A international delegation comprising representatives from the World Bank Group (WBG) and officials from Mozambique has completed a benchmarking tour in Kirinyaga County to inspect a smart water distribution scheme.
The delegation visited Gathigiriri Ward to study the operational setup of the county's eWATER initiative, which uses automated technology to supply safe drinking water to rural communities.
The project features 177 solar-powered smart taps connected to a digital payment system. The setup currently serves 17,000 residents within the ward, providing a consistent supply of clean water through automated dispensations.
Governor Anne Waiguru signed the partnership agreement establishing the infrastructure model in 2023,, aiming to modernize public water service delivery and eliminate revenue leakage.
The system relies on prepaid tokens and mobile money integration, which allows consumers to pay only for the exact amount of water collected at the tap stations.
The international visitors focused on evaluating how the technology operates in rural settings, examining solar power reliability, remote monitoring systems, and local maintenance protocols.
Mozambican officials inspected the tap stands alongside World Bank technical teams to understand how the county manages daily operations, water tracking, and revenue collection.
Local operators demonstrated the digital interface that tracks flow rates and flags maintenance issues in real time to prevent service interruptions across the network.
The delegation spent time speaking with community members using the service to assess user adoption, token purchasing processes, and long-term sustainability.
The county government intends to use the benchmark feedback as it monitors the performance of smart utility systems across its sub-counties.
Similar automated water infrastructure models are currently being evaluated across eastern Africa to improve revenue collection and reduce system non-revenue water losses.
The visit ended with technical briefings between county water department engineers, eWATER representatives, and the visiting international delegation regarding potential regional scaling.
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