Water Treatment
Plant Design,
Supply & Installation
Borehole water, river water, or mains supply — Maji Hill designs, supplies, installs, and maintains the water treatment system that makes your specific water safe, clean, and compliant. Iron removal. Fluoride reduction. Reverse osmosis. UV disinfection. Softening. Packaged community WTPs. Designed from your actual water quality test results — not a generic catalogue system.
WHY WATER QUALITY TESTING AND TREATMENT IS NON-NEGOTIABLE IN KENYA
Many Kenyan properties consume untreated borehole or surface water that appears clear but contains fluoride, iron, nitrate, hardness, or microbial contamination at levels that pose real health risks. You cannot tell from appearance or taste alone. The Kenya Bureau of Standards drinking water standards exist for a reason — and a properly designed, installed, and maintained water treatment system is what ensures your water meets them.
Designed from Your Test Results — Not Generic
The most common mistake in water treatment is installing a generic system without first testing the water. Fluoride removal media does not remove iron. Iron removal filters do not address microbial contamination. UV disinfection does not reduce dissolved solids. Maji Hill designs every treatment system from the actual laboratory analysis of your water — ensuring the system addresses the contaminants that are actually present at the concentrations actually measured.
Protect Health — Especially Children and Pregnant Women
Fluoride above 1.5 mg/L causes dental and skeletal fluorosis. Nitrate above 50 mg/L causes methaemoglobinaemia in infants. E. coli and total coliforms cause acute gastrointestinal illness. Arsenic and lead cause long-term neurological damage. None of these can be detected by sight or taste. Water quality testing followed by appropriate treatment is the only protection against invisible chemical and microbial hazards.
Protect Your Assets and Equipment
Hard water deposits calcium scale inside geysers, solar water heaters, coffee machines, industrial boilers, and pipe systems — reducing efficiency and shortening operational life dramatically. Iron stains sanitary ware, laundry, and food processing equipment. A correctly specified water softener or iron removal filter eliminates these operational costs and extends equipment life significantly.
KEBS and NEMA Compliance
Hotels, schools, hospitals, food processors, and bottled water producers are legally required to supply water meeting Kenya Bureau of Standards drinking water quality standards. NEMA inspections increasingly include water quality verification. A documented treatment system with periodic water quality test results is the evidence of compliance that protects your operating licence.
Complete Supply Chain — One Contractor
Maji Hill provides the water quality testing, treatment system design, equipment supply, installation, commissioning, operator training, and annual service — under a single contract. This eliminates the coordination problems that arise when testing, design, supply, and installation are managed separately, and ensures the installed system actually matches the design and the lab results.
Ongoing Performance and Annual Maintenance
A water treatment system that is not maintained progressively loses effectiveness — UV lamp output drops, filter media exhausts, membranes foul. Maji Hill offers annual maintenance contracts covering UV lamp replacement, filter media assessment and replacement, membrane integrity testing, system performance checks, and water quality verification — ensuring your system continues to produce compliant water throughout its operational life.
WATER QUALITY PROBLEMS MAJI HILL TREATS ACROSS KENYA
These are the most common water quality challenges found in Kenyan boreholes, rivers, and mains supply — each requiring a specific treatment technology matched to the contaminant and its concentration.
WATER TREATMENT PLANT PACKAGES BY PROPERTY TYPE
Select your property type for the standard treatment package scope and what is included in a full Maji Hill WTP installation.
