Jimmy focuses on using technology to solve operational challenges and improve efficiency. As head of IT at Nairobi Water, he oversees systems that connect offices, dams and treatment plants while protecting against cyber threats. He is also a key player in tackling non-revenue water through smart metering and innovative solutions.
Jimmy Thuo plays table tennis and competes at the annual water company games, where different companies, including Nairobi Water, face off during the sports day. For the past 12 years he has helped his company’s team lift the cup, a record that has made him a consistent force at the tournament.
He spends weekends with his children, helping them with homework when he gets home early.
“Most nights during the week, they are asleep by the time I walk through the door. When I have time to myself, I read. I do not read novels. I read about AI predictions, new gadgets and innovations that make life easier,” he says
Life beyond work
Jimmy, the head of IT at Nairobi Water, joined the company in 2006 as a network administrator. He moved into database administration in 2013 and was promoted to acting director in 2025. He has spent nearly 20 years building the company's technology. This technology connects 27 offices, two data centres, three dams and multiple treatment plants across Nairobi and surrounding counties. He previously worked at a horticulture export company. However, Nairobi Water is where he has built his career.
“I’ve grown with the company. What keeps me here is knowing that the work we do truly matters. Making a real difference gives you the drive and motivation to keep pushing forward,” Jimmy says.
Cybersecurity is Jimmy's biggest concern. He is clear about the stakes. One successful attack could stop the company from functioning.
“It's just a matter of something happening and we are crippled completely. But we've invested heavily in firewalls, data encryption and web access,” he says.
The company runs an online portal for water connection applications. This portal is a frequent target. Attackers flood the system to make it unavailable.
“Clients try to make an application, but the system is unavailable. We realised somebody was launching denial-of-service attacks. We secure our website because it is also a target. You don't want to wake up and find the website defaced,” Jimmy says.
Internal threats, such as viruses and malware, are also a concern. Nairobi Water has invested in antivirus software and endpoint security for every device on its network, and so far, the company has avoided any major service-disrupting incidents. Jimmy says this is due to more than just firewalls and encryption.
“You can’t stop and assume you’re secure. We see threats every day, and our job is to make sure those attempts fail. So far, we’ve managed to stay afloat without a major incident. Sometimes cybersecurity involves a bit of luck, these attackers are serious, and if they want to bring you down, they will,” he explains.
The company has a dedicated cybersecurity section. A coordinator heads this section and reports directly to Jimmy. This structure reflects the serious nature of threats. Another challenge for Nairobi Water is non-revenue water. This is water the company produces but cannot bill for. This accounts for 54 per cent of their water.
“You tell somebody that figure and they wonder if you are serious. The accepted standard is 25 per cent. The extra water we lose is a major operational issue,” Jimmy says.
The water challenge
There are two causes of non-revenue water. Technical losses and commercial losses.
Technical losses arise from physical inefficiencies within the water supply system. These include leaks, burst pipes, aging infrastructure, and other faults within the distribution network. They also encompass transmission losses occurring along the bulk conveyance system between our source dams outside the city and the Nairobi distribution network.
Commercial losses, on the other hand, result from factors that affect accurate measurement and billing. These include meter inaccuracies, illegal connections, data handling errors and other illegal practices that interfere with accurate consumption measurement and billing.
“Some customers tamper with the meters so they under-register. Others remove the meters entirely to create bypasses. They use a pipe to divert water around the meter at night. By morning, they have the water, but the meter has not moved,” Jimmy explains.
Access is another problem.
“In some areas, customers refuse to let meter readers onto their property. In other areas, insecurity makes it dangerous for staff. They are sometimes robbed. We work under difficult circumstances,” Jimmy adds.
Jimmy points to technology as a countermeasure. The company is rolling out smart meters for high-consumption customers. These meters send readings automatically. This removes the need for on-site visits.
Accuracy has improved significantly.
“A connection which had a mechanical meter, after replacement with a smart meter, is now registering a 15 per cent increase in recorded consumption, " Jimmy says. “We see this is bringing value.”
The company is also implementing an integrated intervention leveraging geographic information systems (GIS), data analytics, and business intelligence (BI) to improve visibility, accuracy, and decision-making across the water distribution network.
Technology as solution
“Through GIS mapping of pipelines, valves, meters, and customer connections, we are creating a spatially enabled network model that allows us to pinpoint leak-prone zones, identify pressure imbalances, detect illegal connections and isolate high-loss areas with precision,” he says.
Complementing this, advanced data analytics and BI dashboards are being deployed to monitor consumption trends, flag anomalies, and detect discrepancies between water produced, distributed, and billed. Real-time analytics enable early identification of unusual consumption spikes, underperforming meters and revenue leakages, while performance dashboards provide management with actionable insights at zonal, regional, and company-wide levels. This data-driven approach has transformed NRW management from manual tracking to intelligent monitoring, strengthening revenue assurance, improving operational efficiency and supporting sustainable service delivery.
The company is piloting prepaid water meters for domestic customers, similar to the system used by Kenya Power. While the technology has made significant strides since 2010, Jimmy remains cautious about fully rolling it out.
“We want to run a pilot first,” he says. “We need to see how customers respond and understand the revenue impact before committing to a wider rollout.”
