Project Status



Project Type:  Protected Spring

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Mar 2018

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 02/03/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

This project is a part of our shared program with Western Water and Sanitation Forum (WEWASAFO). Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed).

Welcome to the Community

A typical day in the village of Mudete begins around 6am with the children heading off to school and the adults heading out to work. Most community members work at growing tea leaves which they sell to the Mudete Tea Factory.

We were directed to Mudete Community while doing a project at Evojo Secondary School. They told us many of their students live in Mudete, where they don’t have access to clean water. Clean water at school doesn’t mean much if these students have to drink dirty water at home.

Water Situation

1,500 community members rely on Wadimbu Spring to meet all of their water needs. (Editor's Note: While this many people may have access on any given day, realistically a single water source can only support a population of 350-500 people.  This community would be a good candidate for a second project in the future so adequate water is available. To learn more, click here.)

Wadimbu Spring is a permanent source of water that is high-yielding and serves a large number of people. We met Mrs. Sarah Dimbu who told us, "Wandibu Spring has been here since I was born, and I was born 68 years ago! The spring was existing and has helped us… as this is the only water source available here."

The children of Evojo Primary School School also fetch the water for each school day from this spring. However, the water contains bacteria, bugs, leaves, chemicals and other contaminants washed into the water during rains. And there are so many people who need to fill their jerrycans by dunking them into the water that a lot of time is wasted waiting in line … for dirty water to drink, wash with and cook with.

Sanitation Situation

50 - 75% of the households here have pit latrines which are semi-permanent, made of wood floors, walls of mud, old iron sheet roofs and doors often made of old bedsheets or old iron sheeting. They are often rickety structures that offer little privacy and can become unsafe after years of use. The wood floors cannot easily be cleaned and can decay to the point of collapsing, oftentimes while in use. The fear of falling through a latrine causes many potential users to seek privacy amongst bushes or behind buildings.

Many households have dish racks and clotheslines, although most are of a rudimentary nature. Many people heap up their solid garbage and allow it to decompose in their kitchen gardens. None of the households have hand-washing stations. This is about to change!

Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training

Community members will participate in a hygiene and sanitation training with the aim of learning all the health hazards and economic burdens caused by open defecation and other dangerous habits.

This training will ensure participants are no longer ignorant about healthy practices and their importance. The facilitator plans to use PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation), CLTS (Community-Led Total Sanitation), ABCD (Asset-Based Community Development), group discussions, handouts and demonstrations at the spring.  Training objectives will entail aspects of primary health care such as water pollution and hygiene, environmental hygiene, family planning and personal hygiene; spring leadership and management of water points; social enterprise and record keeping among others issues that will crop up during the training session. The people here are eager to learn!

Plans: Sanitation Platforms

On the final day of training, the Mudete's community members will select five of their families to benefit from new latrines. The five families must prepare by sinking a 2’ x 3’ pit over which the sanitation platforms will be placed.  When that is in place, they will build a superstructure over it according to their means. Selecting five of the neediest families will help decrease open defecation, protecting the entire community from this dangerous contamination.

Plans: Spring Protection

The community stands prepared to provide the locally available materials such as crushed rocks and gravel, clean sand, poles for fencing, unskilled labour and accommodation and food for the work team.

Protecting the spring will ensure that the water is safe, adequate and secure and allow the community to invest more of their time and energies in economically productive activities as well as family relationships. These families are eager to step into healthier and happier lives!

Project Updates


December, 2018: A Year Later: Mudete Community

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to protect Wadimbu Spring for Mudete Community in Kenya. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow our local teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories. Read more...




March, 2018: Mudete Community Project Complete

Wadimbu Spring in Mudete Community, Kenya is now a protected, clean source of water thanks to your donation. The spring is protected from contamination, five sanitation platforms have been provided for the community, and training has been given in sanitation and hygiene. You made it happen!  Now, want to do a bit more? Join our team of monthly donors and help us maintain this spring protection and many other projects.

Project Result: New Knowledge

A few community members got really excited about hygiene and sanitation training and made sure all of their family members, neighbors, and friends knew to attend. There was a total of 25 community members waiting at Mrs. Sarah Dimbu's homestead to learn about their water point and ways they can improve life in Mudete.

Participants posing for a group picture after demonstrations at the spring.

We used different ways to teach using charts, diagrams, pictures, handouts and leading participants through group discussions, lectures, and role plays. Previous visits to the community determined the most important topics, which included:

– Hand-washing and personal hygiene

– Handling water and food hygienically

– Safe waste disposal

– Water treatment

Sarah Dimbu said, "We have learned a lot, especially the ten steps of hand-washing. This is a lesson well-learnt, as many of us never knew these steps. We are going to educate the entire community and encourage them to practice the ten steps at all times. We are grateful for the training and may God mightily bless you as you continue to save more lives."

