Traditional Water Purification Methods Among the Luo and Luhya Communities of Kenya

Abstract

Since time immemorial, mankind has taken measures to produce clean drinking water with the quality of water determined organoleptically. The earliest documented literature on water treatment involved different methods like boiling water over the fire, heating of water under the sun, dipping of heated iron into water, filtration through gravel and sand, as well as use of Strychnos potatorum seed in Egypt. The effort to get clean water for domestic use was not limited to Egypt but was spread in all human communities that used various methods, which are mostly carried in folklore rather than documentation. Although the extent of clarification achieved by these methods is not known, they form the long journey to the development of modern water purification processes. Despite the advancement in water purification technology, access to clean drinking water remains a mirage to most governments, especially in developing countries, partly due to the cost of such modern technologies and partly due to limited water resources. Rural communities have adopted, over time, some simple and rudimentary water treatment techniques which aim to remove visible impurities such as leaves, twigs, or large suspended particles from water, in addition to targeting pathogens. Such techniques can serve either at community or individual household levels. These traditional water treatment techniques range from simple filtration using a sieve or cloth, to clarification and filtration using naturally available stone filters and plant materials. At household levels, coarse media filters, gravel filters, banana fibre filters, ash etc. have been used. A good percentage of the modern rural population either abandoned or is unaware of the cheap and naturally available water purification methods, yet are not able to afford the modern technologies. The special features involved in such traditional treatment methods are worth considering for dissemination before general technological solutions based on wider experience and affordability are proposed for these communities. Most households among the Luo and Luhya communities in western Kenya, particularly those in the lower socio-economic bracket, use several water sources other than rain, lake and river water. Women and children (who typically fetch water) choose from the sources that are nearest to them. This includes ponds, boreholes, open wells, earth pans (typically large depressions in the ground where water has collected), springs, streams and even ditches. The water is used for drinking and other household purposes in its raw form. The objective of this paper is to dig out the traditional water purification methods among the Luo and Luhya communities in Kenya from folklore. This is expected to spur research into their improvement towards the achievement of universal clean drinking water.