Visitors to the Giraffe Centre in Nairobi can feed Africa’s tallest giants by hand pellets prepared from molasses. It’s one of the area’s most popular tourist attractions, and it’s helped save the Rothschild giraffe, which is severely endangered.
It’s only fitting, then, that the centre is also home to another conservation effort, this one focusing on the preservation of a rapidly diminishing natural resource: water.
Who is the founder of the project?
“[The Giraffe Centre] desired something green and in keeping with its concept. Mshila Sio, the founder of Kenyan firm Omiflo, says, “It’s a really lovely project that’s also saving them a lot of money.” At the location, the company has developed a plant-based hydroponic system that filters wastewater and can then be utilised for gardening, toilet flushing, and other purposes.
Omiflo was the winner of No waste challenge
Omiflo was chosen one of 16 winners of the No Waste Challenge, an international design competition organised by What Design Can Do.In Kenya, sanitation and availability to clean water are major issues. Only 29% of Kenyans have access to basic sanitation, according to Unicef, a ratio that has decreased by 5% since 2000.
With Kenya’s urban population predicted to more than triple by 2050, from 12 million to 40 million, water use and wastewater management will become increasingly importaOnly 40% of Nairobi is currently linked
The idea of the startup
Sio had the concept for the company while on vacation in Spain. He stumbled upon a company named Hydrolution that had developed a plant-based wastewater treatment system. Sio then spent years hounding the creators for the answer to be brought to Nairobi.
When Hydrolution went out of business in Spain due to the financial crisis in 2013, they lost touch. As a result, Sio made the decision to do it himself. Omiflo launched its first project in 2018, and since then, the company has Installed 200 systems around the world.
