The Rock Catchment System is Transforming Water Access in Kenya’s Makueni County

Makueni county, located in drought-stricken southeastern Kenya, historically lacked sufficient water resources. To tackle this issue, in 2012, local villagers decided to implement a rock catchment system. This system utilizes enormous naturally occurring rocks as a method of gathering rainwater. A rock catchment is a simple technology, where a concrete wall is built around a chosen rock, which then catches the rainwater and leads it to a reservoir or storage.

This project received significant financial and technical assistance from the Africa Sand Dam Foundation, a renowned non-governmental entity. The implementation involved building a concrete wall around the rock to capture the rainwater, strategically placing large stones to filter the water, and installing a pipe to transport the water to storage tanks.

The harvested water from the rock catchment flows into these tanks via the pipe. This water is then conveyed to a nearby water collection point where local inhabitants can easily obtain it from taps. This setup is well described by Jefferson Mutie, a communication officer at Africa Sand Dam Foundation. He elucidates that the water is initially harvested from the rock by the concrete wall, which then travels all the way to the water tanks functioning as reservoirs.

One of the beneficiaries of this water collection solution is Joyce Mule, a resident of the rocky village of Syumbe in Makueni county. Before this solution, Mule had to walk for nearly two hours daily to find water. On top of that, it would take an additional half-hour to queue and fill her jerrican at the well due to the area’s high population. Nowadays, Mule visits the rock catchment site about five times a day, each trip taking around half an hour.

The transformative effects of this rock catchment system on Mule’s life and the broader community are apparent. Now with a reliable, clean, and local water source, Mule spends significantly less time fetching water and experiences less worry about water scarcity. Additionally, the consistent availability of water has led to tangible improvements in her livelihood, as she has noticed a boost in her trees’ fruit production and enhanced milk yields from her cows. Mule gained a newfound appreciation of the rocks around her, remarking, “We used to think these rocks were worthless, but now we see their benefits.”