Project Status



Project Type:  Sand Dam

Regional Program: Southeastern Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 300 Served

Project Phase:  Reserved

Project Features


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Community Profile

The 300 community members of Kilia rely on a sand dam and dug well in another community to meet their daily water needs, but the source is too far away. The everyday strain of collecting water from such a long distance is leaving community members exhausted, and they have little time for any other productive accomplishments.

In this region, rainfall is erratic, and droughts are frequent. To say the neighboring dam is overcrowded is an understatement, and the high volume of water users inevitably means people waste their valuable time waiting in long lines.

This is especially true during the dry season when more people flock to the dam in search of water. The long lines cause people to miss work and important time tending their crops. As a result, people suffer reduced incomes and food production, making it impossible to purchase things like soap or pay their children’s school fees.

"The existing water source, [a] shallow well and sand dam, are very far from the bigger percentage of the community members," said our field officer, Jefferson Mutie. "The distance is a major challenge due to the terrain of the region."

As Jefferson said, the rocky, dusty terrain makes the long distance strenuous for people to cross with water on their backs. If they can afford it, they use donkeys instead, but even the donkeys find ferrying water here challenging.

"I struggle to walk down the hill to the well, as you can see," said 65-year-old farmer Agnes Kaveke, shown below carrying water. "My age is not allowing me to walk for long, and especially in such terrain. If we get another [sand dam], this means that we'll be having a shorter distance to walk for water."

The prospect of another sand dam allows people like Agnes and 18-year-old Jane to dream of better lives.

"I will no longer need to walk for so long," said Jane. "At least I shall have enough time to concentrate on other activities such as cleanliness and cooking. Also, a small agriculture plan in my mind shall be actualized."

"Although we have an existing sand dam, we still have the urge to have many sand dams along this river. This will enable many community members to have access to clean, reliable, and safe water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and for agriculture," Agnes added.

"I would be very happy if we get another sand dam near us. It will be great to see every member of the community benefit from the project," said Jane.

And hopefully, with more ready access, community members will be able to turn their time and attention to other essential tasks that should improve their daily lives.

The Proposed Solution, Determined Together...

At The Water Project, everyone has a part in conversations and solutions. We operate in transparency, believing it benefits everyone. We expect reliability from one another as well as our water solutions. Everyone involved makes this possible through hard work and dedication.

In a joint discovery process, community members determine their most advantageous water solution alongside our technical experts. Read more specifics about this solution on the What We're Building tab of this project page. Then, community members lend their support by collecting needed construction materials (sometimes for months ahead of time!), providing labor alongside our artisans, sheltering and feeding the builders, and supplying additional resources.

Water Access for Everyone

This water project is one piece in a large puzzle. In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, we’re working toward complete coverage of reliable, maintained water sources that guarantee public access now and in the future within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. One day, we hope to report that this has been achieved!

Training on Health, Hygiene & More

With the community’s input, we've identified topics where training will increase positive health outcomes at personal, household, and community levels. We’ll coordinate with them to find the best training date. Some examples of what we train communities on are:

  • Improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits
  • Safe water handling, storage & treatment
  • Disease prevention and proper handwashing
  • Income-generation
  • Community leadership, governance, & election of a water committee
  • Operation and maintenance of the water point

We're just getting started, check back soon!


Project Photos


Project Type

Sand dams are huge, impressive structures built into the riverbeds of seasonal rivers (rivers that disappear every year during dry seasons). Instead of holding back a reservoir of water like a traditional dam would, sand dams accumulate a reservoir of silt and sand. Once the rain comes, the sand will capture 1-3% of the river’s flow, allowing most of the water to pass over. Then, we construct shallow wells on the riverbank to provide water even when the river has dried up, thanks to new groundwater reserves. Learn more here!


Contributors