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Bumira Community, Imbwaga Spring
0°07'11.7"N 34°49'53.3"E
Protected Spring
In many communities, natural springs exist as water flows from cracks in rocky ground or the side of a hill. Springs provide reliable water but that doesn’t mean safe. When left open they become contaminated by surface contamination, animal and human waste and rain runoff. The solution is to protect the source. First, you excavate around the exact source area of the spring. Then, you build a protective reservoir for water flow, which leads to a concrete spring box and collection area. Safe water typically flows year-round and there is very limited ongoing maintenance needed.
Project Details
Waterborne and water-related disease treatments have eaten into the little finances these families have. Having so many people suffering from these diseases causes overcrowding at the nearby health center in Mago, and there is often a waiting list to get help.
The Community
Bumira is a peaceful, rural village where noise is only heard in the evenings when children of Bumira schools go to play in the school field during game time. There is a lot of vegetation as the majority of people in this village practice agriculture. Houses are made of mud and aren’t in great condition.
Other than farming, there are casual labor opportunities available at the government offices in nearby Shamkhokho that help people earn a living.
Each day consists of the same types of activities: cooking, cleaning, and farming. Yet each of these activities requires water, which in turn requires a trip to Imbwaga Spring. This water source is unprotected and completely open to contamination. The water has formed a small pool where people come, squat down while balancing on a log, and dunk a container under the surface until full. During rainy seasons, the area around the spring gets muddy and slippery which causes spring users to fall down into the water.
Even though the spring is unprotected and exposed to contamination from runoff, human activity, and animals, people drink the water as is. Getting firewood for boiling water is so expensive and most people cannot afford WaterGuard to treat drinking water for everyone all year round. That is why they continue drinking that water even though they know very well that it is contaminated.
The Solution
Spring Protection
Protecting the spring will ensure that the water is safe, adequate and secure. Construction will keep surface runoff and other contaminants out of the water. With the community’s high involvement in the process, there should be a good sense of responsibility and ownership for the new clean water source.
Training
Community members will attend hygiene and sanitation training for at least two days. This training will ensure participants have the knowledge they need about healthy practices and their importance.
Sanitation Platforms
Training will also inform the community and selected families on what they need to contribute to make this project a success. They must mobilize locally available materials, such as bricks, clean sand, hardcore, and ballast. The five families chosen for sanitation platforms must prepare by sinking a pit for the sanitation platforms to be placed over. All community members must work together to make sure that accommodations and food are always provided for the work teams.
The information regarding this project was provided to Avana® by The Water Project. While the information contained within this website is periodically updated, no guarantee is given that the information provided in this website is correct, complete, and up-to-date. Due to the nature of the project, stage of completion and privacy concerns for project recipients, some photographs, diagrams and other depictions on this site may be illustrative and not representative of the actual project.