Project Result: Sanitation Platforms

All five sanitation platforms have been installed. These five families are happy about this milestone of having a private latrine all their own, and are optimistic that there will be much less open defecation. We are continuing to encourage families to finish building walls and roofs over their new latrine floors.

A woman poses next to her new sanitation platform as it dries.

Project Result: Spring Protection

Community members provided all locally available construction materials, e.g bricks, wheelbarrows of clean sand, wheelbarrows of ballast, fencing poles and hard core (crushed rock and gravel). Accommodations and meals were provided for the artisan, and we asked a few people to volunteer their time and strength to help him with manual labor.

The spring area was excavated to create space for setting the foundation of polyethylene, wire mesh and concrete. After the base had been set, both wing walls and the headwall were set in place using brickwork. The discharge pipe was fixed low in place through the head wall to direct the water from the reservoir to the drawing area.

As the wing walls and head wall were curing, the stairs were set and the tiles were fixed directly below the discharge pipe. This reduces the erosive force of the falling water and beautifies the spring. The process of plastering the head wall and wing walls on both sides reinforces the brickwork and prevents water from the reservoir from seeping through the walls and allows pressure to build in the collection box to push water up through the discharge pipe.

Lastly, the base of the spring was plastered and the collection box was cleaned. The source area was filled up with clean hardcore and covered with a polyethylene membrane to eliminate any potential sources of contamination.

A part of this process doubled as both a blessing and a challenge; this spring has such a high yield that the artisan struggled to divert the gushing water so that he could build the wall. Thanks to his perseverance, Wadimbu Spring has been transformed into a flowing, clean water source. Village Elder Zephan Majere spoke on behalf of his community, saying "Thank God we can now access clean, safe water. I have been brought up in this village and we have never experienced such positive developments.
Women and children used to slip while accessing the water point, hurting themselves, others had their bones dislocated. I am grateful to our partners for this wonderful initiative and be rest assured that we will forever maintain its functionality!"




January, 2018: Mudete Community Project Underway

Mudete Community will soon have a clean, safe source of water thanks to your donation. Community members have been drinking contaminated water from Wadimbu Spring, and often suffer physical illnesses after doing so. Our partner conducted a survey of the area and deemed it necessary to protect the spring, build new sanitation platforms (safe, easy-to-clean concrete floors for latrines), and conduct sanitation and hygiene training. Thanks to your generosity, waterborne disease will no longer be a challenge for the families drinking the spring’s water. We look forward to sharing more details with you as they come! But for now, please take some time to check out the report containing community information, pictures, and maps.




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!


A Year Later: Mudete Community

December, 2018

The people we spoke with in Mudete all noted that they’ve saved time fetching water ever since their spring was protected.

Keeping The Water Promise

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

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Mudete Community, Wadimbu Spring 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, your generous donation enabled us to protect Wadimbu Spring for Mudete Community in Kenya. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow our local teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – and we’re excited to share this one from local team member Lillian Achieng with you.


The community members in Mudete are enjoying the ever flowing water from their spring.

"We save a lot of time when we come to fetch water since we don't have to wait to access water like we used to," said Catherine Egehiza, adding that it fetching water is so easy the children can now help their parents.

Catherine Egehiza

The community members believe in themselves more than ever before, knowing that they can handle any project that comes their way. They now believe that they can do even more with what they have.

Protection of the spring is only one step along the journey toward sustainable access to clean water. The Water Project is committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by donors like you, allows us to maintain our relationships with communities by visiting up to 4 times each year to ensure that the water points are safe and reliable.

This is just one of the many ways that we monitor projects and communicate with you. Additionally, you can always check the functionality status and our project map to see how all of our water points are performing, based on our consistent monitoring data.

One project is just a drop in the bucket towards ending the global water crisis, but the ripple effects of this project are truly astounding. This project in Mudete is changing many lives.

"Fetching water after school hours for domestic use is now possible because we do not have to wait to get the water which means we can get it done before the sun goes down," said Beverlyne Akadanya, a 15-year-old girl.

Beverlyne Akadanya and Field Officer Lillian Achieng

This is only possible because of the web of support and trust built between The Water Project, our local teams, the community, and you. We are excited to stay in touch with this community and support their journey with safe water.

Read more about The Water Promise 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 Mudete Community, Wadimbu Spring 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 Mudete Community, Wadimbu Spring – 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.