The GIS project in Narok Water, Kenya
Period: April 2014 – September 2016
Organization: Narok Water and Sewerage Services Co., Ltd. (NARWASSCO), Kenya
Role: GIS Specialist (JICA Volunteer)
Background
Narok Water and Sewerage Services Co., Ltd. is the water service provider for Narok and Ololulung’a towns in Kenya. Like many water utilities in Eastern Africa, it faced high Non-Revenue Water (NRW), and there were no accurate maps of its water distribution network and customers. I was dispatched as a GIS specialist by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to introduce GIS for water asset and NRW management.
Activities
- Network mapping: Mapped the entire water distribution network, approximately 300 km of pipelines in total, in Narok and Ololulung’a towns using Trimble GPS, ArcPad and QGIS.
- GIS database & WebGIS: Designed and developed a GIS database and WebGIS using PostGIS, MapServer and Leaflet. The system is linked to the billing system, which helps improve revenue collection.
- NRW management: Created DMAs (District Metered Areas) to analyze and improve Non-Revenue Water management.
- Capacity building: Conducted training to transfer technical knowledge to Kenyan colleagues. The GIS system has been continuously used since it was developed.
- Consulting for other utilities: Consulted on GIS work for 7 water service providers in Kenya: Nyeri Water, Kabarnet Water, Kapsabet Water, Nakuru Water, Nakuru Rural Water, Naivasha Water and Mavoko Water.
Afterwards
I have kept a personal partnership with Narok Water as a volunteer. The GIS was later modernized with open-source vector tiles (narok.water-gis.com), and the experience was presented at FOSS4G 2019 Bucharest and FOSS4G 2021.
- FOSS4G 2019: Case study of Non-Revenue Water management of Narok Water in Kenya
- FOSS4G 2021: The impact of application of FOSS4G on Non-Revenue Water
Skills
Data collection for water infrastructure, WebGIS, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, MapServer, Leaflet, QGIS, EPANET