Project Status



Project Type:  Protected Spring

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 140 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Jul 2023

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/07/2024

Project Features


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The 140 community members who live in Enyakwaka rely on Eviratsi Spring to meet their daily water needs for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and more, yet, collecting water from the spring is not an easy task. An attempt was made to protect the spring in the past, but the spring still faces several challenges.

The spring box is wide open to contamination, and the water point is flooded because it doesn't drain properly. To collect, people must step into muddy ankle-deep water, trying not to slip while navigating dirt, rocks, and debris on the spring floor. To fill their water jugs, they submerge them into the dirty water and place them under the improvised collection pipes. And without stairs, access in and out of the spring is tricky, especially when it rains.

Forty-six-year-old farmer Anne Awinja shown below at the spring, shared, "The current water affects me personally because I take a lot of time queuing in the spring. Also, I am forced to step inside the water so that I can fetch water. This leads to contamination of the water hence increased cases of waterborne diseases."

Because the spring is not operating optimally, it takes a long time for people to draw water, evidenced by the long queues throughout the day, which begin first thing in the morning and continue long into the evening.

Due to the delays, community members either do not have time to accomplish their other important tasks for the day or they must forego collecting water until another time, exacerbating their water issues.

“When water comes from improved and more accessible sources, people spend less time and effort in physically collecting it, meaning they can be productive in other ways.” - WHO

"I cannot fetch water in the early morning because I will be late to get to school. So I normally go for water late [in the] evening, but sometimes I find many people, which makes me do my homework late. This affects my concentration on my academic work," said 12-year-old Maria M., seen at the spring below.

By protecting this spring, community members will be able to quickly and safely access water and should be able to accomplish their daily tasks more easily.

What We Can Do:

Spring Protection

Protecting the spring will help provide access to cleaner and safer water and reduce the time people have to spend to fetch it. 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.

Fetching water is a task predominantly carried out by women and young girls. Protecting the spring and offering training and support will, therefore, help empower the female members of the community by freeing up more of their time and energy to engage and invest in income-generating activities and their education.

Training on Health, Hygiene and More

To hold training, we work closely with both community leaders and the local government to approve small groups to attend training. We ask community leaders to invite a select yet representative group of people to attend training who will then act as ambassadors to the rest of the community to share what they learn.

The training will focus on improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits in this community. With the community’s input, we will identify key leverage points where they can alter their practices at the personal, household, and community levels to affect change. This training will help to ensure participants have the knowledge they need about healthy practices and their importance to make the most of their water point as soon as water is flowing.

Our team of facilitators will use a variety of methods to train community members. Some of these methods include participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation, asset-based community development, group discussions, handouts, and demonstrations at the spring.

One of the most important issues we plan to cover is the handling, storage, and treatment of water. Having a clean water source will be extremely helpful, but it is useless if water gets contaminated by the time it is consumed. We and the community strongly believe that all of these components will work together to improve living standards here, which will help to unlock the potential for these community members to live better, healthier lives.

We will then conduct a small series of follow-up trainings before transitioning to our regularly scheduled support visits throughout the year.

Training will result in the formation of a water user committee, elected by their peers, that will oversee the operations and maintenance of the spring. The committee will enforce proper behavior around the spring and delegate tasks that will help preserve the site, such as building a fence and digging proper drainage channels. The fence will keep out destructive animals and unwanted waste, and the drainage will keep the area’s mosquito population at a minimum.

Project Updates


July, 2023: Enyakwaka Community Protected Spring Completed!

Enyakwaka Community now has access to clean water! Thanks to your donation, we transformed Eviratsi Spring into a flowing source of naturally filtered water. We also installed a chlorine dispenser to provide added protection and trained the community on improved sanitation and hygiene practices. Together, these components will unlock the opportunity for community members to live better, healthier lives.

At the spring.

"The protection of the spring will reduce [our] incidences of waterborne diseases," Farmer Harrison Mulupi, 69, shared.

Children were just as excited as adults about the new water point.

"I will not take [a] long time to fetch water at the spring. I will concentrate on my academic work. Before the completion of the spring, I used to [have to] step inside [the] water to fetch it. So this forced me to walk barefooted to the unprotected spring to fetch water. Now that the spring protection is done, I can access the water point through [the] stairs. This has made it very convenient to draw water from the protected spring," Maria M., 16, said.

Maria fetching clean water.

Preparing for Spring Protection

Community members worked together to source and carry all locally available construction materials to the spring. These included bricks, sand, stones, and fencing poles. Some people also chiseled away at large rocks to break them into gravel. Because people have to carry most items by hand, the material-collection process can take anywhere from a few weeks to months.

When the community was ready, we sent a truck to deliver the remaining construction materials, including cement, plastic tarps, and hardware. Then, our construction artisan and field officers deployed to the spring to begin work. Individual households provided meals throughout each day to sustain the work team.

From Open Source to Protected Spring: A Step-by-Step Process

First, we cleared and excavated the spring area. Next, we dug a drainage channel below the spring and several runoff diversion channels above and around the spring. These help to divert surface contaminants away.

Excavating the site.

To ensure community members could still access water throughout the construction process, we also dug temporary channels around the construction site from the spring's eye. This allowed water to flow without disrupting community members' tasks or the construction work. Excavation created space for setting the spring's foundation, made of thick plastic, wire mesh, concrete, and waterproof cement.

Laying the foundation.

After establishing the base, we started brickwork to build the headwall, wing walls, and stairs. Once the walls had grown tall enough, we began one of the most crucial steps: setting the discharge pipe. The discharge pipe needs to be positioned low enough in the headwall so the water level never rises above the spring's eye, yet high enough to allow room for the average jerrycan (a 20-liter container) to sit beneath the pipe without making contact, which prevents cross-contamination.

