Improved water supply in Tanzania

This project increases access to safe drinking water for a population of at least 2000 people and gives the opportunity to create documentation which proves the positive effect of manual drilling methods for upcoming water supply projects with other donors.

Goals overview

The main goal is to create 20 functioning safe water points for 2000 rural people

Secondly to ensure sustainability for upcoming drinking water projects by investigating the water quality of wells after drilling with low cost drilling fluids during several stages of well development and desinfection. This creates documentation of proof on using low cost drilling fluids which will ease the acceptance of manual drilling in large scale capacity building and water supply projects.

Thirdly to train the local partners in water quality testing, well development and geo-hydrology.

Current status

The project is able to start 2010 with the field partner SHIPO and support partner PRACTICA in Tanzania, using previously trained drilling teams, which will drill 20 wells enabling water access for 2000 people. Contacts with Universities, local authorities and laboratories are in place enabling field assistance

Project plan

There are many areas around the globe where manual drilling can effectively provide drinking water and irrigation water to un-served rural populations at a fraction of the cost of conventional (machine) drilling. This is especially true in small isolated communities that will never benefit from the large donor funded drilling projects because they are often not included in national plans and do not have the financial capacity and infrastructure to be reached for safe water supply.

Existing manual drilling teams are used to create the 20 sustainable water points as an affordable solution in the access to groundwater to a maximum depth of 30 meters. The technique uses cow dung, an excellent substance for low cost drilling fluids, but negative assumptions make organisations hesistant to rapidly accept the technique. The field experiences show otherwise and encourage low cost drilling fluids. The alternatives, such as biodegradable polymers are incredibly expensive and will add 15 - 20 % to the prise of a borehole, while cowdung is free and widely available

A solid investigation and proving facts could help to increase the progress and acceptance in many other upcoming water supply programs. Chad serves as an example project, where the Government was/is reluctant to accept low cost technologies such as manual drilling, but monitoring, testing, quality mechanisms and example projects helped to convince Government, which now accepted manual drilling as a national standard. This increased the number of water points drilled per year from 750 to 2000

The advantages;
- Cost effective: 4-10 times cheaper than a machine drilled borehole of the same depth and quality
- Creates employment and businesses that stay, also when donor projects are finished
- Better access to drilling sites, remote communities can be reached
- Locally fabricated tools, under € 2.100 initial investment for starting enterprises
- Ready-to-go in emergencies and in unstable countries
- Overcomes problems on water quality and quantity that exist in traditional water wells

Expected outcomes

• 20 functioning water systems
• 2000 rural people gain access to improved water supply
• Solid facts, reducing barriers on affordable water supply
• Better acceptance for upcoming drilling projects
• Capacity building for local partners

The output of the project has a high level of sustainability, where manual drilling projects are being implemented through local enterprises. These local drilling companies work through the private sector, creating a healty competitive environment with the machine drillers. It creates employment, and more important; knowledge and continuation of work stays in the country, also when donor projects are finished.