SFD Lite Report - Meru Town Municipality, Kenya

Meru town municipality is located in the Eastern region of Kenya, Meru County, Imenti North Sub County. It is located in the northeastern slopes of Mount Kenya. Meru town was founded in 1911 and it is the current headquarters on Meru County. It is the seventh largest urban centre in Kenya forming a municipality with a population of 240,900 inhabitants (KNBS, 2021). The town is about 1,500 m above sea level and experiences the equatorial highland climate as it is located 8 km north of the equator. The town is surrounded by densely populated urban-rural villages and farms. The town has grown up as an agricultural collection centre, administrative centre, commercial centre and educational centre (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2022).

Water and sanitation services are provided by the country government of Meru through the Meru Water and Sewerage Services (MEWASS). The supply of water currently is at 400 cubic metres per day and the treatment capacity of the system is 6,730 cubic metres (Figure 2). The population currently covered is estimated at 61,000 people living within 38 square kilometres. A population of 34,044 are not served within the area mentioned because of the community water projects present, which do not charge for the service (MEWASS, 2022).

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