Why has Amani Garden picnic and event site stayed so green even during the prolonged dry period? Answer: because of its historic borehole. But the borehole failed in early October leaving the site without water. The good news is that Davis & Shirtliff Ltd, one of Kenya’s top water and energy companies, came to the rescue, again!
Amani Garden picnic & event site
The Amani Garden borehole pump was compromised during a routine service to repair a short circuit. By bad luck, as the pump was being pulled out of the 250m borehole, a pipe joint failed, and the pump plunged into the darkness of the hole.
Older Friends of Karura may remember that the borehole was ‘discovered’ by FKF and Davis & Shirtliff in 2012 during a tree-planting exercise that cleared the Amani site of an impassible thicket of the invasive Lantana shrub. History is vague on its origin. It could have been sunk in the 1930s, for the site was the home of the Karura forester at that time. It could also have been dug in the 1960s by the UN Development Programme part of a water resources survey of the greater Nairobi area.
Lowering the donated borehole pump, April 2015
Whichever the origin, Davis and Shirtliff Ltd, in a splendid CSR gesture, checked the borehole, found it sound and the water good, and then proceeded to rehabilitate it in 2015. They then provided FKF with a pump and fittings, offering free expertise and labor, and most parts at cost.
Flashback, April 2015: Commissioning the borehole. L to R: P. Njui, C. Mariotte, D&S staff, C. Boelcke, Edward Davis, Mutisya, Lorna & Alexander Davis
The recent mishap required bringing in a specialist borehole ‘fisherman’ team that managed after three days of grappling to recover the lost pump from the bowels of the earth. D & S checked the pump, found it had to be replaced, which they did, again f.o.c.
Many thanks to Davis & Shirtliff management and its team of experts who came to our rescue more than once to keep Amani Garden green.
