The Drought Resilience Impact Platform — Fixing Uptime Now and Decision Improvement (DRIP FUNDI) was a $2 million, 18-month program funded by USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and implemented by the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) in partnership with Virridy from September 2023 to March 2025. The program targeted 200 boreholes across five ASAL counties in northern Kenya with the goal of providing sustainable water access for 120,000 people.
IF remote borehole monitoring data is utilized for timely decision-making on repair and maintenance, repair teams are supported to respond to borehole breakdown to improve borehole functionality, and carbon financing generated to sustain repairs, THEN communities in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands will have sustainable access to water for domestic uses.
Borehole data collected and made available to county teams and repair actors through asset inventories, spare parts lists, and sensor dashboards.
Broken boreholes repaired within 4 days through leveraging sensor data, timely spare parts access, and BRRT/private sector coordination.
BRRTs and private sector partners trained on accessing and interpreting Virridy sensor dashboards and mobile monitoring tools.
Carbon credit registration with Gold Standard for Global Goals to generate sustainable O&M financing from carbon markets.
264 boreholes visited
454 household surveys
240 water quality tests
46 KIIs · 15 FGDs
57 boreholes observed
132 household surveys
65 water quality tests
57 KIIs · 5 FGDs
The baseline was conducted by Losai Management Limited (Nov 2023 – Feb 2024). The endline was conducted by Vision Quest Consultants (Apr 4–13, 2025). Both used mixed-methods approaches including observation checklists, household questionnaires, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and water quality testing via the mWater platform.
The primary performance indicator for DRIP FUNDI was borehole uptime — defined as the percentage of days when a borehole is operational within a year. The program target was to increase uptime from a baseline of 77% (derived from Virridy sensor data) to 90% annually.
The baseline uptime of 84.4% was higher than the initial 77% estimate from sensor data, which was attributed to the selection of boreholes that were largely functional at the time of assessment. The endline showed a modest improvement of 1.3 percentage points to 85.7%, falling short of the 90% target. At the time of endline data collection, 96.5% (55 of 57) boreholes visited were functional.
| County | Boreholes Visited | % Broken Down | % Repaired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garissa | 8 | 81% | 65% |
| Isiolo | 12 | 77% | 73% |
| Marsabit | 10 | 86% | 76% |
| Turkana | 14 | 69% | 54% |
| Wajir | 13 | 89% | 89% |
Wajir was the only county where all broken boreholes were repaired. Turkana had the lowest repair rate at 54%, attributed to accessing spare parts and lack of transportation to remote areas.
A central promise of DRIP FUNDI was that broken boreholes would be repaired within 96 hours (4 days) to prevent communities from resorting to unsafe water sources. The endline evaluation revealed a significant gap between this target and actual performance.
Only 2.4% (n=1) of boreholes were repaired within the 4-day target. The majority (63.4%) took 5–30 days. Nearly 30% took more than 60 days, with 14.6% exceeding 121 days. The average notification time for breakdowns was 1–30 days, and the average response time was 2 days to 2 weeks — though response does not necessarily translate to completed repair.
| County | Avg. Notification | Avg. Response | Key Challenges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garissa | 1–2 days | 2 weeks | Security concerns, hard-to-reach locations, limited parts |
| Isiolo | 6–30 days | 2–3 weeks | Logistical challenges, long spare parts procurement |
| Marsabit | 2 weeks | 2–3 weeks | Few skilled personnel, logistical challenges |
| Turkana | 1–2 days | 1–3 weeks | Spare parts access, lack of transport, security, poor roads |
| Wajir | 1–2 days | 1 week | Logistical challenges, few human resource personnel |
DRIP FUNDI established a Feedback Complaints and Response Mechanism (FCRM) including a toll-free number, SMS line, email, and stakeholder meetings. At endline, 64.4% of households were aware of feedback channels, with in-person reporting to the borehole operator (96.5%) being the dominant method. No households used the toll-free line. Only 17.4% of household respondents had actually used the feedback mechanism.
