These tanks are the best thing that happened to OlKalou farmers in recent years, as I am sure they are for other rural areas around the country. As long as a family can afford one, they can get the tank installed in the same week at relatively lower cost than the masonry tanks that takes months to construct.
The quality of the plastic water tanks has improved considerably over the years making them more durable. They come in brand names like Roto, KenTank, Top Tanks, Jojo Tanks, Jumbo Tanks, Skyplast Tanks, Techno Tanks and others. They come in various sizes giving farmers an option of purchasing one according to their financial ability. These tanks have become a familiar addition to a lot of homesteads and learning institutions in Nyandarua.
The tanks harvest a reasonable amount of water for families to use throughout the rainy season, but when the dry season sets in, families save the tank water for drinking and cooking only, while they fetch water from the local dam for all their other water needs like washing dishes, bathing, laundry and watering domestic animals. That is exactly how we handled our water situation when I was growing up in OlKalou back in the 1970s and 80s.
You would think something would have changed over the decades to make water accessible in homes, but apparently not. Thank God for those companies building these fairly affordable plastic water tanks. Families can harvest rain water and use it throughout the dry season, saving them from consuming the contaminated water of the highly polluted dam, eliminating water borne diseases. We celebrate victory wherever we can find it, and plastic water tanks have given so many families in OlKalou and elsewhere, dignity and good health. That’s a really big deal if you ask me.