Residential WTP Package
- Water quality test (full KEBS parameter set)
- Treatment system design from test results
- Sediment pre-filter with automatic backwash
- Iron / manganese removal filter where required
- Fluoride removal unit (bone char or alumina) if needed
- Water softener for hardness where present
- UV disinfection unit for microbial safety
- Post-treatment storage tank and distribution pump
Residential Inclusions
- Accredited laboratory water quality report
- System design document
- Supply and installation of all components
- Commissioning and performance testing
- Post-installation treated water quality verification
- User manual and operator training
- 12-month installation warranty
- Annual service contract available
Hospitality WTP Package
- Full water quality characterisation
- High-flow multimedia filter train
- Iron and manganese removal at capacity
- Softening system for laundry and kitchen
- Reverse osmosis for kitchen and bar water
- UV disinfection on all potable supply lines
- Chlorination dosing system for storage tanks
- Treatment train sized for peak occupancy demand
Hospitality Deliverables
- Hydraulic design with peak demand sizing
- KEBS compliance certificates
- Tourism Board water quality documentation
- Hotel operator training programme
- Monthly water quality monitoring contract
- Annual system service and membrane replacement
- Emergency response for system failures
- ESG water quality reporting data
Industrial WTP Package
- Process water quality analysis — full parameter set
- High-capacity multimedia filter train
- Softening or deionisation for process requirements
- Reverse osmosis for high-purity process water
- Industrial-grade UV or ozone disinfection
- Cooling water treatment (scale and corrosion)
- Boiler feed water treatment
- SCADA integration for automated monitoring
Industrial Deliverables
- Process water quality specification and design
- Hydraulic and process engineering drawings
- NEMA compliance water quality reports
- ISO 14001 water management data
- Predictive maintenance schedule
- 24/7 emergency support for critical systems
- Quarterly performance and quality reports
- Capital equipment replacement planning
Community WTP Package
- Community water quality survey and testing
- Packaged community WTP — solar powered option
- Slow sand filter or roughing filter for turbid sources
- Fluoride or iron removal at community scale
- Chlorination system with automatic dosing
- Storage and distribution point design
- Community operator training (Kiswahili materials)
- O&M manual and spare parts package
Community Deliverables
- KEBS-compliant treated water quality test
- ONA/KoBoToolbox compatible data package
- Donor reporting compatible documentation
- WRMA and NEMA regulatory documentation
- Community water safety plan
- Water user committee training
- Annual water quality monitoring programme
- Remote monitoring option via GSM
WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES MAJI HILL DESIGNS AND INSTALLS ACROSS KENYA
Each water quality problem requires a specific treatment technology. Maji Hill selects and sequences the correct technologies based on your actual water quality test results — not a standard catalogue configuration.
Iron and Manganese Removal Systems
Iron and manganese are among the most common borehole water quality problems across Kenya’s basement rock terrain. Elevated iron gives water a metallic taste, causes reddish-brown staining of sanitary ware, laundry, and food processing equipment, and promotes the growth of iron bacteria that foul pipework and filters. Manganese causes black or grey staining and neurological effects at high concentrations. We design iron and manganese removal systems using the technology matched to the concentration and form — dissolved iron at low concentrations is typically treated by aeration followed by greensand or birm media filtration; higher concentrations or colloidal iron may require oxidation by chlorine or potassium permanganate followed by multimedia filtration. All systems include automatic backwash to regenerate the filter bed.
Fluoride Removal Systems
High fluoride is a significant public health issue across Kenya’s Rift Valley and ASAL regions — causing dental fluorosis in children and skeletal fluorosis in adults at sustained high exposure. The KEBS drinking water limit is 1.5 mg/L. Maji Hill installs fluoride removal systems using bone char (activated and calcined cattle bone — effective, relatively low cost, and well-proven in Kenya), activated alumina (higher fluoride removal capacity, used where bone char is insufficient), or reverse osmosis for very high fluoride concentrations or where other parameters also require treatment. System sizing is based on the measured fluoride concentration, flow rate, and contact time to achieve reliable reduction below the KEBS limit.
Reverse Osmosis Systems
Reverse osmosis is the most comprehensive dissolved contaminant removal technology available — reducing TDS, salinity, fluoride, nitrate, heavy metals, and most other dissolved ions to near-distilled water quality by forcing water under pressure through a semi-permeable membrane. In Kenya, RO is specified for high-TDS borehole water, saline coastal boreholes, high-fluoride water where bone char is insufficient, nitrate contamination, food and beverage processing water requirements, and anywhere high-purity water is needed. Maji Hill designs RO systems from single domestic units through to large multi-membrane skid-mounted systems for hotels, factories, and community plants — including pre-treatment to protect membranes and reject stream management.
UV Disinfection Systems
Ultraviolet disinfection is the most reliable, chemical-free method for inactivating bacteria, viruses, and protozoa in water — including E. coli, total coliforms, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium — without adding taste, odour, or chemical residues. A UV lamp emitting 254 nm wavelength light inactivates microorganisms by damaging their DNA, preventing reproduction. UV is effective only in clear water — turbidity above approximately 1 NTU significantly reduces UV transmission, so pre-filtration is always required before UV. Maji Hill selects and sizes UV systems based on the confirmed water flow rate and the required UV dose (mJ/cm²) for the target organisms. UV lamps require annual replacement to maintain efficacy, included in our maintenance contracts.
Water Softeners — Ion Exchange
Water hardness — calcium and magnesium in solution — causes progressive scale deposits inside geysers, solar water heaters, coffee machines, industrial boilers, cooling towers, and pipework. Scale reduces heat transfer efficiency, increases energy consumption, and shortens equipment life. Ion exchange softeners exchange calcium and magnesium ions for sodium ions in a resin vessel, regenerated periodically with sodium chloride salt. The softened water is scale-free, significantly extending the life of downstream equipment. We design and install softeners for domestic, hotel, and industrial applications — sizing the resin volume to the flow rate and hardness concentration to achieve the required softening capacity between regeneration cycles.
