Watsan matters

Asha Rose Sillah fled South Sudan to Uganda in 2016 at the height of an emergency that saw thousands cross the border every day.

Water was scarce and dirty then – hardly adequate for her family of five children.

Trucks delivered water from a source 100 kilometers away on poor roads and refugees had to queue for hours to fill as many jerry cans as they could carry.

The minimum water requirement for a person is 20 liters a day.

Three years ago, the supply in Bidi Bidi was at an average 2.3 liters per day.

Today, solar powered borehole set up by UNHCR with investment from partners and the private sector pumps ground water to water points closer to almost 500 households.

The capacity of the pump is 85,000 liters of water per hour, but only 45,000 litres is extracted to avoid depleting the aquifers – to manage the resource and take care of the environment.

The plan is to one day hand over the facility to the Ugandan government to boost water supply in the district.

It is an example of how smart investment can strengthen the response to displacement and ease the burden on host communities through shared resources.

Drilling for water is complicated.

Most of the construction is underground and much can go wrong.

If drillers are not paid anything for dry boreholes then all the risk is passed to them.

Good drilling contract management requires an understanding of the uncertainties; stakeholders need to work together.

The four steps to better drilling are:

(i) preparing a procurement plan, (ii) a systematic contract award process, (iii) professional contract management, including regular communication, supervision and timely payment and (iv) monitoring and reporting after construction.

Water supply systems fail for a number of reasons.

One reason is that the borehole was not properly constructed in the first place.

This short film explains the procedures needed to provide a good drilled water supply that can last for many years.

Construction needs to be carried out by a reputable driller and there is need for independent and professional supervision.

Pump failure can be caused by poor quality borehole design or construction.

Meet Henry the handpump mechanic as he learns about the basics of good of borehole siting, design, construction and well development.

Find out about casing and screen, gravel pack, and the sanitary seal and see that silting is one reason that boreholes fail.

Groundwater cannot be found everywhere.

If properly located, a borehole can provide a good supply of water.

If it is not, it will fail resulting in wasted investment.

This short film explains good borehole siting and its importance.