Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Oct 2016

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 10/08/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

This project is a part of our shared program with Safe Water and Sustainable Hygiene Initiative (SAWASHI). Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed).

Welcome to the Community

Imbiakalo Community is home to peasant farmers who grow crops like maize, millet, beans, and potatoes. The most popular crop is sugarcane, since farmers can sell their entire harvest to local sugar factories. Men are the ones who spend the most time on farms, but many youth help cut sugarcane when it is ready for harvest. The youth here also harvest sand for construction projects as a way to supplement family income.

This area has an approximate population of 500 people from 50 different households.

Women are the ones most responsible for household upkeep. They cook, clean, and are seen most at the water points fetching water for those tasks. They must always ensure water is available at the home, regardless of factors such as time, distance, and water quality.

Water Situation

Kenya Finland Company drilled a well for this community in 1989. They saw the need for not only a safe water point, but a source in the village itself. Women were walking long distances to fetch water from springs (over one kilometer away). The well served the community for ten years until the pump failed. The community tried to repair the pump with local, mismatched materials so that it could continue to yield water. These temporary parts caused the pump to wear out faster, until it could no longer function. Women then had no other choice but to start making trips to the unprotected springs again.

In 2011, Water for All saw the need for a new pump and thus installed a solar pump. This worked for two years and then failed. Since there was nobody around to fix the pump anymore (the organization no longer exists), the community once again returned to the spring.

Women bring plastic containers to fetch water from the spring. One is a large jerrycan, and the other a smaller container to fill the jerrycan with water. Once home, water is separated by use. Drinking water is stored in large clay pots for drinking, since they keep the water cooler. These have covers and a cup which the entire family uses to draw and drink water. Water for cooking and cleaning is kept in the jerrycan in which it was fetched.

We met Lilian Matendechere at the well we plan to rehabilitate (check out the picture of Lilian under the "See Photos & Video" tab). She regrets how she has no other choice but to fetch water from the spring. She said, "There is regular outbreak of diarrhea and typhoid in both the young and the old, hence we use a lot of money in treatment." Fetching water from the spring doesn't only cause waterborne diseases. Having a water source so far away results in an acute water shortage. Women cannot afford for all of their time to be spent walking to and from the spring. Families must sacrifice cleanliness to have enough with which to cook and drink.

Sanitation Situation

Most of the households here have a pit latrine. Most of these are made of mud and grass, and have no doors for privacy. The same number of households have bathing rooms to practice personal hygiene. Under a quarter of households have a place to wash hands after using the latrine or before eating.

Facilities are not kept as clean as they should because of the water shortage. Hands are not washed because drinking water is more important. We believe that if there is a water source in the community, sanitation and hygiene will improve. The fact that most people here have a latrine proves that they care about these matters.

Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training

Community members will be trained for two days on applicable hygiene and sanitation practices. The facilitator will use the PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Training) method to teach about topics like: Importance of Using Latrines, Good and Bad Hygiene Behavior, Water Treatment, Water Storage, Food Preparation and Storage, Disease Transmission Routes, Blocking the Spread of Disease, and last but not least, Hand-Washing!

Training will result in the formation of a water user committee which will oversee, manage, and maintain the rehabilitated well. Participants will be taught how to build a tippy tap, which is a hand-washing station made out of a jerrycan, rope, and sticks. The facilitator will also encourage every household to build new sanitation facilities like latrines, bathing rooms, dish racks, and clotheslines.

Plans: Hand-Washing Stations

Two hand-washing stations are scheduled for delivery by the time well rehabilitation is complete. Training participants will be taught the steps to effective hand-washing, and of the importance of using a cleaning agent such as soap or ash. Water user committee members will also check that there is water inside the containers on a daily basis.

Plans: Well Rehabilitation

The community affirms that this well has sufficient water that will supply them throughout all seasons. The well has a total depth of 47 meters and a static water level of 10 meters.

The rehabilitation process will include material collection, pad reconstruction, flushing, test pumping, water quality testing, water treatment, and then pump installation.

With this well protected, community members will suffer less and less from waterborne disease. If they practice what they learn in hygiene and sanitation training, they will suffer less and less from communicable disease. Less disease means less money spent on medical treatment, and more time spent earning a living.

Project Updates


December, 2017: A Year Later: Imbiakalo Community

A year ago, generous donors helped rehabilitate a well with Imbiakalo Community in Western Kenya. Because of these gifts and contributions from our monthly donors, partners can visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partner, Paul Weringa, with you.




Project Photos


Project Type

Abundant water is often right under our feet! Beneath the Earth’s surface, rivers called aquifers flow through layers of sediment and rock, providing a constant supply of safe water. For borehole wells, we drill deep into the earth, allowing us to access this water which is naturally filtered and protected from sources of contamination at the surface level. First, we decide where to drill by surveying the area and determining where aquifers are likely to sit. To reach the underground water, our drill rigs plunge through meters (sometimes even hundreds of meters!) of soil, silt, rock, and more. Once the drill finds water, we build a well platform and attach a hand pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around five gallons of water per minute! Learn more here!


A Year Later: Imbiakalo Community

December, 2017

Before, our children used to have running stomach because of drinking water, and typhoid was also a great threat among elderly people who spent most of their time in hospital beds seeking treatment. Instead of spending time in hospitals, we now spend time on our small farms planting and harvesting crops.

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Imbiakalo Community.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Imbiakalo Community maintain access to safe, reliable water. Together, they keep The Water Promise.

We’re confident you'll love joining this world-changing group committed to sustainability!

A year ago, generous donors helped rehabilitate a well with Imbiakalo Community in Western Kenya. Because of these gifts and contributions from our monthly donors, partners can visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partner, Paul Weringa with you.


Imbiakalo Community stood out to Paul as a place that's been doing extremely well on their journey with clean water. They no longer fight waterborne diseases like typhoid, and he sees a big change in how community members are handling, storing, and treating their drinking water.

Paul adjusts the jerrycan as it fills with clean water from the well.

Paul met the well caretaker, Martin Shimaka, to talk about how the well has been serving Imbiakalo over the past year. He said, "Women and children used to walk two kilometers away to search for water. Most of our homes are now closer to this source, making it easier to have clean, safe water. Before, our children used to have running stomach because of drinking water, and typhoid was also a great threat among elderly people who spent most of their time in hospital beds seeking treatment. Instead of spending time in hospitals, we now spend time on our small farms planting and harvesting crops.


Our livestock even enjoy the water from this well, unlike before when we lost lots of our livestock through death that came from drinking contaminated water from the river. They are now healthy and have better milk production."

Rhoda and Paul at the well

12-year-old Rhoda Misango agreed, saying that "every time I fell sick, I was found to have typhoid. Now, I have no big problems."


The Water Project and our partners are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by monthly donors, allows us to visit communities up to 4 times a year. Read more about our program and how you can help.


Navigating through intense dry spells, performing preventative maintenance, conducting quality repairs when needed and continuing to assist community leaders to manage water points are all normal parts of keeping projects sustainable. The Water Promise community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Imbiakalo Community maintain access to safe, reliable water.

We’d love for you to join this world-changing group committed to sustainability.

The most impactful way to continue your support of Imbiakalo Community – and hundreds of other places just like this – is by joining our community of monthly givers.

Your monthly giving will help provide clean water, every month... keeping The Water Promise.