Packaged Community and Rural Water Treatment Plants
For rural communities, schools, health facilities, and NGO WASH programmes, Maji Hill designs and installs packaged community water treatment plants that address the specific water quality challenges of the local source — whether borehole, spring, river, or rainwater. Packaged systems are containerised or skid-mounted for ease of installation, sized for community population, and designed for operation by trained community operators without engineering expertise. Solar power options eliminate dependence on the grid. All community WTPs are designed to produce water meeting KEBS drinking water standards, with a community water safety plan, operator manual in Kiswahili, and a trained local operator at handover.
HOW WE DESIGN AND INSTALL YOUR WATER TREATMENT PLANT
From water quality testing to a certified, commissioned treatment plant — a clear six-step process with no guesswork and a post-installation water quality certificate.
Water Quality Testing
Treatment System Design
Equipment Supply
Installation and Pipework
Commissioning and Optimisation
Training and Handover
WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES — WHAT EACH ONE REMOVES
No single technology removes all contaminants. This guide shows which technology addresses which problem — and why treatment systems must be designed from test results, not assumptions.
| Technology | Iron / Mn | Fluoride | Hardness | Bacteria / Virus | Nitrate / TDS | Turbidity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sediment / Sand Filter | Partial only | No | No | No | No | Yes — primary use |
| Iron / Manganese Filter | Yes — primary use | No | No | No | No | Partial |
| Fluoride Removal (Bone Char / Alumina) | No | Yes — primary use | No | No | No | No |
| Water Softener (Ion Exchange) | No | No | Yes — primary use | No | No | No |
| Activated Carbon Filter | No | Partial only | No | No | No | Partial |
| UV Disinfection | No | No | No | Yes — primary use | No | No — needs pre-filter |
| Chlorination | No | No | No | Yes — bacteria | No | No |
| Reverse Osmosis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (membranes) | Yes — primary use | Needs pre-filter |
This table shows the primary removal capability of each technology in isolation. Treatment systems are designed as a sequence (train) — pre-filtration → main treatment → disinfection — with each stage addressing a specific contaminant group. Maji Hill designs the complete treatment train based on your laboratory results to ensure every parameter exceeding the KEBS standard is addressed.
WHAT WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM DO YOU NEED?
Answer four quick questions for a personalised recommendation — from a single-stage treatment unit to a full multi-stage water treatment plant.
What water quality problem are you experiencing?
What is your water source?
What is the property type?
Have you already done a water quality test?
WATER TREATMENT PLANT INSTALLATION COVERAGE ACROSS KENYA
Maji Hill designs and installs water treatment systems across all 47 counties of Kenya. Type your county or town to confirm coverage.
WHAT CLIENTS ACROSS KENYA SAY ABOUT MAJI HILL WATER TREATMENT
Feedback from homeowners, hotel operators, farmers, and NGO project teams whose water quality challenges Maji Hill has resolved across Kenya.
“We drilled a borehole on our Baringo farm and the water came out clear but with a strong smell and slightly yellow tinge. Maji Hill did the water test — fluoride at 4.2 mg/L, iron at 1.8 mg/L. They designed an aeration tank for iron removal, followed by an activated alumina fluoride removal unit and UV disinfection. Post-installation test showed fluoride at 0.6 mg/L and iron at 0.05 mg/L — both well within KEBS limits. The system runs automatically and we’ve had no issues for 18 months.”
“Our hotel in Diani was getting guest complaints about scale in showers and a slight metallic aftertaste in water. Maji Hill tested our borehole — high hardness and elevated iron. They installed a twin-tank iron removal filter followed by a commercial water softener and UV on the drinking water line. No scale issues at all since commissioning. The treated water quality certificate they issued satisfied our Tourism Board requirement completely. They service the system annually and we’ve not had a single call-out.”
“We installed community boreholes in Turkana County with elevated fluoride — a common problem in that area. Maji Hill supplied and installed bone char fluoride removal units at six sites, trained community operators in Kiswahili, provided replacement media schedules, and tested the treated water at each site. All six passed the KEBS fluoride limit at commissioning. They gave us everything we needed for our UNICEF programme reporting. Technically excellent and responsive to community needs.”
GET A WATER TREATMENT SYSTEM DESIGNED FROM YOUR ACTUAL LAB RESULTS — ANYWHERE IN KENYA
Iron removal. Fluoride reduction. Reverse osmosis. UV disinfection. Water softening. Packaged community WTPs. Every system designed from your water quality test results — not a generic catalogue. Installed, commissioned, and maintained by Maji Hill across all 47 counties of Kenya.
