Another 30 per cent of its water, Del Monte says, comes from Chania River and other small streams while the remaining 20 per cent comes from the polluted Athi River. On its sources of water, the company says 50 per cent is harvested from rain and stored in dams. The company says it has invested mainly in drip and centre-pivot irrigation systems over the years and harvests run-off water during the rainy seasons for use during drought when river water abstraction is restricted by the government. This translates to about 710 million litres every month. If it comes in contact with the soil, it will keep contaminating future crops over a long period of time.Ī pineapple plantation owned by Del Monte in Muka Mukuu, Kangundo.Īsked about its water sources and safety, Del Monte Kenya told the Nation that it has a monthly average water usage of about 710,000 cubic metres. Prof James Mbaria, the lead consultant for the Toxic Flow project, says aerial irrigation is the worst pollution culprit that spreads metals and other chemicals to crops because water is sprinkled on leaves, fruits, stems and roots. The water is pumped directly to the pineapple farm and fed into the aerial sprinklers, swaying in perfect symphony to splash the water up in sprays, which then rain onto the crop below. No distillation or purification of the river water is happening on the day we visit. However, there is a small problem: a section of its gigantic produce is irrigated by Athi River.
It boasts of being Kenya’s largest single processor of canned pineapple and its success has seen the country ranked among the top five pineapple exporters in the world. The multinational produces canned solid pineapple, juice concentrates, mill juice sugar and cattle feed. Its billions come from cultivation, production, and canning of pineapple products for both local and foreign markets. Across the bridge, traffic police go on with their extortionist business, undisturbed by the noise of the engine.ĭel Monte is one of the biggest food processing companies in Kenya. Excess water runs back towards the river. The pump pushes the water through large pipes over 100 metres away to sprinkle water on the fruit.
#SABAKI RIVER GENERATOR#
The generator gobbles up 120 litres of diesel every eight hours to chug water out of the river and pump it out into the expansive Del Monte pineapple farm up the road. The smoke pipe is turned away, facing the river. They have created a small opening for it through the labyrinth of water hyacinth choking this part of the river and sunk a rusty pipe. On this day, two men in blue aprons are manning the equipment that powers other machines. A few metres down the road is the famous Fourteen Falls, now a pale shadow of its former self. The generator, mounted on a four-wheeled trailer, billows on, slightly hidden by trees. Your food, including fruits, juices, meat and vegetables, could be highly toxic.Ī gigantic diesel generator stands next to Athi River, not too far from Thika in Kiambu.
Deposition of silty sediments occurred from mid-continental shelf seaward.The Nairobi-Athi-Galana-Sabaki river basin waters crops and farm animals. The lowest mean value of suspended solids was 0.010 g/l, while the highest mean value was 1.85 g/l. Generally, total suspended solids levels decreased both along and across shore. The plume moves both to the north and south of Sabaki river mouth, depending on the monsoon direction. The plume of total suspended solids facilitates along-shore transport more than across shore transport, and travels beyond the North and South limits of the study area at solids concentration levels of 0.010 to 0.500 g/l and 0.010 to 0.900 g/l respectively. During the study period, Malindi-Mambrui beach experienced net sediment gain as most heavy sediment grains from the river mouth were deposited along the beach and inter-tidal zone. Grain size decreases both across and along shore and ranges from medium to very fine. Sediments in the study area are moderately well to very well sorted. The highest sediment discharge occurs during the N.E monsoon period, attaining a range of 1.11x10 super(5) to 2.27x10 super(5) tons. The Sabaki River discharges 1.18x10 super(6) tons 2.47x10 super(7) tons of sediments per annum. Suspended solids, bottom sediment grain size distribution and mineralogy,and seasonal sediment discharge rates were measured. Abstract The study aimed at investigating transport and deposition of sediments discharged by the Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean.