Rainwater harvesting in Guinee Bissau

Guinee-Bissau is one of the poorest countries in the world. The villages in the project are located in a delta near the sea. Most inhabitants are of the Balanta tribe, they are self- sufficient ricefarmers. In the dry season the wells dry up during March, April, May and June. The deeper groundwater is salt, therefore deep wells give non potable water. The 50 tanks are planned to be build in the village Cobumba. It means that women and often girls have to walk several km a day to obtain drinking water from inland wells. Girls cannot go to school because of these tasks. When there is no time to fetch clean water, families don't have another choice but to drink the polluted water. As a result diarrhea and cholera often occurs, wich translates into a mortality rate of children up to 5 years of 20%. Latrines are still rare in Tombali, therefore these are part of the overall program.

Goals overview

The goal is to improve drinking water quantity and quality for 50 family households in rural Guinee-Bissau through rainwater harvesting tanks. The overall programme has also the goal to supply households with adequate sanitation and improved hygiene. The second goal is to ensure sustainability by transfering the skills to construct watertanks, hygiene facilities and toilet facilities to 10 local masons.

Current status

The described project is a part of a bigger project: De Gevulde Waterkruik, which started in 2005. Since then 200 watertanks and 20 latrines were realized. 75 masons of watertanks were trained. 6 trainers of masons and 2 managers were educated. The first year a Dutch mason provided training, nowadays this is done by themselves. Once a year the Dutch projectleader pays a visit to monitor, evaluate and to introduce improved technologies. We are the first Rainwaterharvesting project in Guinee-Bissau. The project started in the village Bedanda and has now spread to the whole Region Tombali. Besides the normal 5m3 size, also 10m3 and 0,5m3 tanks were build.

Presently 200 families are using drinking water from our tanks. The water is appreciated for its quality and stays clean in the dark tank. Exceptionnaly people use cheap filters. Tank-owners share water to neighbours without tanks. Our trainers helped UNICEF to build the first watertanks at schools, by training their masons.

Project plan

In 2010 evaluation of the overall project inclusive Cobumba, wll take place under supervision of RAIN by an independent expert. RAIN, De Gevulde Waterkruik and the expert (Henk Holtslag) will prepare together the programme of qualifications and demands, to make an independant measurement and evaluation possible.

This project is a part of a drinkingwater and sanitation project with a focus on low cost and smart technology. The project leaders are connected in a knowledge network with other organisations like Connect International, RAIN, Unicef, WOT, ADPP, AKVO etc. This project can contribute to a larger scale implementation of similar cheaper tanks elsewhere.

Safe drinkingwater and sanitation is one of the Millenniumgoals of the UN. Investigations shows that families with good water and a toilet are much healthier and take a more active part in the local economy.
Children have more opportunities to go to school. Improvements in water and sanitation bring 5$ to 28$ returns for every dollar spent. “Evaluation of the Cost benefits of Water and Sanitation ”. WHO, 2004

Expected outcomes

• 50 watertanks of ferrocement, 5000 l. each
• 10 trained masons on construction watertanks and maintenance

Rainwaterharvesting offers a sustainable and renewable watersupply option. In the rainy season from June to October there is abundant water streaming from the houseroofs in the tank. (Rainfall of avarage 2000 mm yearly during last 20 years) Rainwaterharvesting with roofwater systems has negligable negative impacts on the environment or ecosystem function. A ferrocement tank consists of cement and steel, wich guarantees a long lifetime, usually 10 to 15 years and more. In the Middle East, there are still cisterns (watertanks) in use dating from the Roman Empire.

Our technology of collecting water from roofs in ferrocement tanks is developed and adapted in the local context of the Balanta village. Because a tank is owned by one family, the oldest woman of the family feels responsable for control, cleaning and maintenance. A family contributes €15,00 in money and material for her tank, to increase the sense of ownership. €15,00 is a relatively large amount in Guinee-Bissau. Normally there are no maintenance costs, just cleaning costs. When a tank leaks, it is possible to repair it in a simple way using cement. In every village there are masons who can do the repair if necessary.
The materials, cement and steelwire can be bought in Catio, the capital of the region.

The projectmanager and the trainers were born and live in Catio or neighbouring villages. Everyone knows them and can find them for help. They have their own tank at home and instruct neighbours how to use it. No chemical product or plastics are used in the tank. All the tools are context appropriate and locally available in Catio.