Setting the discharge pipe.

If we place the discharge pipe too high above the spring's eye, back pressure could force water to emerge elsewhere. Too low, and community members would not be able to access the water easily. We embedded the pipe using clay (or mortar when the clay is in short supply) and placed it at an incline to ensure water flows in the right direction.

In coordination with brickwork, we pitched stones on both sides of the spring's drainage channel. We then cemented and plastered each stone, forming the rub walls. These walls discourage people and animals from standing in that area, which could cause soil erosion and a clogged drainage area.

We then cemented and plastered both sides of the headwall and wing walls. These finishing layers reinforce the brickwork and prevent water in the reservoir from seeping through the walls. In turn, enough pressure builds in the reservoir box to push water out through the discharge pipe.

As the headwall and wing walls cured, we cemented and plastered the stairs and installed four tiles beneath the discharge pipe. The tiles protect the concrete from the falling water's erosive force while beautifying the spring and facilitating easy cleaning of the spring floor.

Setting the tiles.

The final stage of construction is backfilling the reservoir box behind the discharge pipe. We cleared the collection box of any debris that may have fallen during construction. Then we redirected the temporary diversion channels back into the reservoir box, channeling water into this area for the first time. We close all other exits to force water through only the discharge pipe.

We filled the reservoir area with the large, clean stones community members had gathered, arranging them in layers like a well-fitting puzzle. We covered the rocks with thick plastic to minimize potential contamination sources, then piled enough dirt on top to compensate for future settling.

Community members transplanted grass onto the backfilled soil to help prevent erosion. The collection area was fenced to discourage any person or animal from walking on it. Compaction can lead to disturbances in the backfill layers and potentially compromise water quality.

Planting grass.

The construction process took about two weeks of work and patience to allow the cement and plaster to finish curing. As soon as the spring was ready, people got the okay from their local field officers to fetch water.

Clean water!

We officially handed over the spring to mark the community's ownership of the water point. Happiness, thanksgiving, and appreciation were the order of the day, flowing in all directions.

After the completion of the project, the community members gathered together and danced and sang songs of celebration. The village elder was available to witness the flow of clean water. The community members pledged to work together to maintain the protected spring.

Celebrating the spring!

Training on Health, Hygiene, and More

Together with the community, we found their preferred date for training while considering other community calendar events, such as the agricultural season and social events. We requested a representative group of community members to attend training and relay the information learned to the rest of their families and friends.

When the day arrived, facilitators Rose Amulavu and Mary Afandi deployed to the site to lead the event. 15 women attended the training. This event was attended by all women as the men were busy helping the artisan to implement the spring protection. We held the training at the newly protected spring.

Training.

We covered several topics, including community participation in the project; leadership and governance; personal, dental, and environmental hygiene; water handling and treatment; spring maintenance; the importance of primary health care and disease prevention; family planning; soapmaking; how to make and use handwashing stations; and the ten steps of handwashing.

During the leadership and governance session, we held an election for the newly formed water user committee leaders, who will oversee the maintenance of the spring. We also brainstormed income-generating activities. Community members can now start a group savings account for any future minor repairs to the spring and a cooperative lending group, enabling them to develop small businesses.

A popular topic was solar water disinfection. The facilitator explained how to use clean and transparent containers to treat water under the sun. Community members were taught how many days to use water and when to change it. This was a new topic to the participants, they were excited to learn about this simple method of ensuring safe water for their families.

Another topic that was very popular was character development. The training facilitators shared that it was good to talk to the young women, many of whom were already married. Most of them had dropped out of school. They were taught about modeling respect and healthy behaviors for their children.

Demonstrating solar water disinfection.

"The training was valuable to me because I have been taught as a mother or parent to be [a] role model to young girls. My character can affect my children in [the] future," Businesswoman Elizabeth Alukwe, 29, shared.

Completed training.

Conclusion

This project required a substantial collaboration between our staff, our in-country teams, and the community members. When an issue arises concerning the spring, the water user committee is equipped with the necessary skills to rectify the problem and ensure the water point works appropriately and there is guaranteed public access in the future. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact their local field officers to assist them.

Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our monitoring and maintenance program. We walk with each community, problem-solving together when they face challenges with functionality, seasonality, or water quality. Together, all these components help us strive for enduring access to reliable, clean, and safe water for this community.

With your contribution, one more piece has been added to a large puzzle of water projects. In Kenya, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, we’re working toward complete coverage. That means reliable, maintained water sources within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. With this in mind, search through our upcoming projects to see which community you can help next!

Thank you for making all of this possible!

Happy for clean water!




May, 2023: Enyakwaka Community Spring Protection Underway!

A severe clean water shortage in Enyakwaka Community drains people’s time, energy, and health. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this community through the introduction and pictures we’ve posted, and read about this water, sanitation, and hygiene project. We look forward to reaching out with more good news!




Project Photos


Project Type

Springs are water sources that come from deep underground, where the water is filtered through natural layers until it is clean enough to drink. Once the water pushes through the surface of the Earth, however, outside elements like waste and runoff can contaminate the water quickly. We protect spring sources from contamination with a simple waterproof cement structure surrounding layers of clay, stone, and soil. This construction channels the spring’s water through a discharge pipe, making water collection easier, faster, and cleaner. Each spring protection also includes a chlorine dispenser at the waterpoint so community members can be assured that the water they are drinking is entirely safe. Learn more here!


Contributors

1 individual donor(s)