DRIP FUNDI included inline chlorination via Klorman Inline Chlorinators installed at target boreholes. Water quality testing used the Aquagenx Compartment Bag Test for E. coli and Total Coliform presence/absence, following WHO standards (water should contain <1 CFU/100 mL of E. coli).
| Indicator | Baseline (Feb 2024) | Endline (May 2025) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Borehole E. coli positive | 50.4% (121/240) | Tested at 65 sites | — |
| Household E. coli positive | 74.6% (170/228) | — | — |
| Households treating water | 13% | Chlorination + boiling reported | — |
| Klorman chlorinators installed | 0 (pre-intervention) | 24 boreholes treated | +24 |
The baseline revealed widespread microbiological contamination. At the borehole level, 50.4% of 240 sites tested positive for E. coli. At the household level, contamination was even higher at 74.6% (170 of 228 samples), indicative of post-collection contamination during transport and storage. Only 13% of households reported treating their water, with chlorination and Aqua tabs as the predominant methods. The high borehole contamination was unforeseen and pointed to potential contamination at the water storage unit and possible cross-contamination from animal feces.
Virridy sensors were installed on 153 boreholes across the five counties to enable real-time monitoring of borehole functionality and pumping hours. The sensor data was displayed on dashboards accessible to BRRTs and private sector partners.
The endline found that both BRRTs and private sector partners had access to and were using the Virridy sensor dashboards and mWater monitoring platform. The dashboards were used for:
However, 57.9% of borehole operators reported they had not been trained on borehole management. Only 12.3% of operators confirmed keeping updated borehole data records. The program over-relied on the sensor without significant human interaction, meaning O&M responses were only triggered when a malfunction was detected.
Both the baseline and endline evaluations identified persistent structural barriers that limited program effectiveness. These cut across institutional, financial, logistical, and human capacity dimensions.
County government procurement processes were not adapted for the 96-hour repair target. Procurement for diagnosis, spare parts, and actual repair took far longer, making the 4-day repair window unreachable in most cases.
Spare parts are not readily available locally. Below-ground asset specifications are often unknown until the pump is removed, requiring expensive test-pumping. Parts frequently must be imported or sourced from Nairobi.
Private sector partners faced cash-flow challenges that made it difficult to stock spare parts inventory. The result-based financing model required upfront investment that smaller firms could not sustain.
57.9% of borehole operators untrained. Limited skilled technicians in remote areas. BRRTs need advanced training on pump diagnostics and solar repair beyond basic data platform use.
Vast distances, poor road conditions, insecurity in some sub-counties, and rainy season flooding limit access to boreholes and delay repair team deployment.
Only 13 of 57 visited boreholes had complete logs. County teams lacked updated borehole asset inventories, making it difficult to identify compatible replacement components.
"We trust face-to-face the most because we can explain the problem fully and see the person's reaction. It also builds accountability."
The evaluation synthesis highlights both what DRIP FUNDI achieved and where the theory of change encountered friction with on-the-ground realities. The following recommendations emerge from both evaluations.
Establish adapted procurement pathways that align with the 96-hour repair target. Consider pre-authorized repair agreements and standby contracts to bypass standard county procurement timelines.
Include Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) and hygiene education to create demand for safe water and build community acceptance of chlorine treatment before installing chlorinators.
Invest in targeted capacity building for borehole operators and BRRT members on advanced pump diagnostics, solar repair, and preventive maintenance — not just data platform use.
Design for competing water uses (potable, animal, irrigation) to support faster diagnosis, spare parts procurement, and repair when breakdowns affect multiple user groups.
Map the complete water supply system for each borehole to identify point sources of contamination and enable targeted water quality interventions.
Explore additional funding streams beyond carbon finance — including county budget ring-fencing for WASH, institutional support for budget allocation, and results-based financing models adapted to local cash-flow realities.
| Indicator | Baseline | Endline | Target | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borehole uptime | 84.4% | 85.7% | 90% | Partial |
| Boreholes repaired within 96 hrs | 0 | 2.4% (n=1) | 100% | Not met |
| Virridy sensors installed | 0 | 153 | — | Achieved |
| Klorman chlorinators installed | 0 | 24 | — | Deployed |
| Households aware of feedback channel | — | 64.4% | — | Moderate |
| Borehole operators trained | — | 42.1% | 100% | Gap |
| Boreholes functional at visit | — | 96.5% (55/57) | — | Good |
| Households aware of program | — | 47.7% | — | Low |
| Borehole E. coli positive (baseline) | 50.4% | — | 0% | Concern |
| Household E. coli positive (baseline) | 74.6% | — | 0% | Concern |