REQUEST A WATER TREATMENT PLANT DESIGN AND PROPOSAL
Tell us about your water source, water quality problem, and property. If you have existing laboratory results, mention them — we will prepare a system design proposal and respond within one working day.
WATER TREATMENT PLANT KENYA – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Honest answers to the questions homeowners, hotel managers, farmers, and NGO teams across Kenya ask before commissioning a water treatment system.
What water quality problems does borehole water commonly have in Kenya?
Borehole water quality problems in Kenya vary by geology. The most common issues are elevated iron and manganese — found widely across basement rock terrain and giving water a metallic taste, reddish-brown staining, and unpleasant odour; high fluoride — common in Rift Valley, ASAL areas, and parts of eastern Kenya, causing dental and skeletal fluorosis; hardness from calcium and magnesium — causing scale in pipes and appliances; turbidity from poorly developed boreholes; microbial contamination from boreholes near sanitation infrastructure; and elevated nitrate from agricultural land or dense settlement. A comprehensive laboratory test identifies which parameters exceed KEBS standards at your specific site — this test is the essential first step before any treatment system is designed.
What is a reverse osmosis system and when is it needed?
Reverse osmosis (RO) forces water under pressure through a semi-permeable membrane that rejects dissolved ions — removing TDS, salinity, fluoride, nitrate, heavy metals, and most other dissolved contaminants to produce water of very high purity. In Kenya, RO is needed when fluoride exceeds the KEBS limit and cannot be adequately reduced by bone char, when TDS and salinity are high and taste is poor, when coastal boreholes have saline intrusion, and for food and beverage operations requiring very high purity water. RO produces a reject stream that must be correctly disposed of, and requires pre-filtration to protect the membranes. Maji Hill sizes, installs, and maintains RO systems from domestic units to large commercial skid-mounted systems across Kenya.
How do I know what water treatment my borehole needs?
The only reliable answer comes from a comprehensive laboratory test against Kenya Bureau of Standards drinking water standards. Fluoride, nitrate, and many heavy metals have no colour, taste, or odour at the concentrations that pose health risks — you cannot diagnose the problem without a lab test. Maji Hill carries out water quality sampling at the borehole following standard protocols and submits samples to an accredited laboratory. The results identify which parameters exceed the standards and by how much, and Maji Hill designs a treatment system specifically for the contaminants present at the measured concentrations. Installing a generic system without first testing is a common and expensive mistake — it may address the wrong problem or miss the most serious one entirely.
What is the difference between water softening and water purification?
Water softening removes hardness — calcium and magnesium ions that cause scale in pipes, geysers, and appliances — by ion exchange. It does not remove fluoride, nitrate, dissolved solids, or microbial contamination, and softened water is not purified water. Water purification — using reverse osmosis, UV disinfection, or activated carbon — addresses a broader range of contaminants including pathogens and dissolved chemicals to produce water safe for consumption. Many Kenyan borehole installations require both softening for appliance protection and one or more purification stages for drinking water safety. Maji Hill designs treatment trains that address all identified contaminants in the correct sequence — softening at the appropriate point, disinfection always last.
How long does a water treatment system last and what maintenance does it need?
Well-maintained water treatment systems can operate for 10 to 20 years for pressure vessels, filter housings, and mechanical components. RO membranes typically require replacement every 2 to 5 years. UV lamps require annual replacement to maintain disinfection efficacy — a UV lamp at end of life passes water without effective disinfection even though it still appears to glow. Filter media — sand, activated carbon, greensand, bone char — requires periodic backwashing and replacement every 2 to 5 years depending on contaminant loading. Ion exchange resin regenerates with salt and lasts 10+ years. Maji Hill offers annual service contracts covering UV lamp replacement, filter media assessment, membrane integrity testing, water quality verification, and system performance checks — ensuring your system continues to produce KEBS-compliant water throughout its operational life.
Can Maji Hill supply and install water treatment for a community or NGO project in Kenya?
Yes. Maji Hill has extensive experience supplying and installing water treatment systems for rural community boreholes, schools, health facilities, and NGO WASH programmes across Kenya — including in ASAL areas where fluoride removal is critical. Community systems are designed for operation by trained community operators without engineering expertise, with solar power options where grid supply is unavailable. We deliver ONA and KoBoToolbox compatible data packages, KEBS water quality test certificates, community water safety plans, operator manuals in Kiswahili, and donor-reporting compatible documentation compatible with UNICEF, WHO, UN-Habitat, and World Bank frameworks. Annual monitoring and media replacement programmes are available for community systems on a contract basis.