ChildFund, DuPont, Davis & Shirtliff and partners expand access to safe water in Baringo, Kenya, through new fluoride treatment plant

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Maureen Siele
Communications Advisor, ChildFund Africa
msiele@childfund.org
+254 788 434 951

ChildFund, DuPont, Davis & Shirtliff and partners expand access to safe water in Baringo, Kenya, through new fluoride treatment plant

Over 20,000 people access safe and reliable drinking water in Kampi Ya Samaki, Baringo County

BARINGO, Kenya, March 23, 2026: Marking World Water Day 2026, ChildFund has commissioned a new multi-technology water treatment plant in Baringo County, providing families in Kampi Ya Samaki with their first reliable source of safe drinking water.
For decades, residents have relied on untreated water from Lake Baringo, where naturally high fluoride levels exceed World Health Organization safety limits. This has led to widespread dental fluorosis and an increased risk of skeletal fluorosis, affecting generations of children and families.

The newly launched facility addresses this long-standing public health challenge by combining ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis technologies to remove fluoride and other contaminants at source. The system is expected to benefit over 20,000 people through an expanded distribution network serving households, schools, and a local health facility.

Delivered through ChildFund’s long-standing partnership with DuPont Water Solutions, the plant incorporates donated DuPont™ IntegraTec™ ultrafiltration modules and DuPont™ FilmTec™ reverse osmosis elements, alongside technical expertise, to produce a consistent supply of safe drinking water.

The project was implemented in collaboration with the County Government of Baringo, the Central Rift Valley Water Works Development Agency, Davis & Shirtliff, Hand in Hand Eastern Africa, and the Central Rift Community Development Program. This partnership brings together public, private and community actors to strengthen sustainability, local ownership and alignment with long-term water planning priorities.

“Partnerships are central to delivering solutions at this scale,” said Erin Kennedy, ChildFund’s VP for External Affairs and Partnerships. “In Baringo, we are seeing how coordinated investment and shared expertise can turn a long-standing public health challenge into a practical, community-driven solution that will serve families for years to come.”

“Beyond delivering safe drinking water,” said Alex Mucheru, who led this project for DuPont, “the project is expected to unlock broad social and economic gains — from better health outcomes and reduced medical costs to stronger school attendance — especially for women and girls.”

“This project shows us that solutions exist,” said Chege Ngugi, Africa Regional Director at ChildFund. “When we get the model right, it can be scaled to reach many more communities. It offers a clear blueprint for delivering safe water to underserved communities across Africa. Access to water should no longer be a barrier in the 21st century.”

Beyond Kenya, ChildFund, DuPont, Davis & Shirtliff and other partners are delivering scalable solutions to provide safe and reliable drinking water to communities in Uganda and Zambia. Since 2022, over 50,000 people have gained consistent access to clean and safe drinking water through these partnerships.

“This partnership shows what’s possible when advanced water treatment technologies are paired with deep technical expertise — and applied with purpose,” said Alex Lane, Regional Commercial Director for DuPont Water Solutions in Europe, Middle East and Africa. “We’re proud to continue our partnership with ChildFund and to bring our water treatment expertise to projects that deliver lasting community benefit. Working side by side, we can design and deploy solutions that are robust, locally appropriate and built to endure.”

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About ChildFund

ChildFund is a child-focused development organization that works across Africa, Asia and the Americas to support children to grow up healthy, educated, skilled and safe. In Kenya, it reaches approximately 3.1 million children and families through programs in health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), education, child protection, livelihoods, environmental sustainability and emergency response.