By Mwirigi Erick
If you’ve ever been stuck in traffic outside City Hall, Nairobi, you know two things: one, the sun can roast you like maize on a roadside grill, and two, there’s no water to drink while you wait.
Nairobi’s water crisis is no secret. The pipes are old, the dams are strained, and the population is growing faster than we can say. Ndakaini Dam is hanging in there, but with over 7 million people hustling daily in Nairobi, water shortages have become the new normal.
But Nairobi isn’t alone. From Kisumu to Kakamega, Wajir to Mombasa, Narok to Nakuru, counties across Kenya are feeling the pinch. Some areas rely on boreholes. Others depend on tankers that charge like airlines during the holidays. And yet—it rains. Often heavily.
Surprisingly, the solution is literally above your head.
By changing roof designs, installing gutters, and setting up proper rainwater harvesting systems, homes, schools, hotels, and offices can catch and store thousands of liters. Imagine every estate in Nairobi collecting its own water during rainy seasons. Sounds sensible, right?
Architects must start designing buildings with water in mind. It’s not just about beautiful spaces anymore—it’s about smart buildings. Roofs shouldn’t just shine—they should collect.
However, this must become more than a design preference—it needs to be a regulated requirement. The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) must ensure that no building receives approval without a clear plan for sustainable water use throughout its life. Likewise, county governments need to enforce building codes that require rainwater harvesting as a standard part of construction.
Developers are no exception, they must take responsibility too. Water systems should never be an afterthought but a legal and ethical priority. Even existing buildings that lack water harvesting infrastructure should be redesigned and retrofitted to capture rainwater efficiently. To keep all this in check, environmental audits should be conducted annually, with genuine accountability and consequences for neglect.
💧 Water is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. It’s time our policies, planning, and buildings finally reflect that reality.
👉 Let’s talk solutions: www.environmentalist.co.ke