water into safe drinking water. This innovative initiative is funded by Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO) through the SBIR programme.

Last week, colleagues Olivia Ansenk and Feline Heussen, together with our project team, travelled to Loiyangalani to better understand the water needs of the communities surrounding Lake Turkana. These communities often rely on lake water for drinking and washing food (equipment), despite its high alkalinity and fluoride content, making it unsafe and posing serious health risks. While some access spring water, it remains alkaline and often polluted.

What was the goal of our visit?
To listen. We spent meaningful time with the El Molo community, holding a co-design workshop where the community thought of a Tuk Tuk water filtration unit, a solution not just for El Molo, but for other communities scattered along the eastern shore.

We also visited other reverse osmosis initiatives in Marsabit County, learning from their successes and challenges, and exchanged insights with key stakeholders who openly shared their lessons learned.

What’s next?
We are taking all insights into account as we begin building the first prototype, which will soon return to Lake Turkana for testing, both on its mobility and water purification performance.