Rainwater Harvesting

Currently, women and children in the project area spend hours each day collecting water for productive use and drinking. Most months, water is collected from a local river. When the river runs dry, they get it from unprotected springs and wells. Often these sources are miles away from their homes and frequently contaminated. The impact of unsafe water has devastating effects on all users. Incidences of child mortality and morbidity are on the rise and children are often sick from diarrhea.

Goals overview

• Harvesting rainwater with 17 tanks to improve access to safe water. Depending on season and no. of people rooftop gutters draining into 5,000 liters capacity tanks could meet between 25-75% of a household’s water needs during rainy season and several dry months • Providing 17 latrines and educating on WASH issues. Children and women to be engaged and educated in WASH issues; build capacity of community on health and sanitation • Capacity of DFT will be strengthened through trainings on WASH

Current status

Project plan

This is a proposal to implement a project focusing on provision of sustainable income for the disadvantaged population through harvesting rainwater. The project will be implemented in North Showa administrative Zone of Amhara Region in Ethiopia in six small villages (Goshe Bado, Angollela, Mio Meda, Moya Mangult, Gift and Chimbre) and a local elementary school located around Debre Birhan town. ERHA intends to implement the project in partnership with "Developing Families Together (DFT)", an NGO working towards poverty reduction for improving the quality of rural life of the poor in Ethiopia. In collaboration with the ERHA, DFT will work to alleviate the problems of the community through:

• Harvesting rainwater by building 17 tanks which will improve the access to safe water. Depending on the season and the number of people in the household, rooftop gutters draining into a 5,000- liters' capacity rainwater tanks could meet between 25%-75% of a household’s water needs during the rainy season and several dry months that follow;
• Providing 17 latrines and educating on hygiene and sanitation issues. The disadvantaged segment of the population (mostly children and women) will be engaged and educated in health and sanitation issues. This will build the capacity of community on health and sanitation;
• In addition, the capacity of DFT will be strengthened through trainings on water and sanitation related topics.

Other expected results:

Water collected through rainwater harvesting prevents long queues at the springs, it saves time and backbreaking work for women and children and it is especially useful for older men and women who cannot go to the rivers or springs. Not having to fetch water means improved school attendance for children and more income generating activities for women. As water quality is usually better compared to existing sources, it is also expected to improve health of users.
Rainwater can also be used for other purposes, such as agriculture i.e. using it to grow nutritious food. Furthermore, it can be used to water domestic animals. With the strict attention to community awareness raising and education, the replicability and future cost sharing arrangements, the expected results and impacts could be by far greater.

Currently, women and children in the project area spend hours each day collecting water for productive use and drinking. Most months, water is collected from a local river. When the river runs dry, they get it from unprotected springs and wells. Often these sources are miles away from their homes, and unfortunately, the water is frequently contaminated. The impact of unsafe water has devastating effects on all users. Incidences of child mortality and morbidity are on the rise and children are often sick from diarrhea. Each episode hinders a child’s growth by lowering their appetite and reducing their calorie and nutrient uptake. Repeated infections can lead to increased malnutrition, which in turn increases susceptibility to further infection. Persistent diarrhea and severe diseases, such as cholera and dysentery, jeopardize children’s healthy development.

According to local statistics, more than 50% of the children are suffering from chronic malnutrition and more than 10% from acute malnutrition. Local sanitation customs further impede access to safe drinking water. Unsanitary conditions and practices at the household level, such as the absence of sanitary latrines, unsafe waste disposal and unhygienic behavior in childcare and food preparation, create a dangerous environment with health risks.

"The sustainability of the anticipated project is briefly highlighted hereunder:
• Technological sustainability: appropriate care taken in identifying and applying the different RWH technologies, research support, imparting knowledge (building awareness, participation and skill training), effectiveness of identified technologies (design review /durability), availability of access routes to improvements with the advent of access to research information through ERHA;
• Community management and ownership: Community organisation and training through the various capacity building inputs/activities and facilitation of communities’ active involvement would enlarge the local commitment and sense of ownership. Based on earlier experiences of managing RWH systems through local water management committees, ERHA is convinced that the long-term sustainability is ensured effectively. In case of unforeseen problems, the local water management committees can directly contact ERHA or DFT for assistance.
• Economic and financial sustainability: the RWH systems provided by the project require minimal provisions, with comparative advantage of requiring almost no running cost involved for their continued use. Once the RWH structures are built to good standards, the need and frequency for repairs is very limited. If any, these should be repairable with local materials and skills.
• Ecological sustainability: there is no any negative impact on the environment as a result of developing the RWH structures and accompanying technologies (like gutters and filters). Promotion of RWH contributes in forestalling such major ecological problems as overexploitation and dropping groundwater levels as well as the environmental pollution caused from applying high-tech water supply facilities. In addition, the excess rainwater from catchments usually percolates into the ground to recharge the groundwater.