Homa Bay County, which controls 80 percent of Kenya’s share of Lake Victoria, is turning to solar technology to tackle the long-standing challenge of unsafe drinking water.

According to the county health department, cases of waterborne diseases remain high, particularly among island communities that rely directly on the lake for drinking water.

In Suba North’s Lwanda Beach, environmentalist Otieno Odak has pioneered a solar-powered digital water purification project that is transforming lives. 

So far, more than 20 purification stations have been set up along the lake’s beaches, offering residents safe and clean water.

Local residents Wycliffe Otieno and Vidah Akinyi testified that before the project, they frequently battled waterborne illnesses. 

Today, they say cases have reduced significantly, and families are healthier.

The innovation has also enhanced safety, as women no longer risk their lives fetching clean water deep in the lake and children are spared from dangerous hippopotamus encounters.

The solar-powered water stations now offer hope to thousands in Homa Bay who, despite living beside Africa’s largest freshwater lake, have struggled for years without safe drinking water.