The First Solar Plant In Kenya That Turns Ocean Water Into Drinkable Water

Around 2.2 billion people in the world don’t have access to drinking water services that are managed safely. This happens on a planet that is 71% covered by that essential element for life. What seems like a contradiction, may actually be the key challenge for the future of humanity: How can we turn the seawater of the oceans into drinking water. The answer seems to be located in a small town in Kenya, near the border of Somalia.

According to W.H.O and a report published by UNICEF, one in every three people lack access to clean drinkable water, and the situation is even worse in Africa. This is the reason the GivePower NGO chose the small village of Kenya, Kiunga, to turn Indian Ocean’s salty water into drinkable ‘sweet’ water. This project has been operating since last year and it looks promising.

A typical desalination plant consumes high amounts of power, the process is expensive, and it can only operate in areas that have enough facilities to produce and distribute that much energy. The NGO solved these problems by using a technology they call “solar water farms,” which involve the installation of solar panels that are able to produce 50 kilowatts of energy, high-performance Tesla batteries to store it, and 2 water pumps that operate 24 hours a day.

The system can generate drinking water for 35,000 people every day. Besides, according to GivePower, the water quality is better than that of a typical desalination plant. Plus it doesn’t even have the negative environmental impact that the process usually causes since the extraction of salt produces saline residues and pollutants that are harmful to animals and plants.

What this solution differs from the regular desalination plant is that is much more efficient, and it uses a technology known as “solar water farms,” which involves the installation of solar panels that can produce 50 kilowatts of energy, high-performance Tesla batteries to store it, and two water pumps which operate 24 hours per day.

A Fine Collection of Architectural Project Figures from Students

Student projects have been purposefully designed to introduce the students to the intellectual, material and spatial culture of architecture; seeing, understanding and responding to the parameters of place; recognising landscape as architecture… all intended to foster design and strategic thinking skills and the value of risk-taking in the creative process.

Surviving architecture education and its notoriously challenging curriculum is an achievement worthy of reflection from time to time. It is an experience unlike any that many of us former and current students can attest to, one that stretches us to our cognitive, emotional and physical limits. Demanding a frenetic production of work with unfamiliar principles and materials, we spend our school years crafting a range of projects that develop our design-thinking and -making abilities.

CIVIL ENGINEERING ABBREVIATION

A.A.S.H.T.O – American Association of State Highway Transport
A.B – Anchor Bolt Or Asbestos Board
A.C.I – American concrete institute.
A.R.E.A – American Railway Engineering Association.
A.S.C – Allowable stress of concrete.
A.S.T.M – American Society for Testing Materials
AC – Asphalt Concrete
AE – Assistant Engineer
APM – Assistant Project Manager

B.M – Benchmark
B.M – Bending moment.
B.O.F – Bottom Of Foundation
BHK – Bedroom, Hall, Kitchen
BLK – Block Work
BOQ – Bill Of Quantities
BRW – Brick Retaining Wall
BWK – Brick Work
C.I.Pipe – Cast iron pipe.
C.I.Sheet – Corrugated Iron sheet.
CBW – Concrete Block Wall
CC – Cement concrete.
CC – Centre To Centre
CE – Chief Engineer
CIP – Cast In Place
CJ – Construction Joint
CL – Centre Line
CMU – Concrete Masonry Unit
CP – Cement plaster.
CPM – Critical path method.
CRW – Concrete Retaining Wall
CS – Comparative statement.

D – Diameter
D.L – Dead load.
Dia – Diameter
DIM – Dimension
DL – Development Length
DPC – Damp proof course.
DPR – Daily Progress Report
DRG – Drawings
DWLS – Dowels
E.L – Environmental load.
EGL – Existing ground level.
EJ – Expansion Joint
EL – Existing Load
ELCB – Earth Leak Circuit Breaker
F.M – Fineness Modulus.
FGL – Formation ground level.
FL – Floor Level
FOC – Factor Of Safety
Ft – Foot Or Feet
GL – Ground Level
GP – Ground plane.
HAC – High Alumina Cement
HFL – Highest flood level.
HP – Horizontal plane.
IOM – Inter Office Memo
ISI – Indian Standard Institute.
JE – Junior Engineer
JST – Joist
Kg – Kilogram.
L.L – Live load.
LC – Lime concrete.
LW – Light Weight
LWC – Light Weight Concrete
M – Meter
MB – Measurement book.
MCB – Miniature Circuit Breaker
MEP – Mechanical Electrical Plumbing
MFL – Maximum Flood Level
MM – Millimeter.
MRC – Material Receipt Challan
MT – Metric Tonnes
N – Newton
NCF – Neat cement finishing.
OGL – Original ground level .
OPC – Ordinary Portland Cement
OSR – Open Soace Reservation Area

PC – Pile Cap
PC – Precast Concrete
PCC – Plain Cement Concrete
PERT – Programme Evaluation and Review Technique.
PL – Plinth level.
PM – Project Manager
PO – Purchase Order
PPE – Personal Protective Equipment
PPR – Poly Propylene Random.
PSF – Pound Per Square Foot
PSI – Pound Per Square Inch
PVC – Polyvinyl Chloride
PWD – Permanent Works Engineer
QC – Quality control
QS – Quantity Surveyor
R.B.W – Reinforced brick work.
RBC – Reinforced Brick concrete.
RC – Reinforced Concrete
RCC – Reinforced Cement Concrete
RL – Reduced level.
RMC – Ready Mixed Concrete concrete.
SCC – Self Compacting Concrete
SRC – Sulphate Resisting Cement
STP – Sewage Treatment Plant
SWG – Standard wire gauge.
TB – Tie Beam
TBM – Tunnel Boring Machine
TDS – Total Dissolved Solids
TMT – Thermo Mechanical Treatment
TOB – Top Of Beam
TOC – Top Of Concrete
TOW – Top Of Wall
U.S.C – Ultimate stress of concrete.
UPVC – Unplasticized Polyvinyl chloride.
USD – Ultimate strength design.
VP – Vertical plane.
W.C – Water closet.
W.S.D – Working stress design.
WL – Working Level
WO – Work Order