Ngumi Water and Sanitation Project is located about 35 km from Nairobi in Kikuyu location of the County of Kiambu. The area has no surface water and the nearest river is more than 8 km away. The story of this community-based project started in 1994, when the residents came together and formed the organisation with the main aim of providing water.

Karanja Mungai, the chairman of Ngumi Water and Sanitation Project, says it was very cumbersome for the community at Ngumi to access adequate clean water and they often spent the whole day trying to fetch one jerrican of water: "As a community we needed a project within the community that could get us water."

In 2010, Ngumi Water and Sanitation Project approached the Water Fund for a partnership they believed would enable them access adequate and safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities. This dream soon became a reality when the WSTF, impressed by the residents’ plan to solve their persistent water problem, partnered with them through its Rural Investment Programme. “WSTF funded our project in two phases, the first phase is where we put up the structures and sunk a borehole for the cost of KES 8 million. The Ngumi community contributed 15% of that amount through labour and construction materials. The second phase was also funded by the Water Fund at the cost of KES 4 million,” explains
Karanja Mungai.

The WSTF's Rural Investment Programme is developed to enhance the capacity of communities to apply for, manage, implement and maintain their own water and sanitation facilities, and Ngumi Water and Sanitation Project is a shining example. The project delivers clean piped water to its members and a host of other beneficiaries including schools, hospitals, churches and even farmers who are practising greenhouse agriculture. The project has also constructed modern toilets and sanitation facilities, located in selected public places, to improve hygiene and reduce the disease burden amongst the community. Ngumi Water and Sanitation Project has so far connected and serves 170 households, which translates to over 3000 residents, with clean piped water, and remains a big success and example of how a community can transform lives by working together.