“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink,” wrote English poet Taylor Coleridge.
The 18th Century poet could well have had the residents of Kilifi County in Kenya in mind when he wrote those now-famous words.
For, while Kilifi is surrounded by Indian Ocean water, walking for more than 10 kilometres in search of the life-giving commodity has become the norm in the county.
And it’s not just the salty ocean water that Kilifi residents have in abundance –which they can’t drink.
Most of them are connected to the Kilifi Mariakani Water and Sewerage Company (Kimawasco), which continues to collect fees for tap water they don’t get anymore.