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Kelvin Gacheru:Photo Courtesy
Kenyan entrepreneur makes it to African Prize finals for tackling water challenges
Kenya’s Kelvin Gacheru’s has been shortlisted for the for the Royal Academy of Engineering Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation which is set to take place on May 23 2017 in Nairobi for the first time.
Kevin’s innovation is Mobi-Water, a smart solar-powered water monitoring system.
In Kenya, where 40% of urban and 60% of rural residents lack access to a safe and reliable water source, the water resource engineer designed the Mobi-Water system to enable water tank owners to monitor and control the water levels in their tanks from any location using their mobile phones.
Mobi-Water sends a text message alert to up to 10 mobile numbers when water levels drop below a certain point. Users can remotely open and close valves and pumps if they want to refill the tank or redirect the water.
Kevin joins three other finalists from Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda, who were chosen for their engineering innovations which provide solutions to local problems.
The winner will receive £25,000 (Ksh3.34 million) and £10,000 (Ksh1.33 million) will be awarded to each of the runners up.
The four finalists were selected from a pool of 16 shortlisted candidates from across sub-Saharan Africa, who all received six months of training and mentorship.
