Wastewater Treatment in Nairobi: Scaling Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production in the Nairobi Rivers Basin

Last updated on 25 November 2025

Background Information

The Kenya National Cleaner Production Centre (KNCPC) is leading this Nairobi-based project which is designed to pilot solutions for water pollution caused by the discharge of untreated/poorly treated industrial effluent by multiple industry types. The project falls under the umbrella of the Nairobi Rivers Basin Commission, launched by President William Ruto in February 2023, to reclaim the rivers of Nairobi as a spine to the city’s blue and green infrastructure for a better urban environment and quality of life.

From experience, KNCPC understands that manufacturers struggle to adopt progressive improvements and investments into cleaner infrastructure for a range of reasons – poor organisational capacity, lack of understanding of the most suitable technology to address their needs, and low understanding of the long-term commercial benefits. The challenge of limited information and understanding of the commercial business case is shared by the financial sector, with the result that financing is not readily available for required investments in Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production (RECP).

The project kicked off with a scoping exercise to map the most urgent water pollution challenges and the priorities in the basin. Priority industries were invited to work alongside the project, specifically to receive support from KNCPC in the form of site evaluations, recommendations on RECP interventions and staff training on these practices. The KNCPC aims to work with up to 100 manufacturers for RECP training and audits. Sites are audited for specific infrastructure investments and an assessment is made on what type of financing solutions are suitable and what investment readiness interventions may be required to support this. The project partner, Fintech Frontiers, will be developing a case for the return on investment and facilitate engagement with financial partners. By bringing finance providers on board and providing specific training to investors on the business case for cleaner production investments, the project seeks to address a significant barrier to physical investments in pollution abatement. With better information on the water pollution situation in the Nairobi Rivers, the project will also bring policymakers into the discussion to address policy incentives and better regulatory control.

The broad scale work is paired with targeted wastewater treatment interventions at two pilot sites. These pilot sites will be used to build case studies and as demonstration sites that will illustrate environmental compliance benefits and the long-term financial benefits of circular water use and greater resource efficiency. The wastewater case studies will be used alongside the broader campaign to implement RECP practices amongst the heaviest polluting industries in the Nairobi Rivers Basin and to show the potential for large-scale environmental improvements in the water quality of the Nairobi Rivers.

Image: Nairobi river flowing through Kibera, Nairobi

Source: AP News, Khalil Senosi (link)

Updates

Resource efficiency and cleaner production:
The project is supporting 25 businesses operating along the Nairobi Rivers Basin with implementing resource efficiency and cleaner production (RECP) practices categorised in 6 thematic areas, namely water and wastewater management, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste management, industrial symbiosis, and environmental compliance. Safeguarding and gender equity and social inclusion (GESI) are integrated in RECP best practise. The participating businesses have collectively invested over USD 1 million in RECP. Current data shows a significant reduction in water consumption, energy use, and waste generation, as a result of simple changes like fixing leaks, installing metering, analysing materials use, replacing outdated equipment, and sensitising staff. An increase in industrial symbiosis is also observed with businesses being supported to generate income from their waste. The implementation of RECP is led by qualified youth, with strong backing from the management of the businesses.

The participating businesses were selected based on mapping, wastewater assessments, RECP training and audits conducted through the project. The mapping included 224 businesses, of which half were assessed on their wastewater pollution load. There are over 4,000 businesses operating along the Nairobi Rivers Basin. From this, 80 businesses participated in RECP training.

The key findings from the wastewater assessments revealed that

the estimated pollution levels from the 121 businesses assessed is 130,718 tonnes/year for Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and 1,809,295 tonnes/year for Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). 
100 of these businesses have wastewater treatment plants installed, however not all meet NEMA requirements
85 businesses discharge their wastewater to the public sewer 
9 businesses are sewerage handling companies 
74 businesses are compliant with NEMA BOD limit of 500 mg/l 
54 businesses are compliant with the NEMA COD limit of 1,000 mg/l

Hybrid wastewater treatment demonstration:
The first demonstration wastewater treatment plant under this project is fully operational at Ultravetis East Africa Ltd, a pharmaceutical animal health company operating in the Nairobi County. Ultravetis is now compliant with NEMA’s Fifth Schedule Standards (sewer discharge) and has, as a result, acquired ISO certification. Ultravetis is reusing treated water for non-critical processes (cleaning, toilets).

Preparations for the installation of the wastewater treatment plant at Yetu Tanneries, the second demonstration site, is ongoing. 

Financial advisory:
Consultations with local commercial banks, Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation and businesses participating in RECP are underway, to inform the development of financial and credit assessment models suitable for financing the uptake of resource efficiency and cleaner production.  

Stakeholder engagement:
The project has ongoing engagement with various stakeholders through stakeholder workshops, bilateral meetings and sharing of the data generated through the project. The stakeholders include Nairobi Rivers Commission, National Environmental Management Authority, Water Resource Authority, Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Kenya Private Sector Alliance, Kenya Bankers Association, respective county governments, and water and sewerage companies. 