Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Port Loko, Sierra Leone WaSH Program

Impact: 280 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Jun 2019

Functionality Status:  Low/No Water or Mechanical Breakdown

Last Checkup: 03/28/2024

Project Features


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The well at 8 BB Kamara Street is a model for a properly maintained water point. The 280 people in this community people prefer fetching water from this water point because the owner allows everyone to fetch free of charge, and when the pump breaks down he uses his own money to make repairs. The water from this water point is always chlorinated and the pump area is kept clean.

There is just one problem: It goes dry for three months out of the year.

The well owner must strictly ration water, forcing people to seek alternate sources like this open well:

These three dry months in the area expose people to unsafe drinking water, causing an increase in cases of waterborne illness for the community.

The owner of the well has volunteered to gather the manpower that is needed to see this project through. His family is going to cook and launder the clothes for the drill team.

Well Rehabilitation

The well marked for this overhaul is dry for three months every year and needs major work to supply adequate, clean water to the community year round. The pump will be removed, and a hand auger will be lowered inside and powered by a drill team. This hand auger will allow the team to drill several meters deeper to hit a sufficient water column that will ensure the well supplies water throughout all seasons.

As the team drills, casing will be installed, transforming the bottom of this hand-dug well into a borehole. PVC piping will connect this lower system directly to the pump, a construction that we know will also improve the quality of water.

Once this plan is implemented, everyone within the community will have access to safe drinking water in both quality and quantity, even through the dry months.

Hygiene and Sanitation Training

There will be hygiene and sanitation training sessions offered for three days in a row.

No handwashing stations were observed here. After our visit, the hygiene and sanitation trainer decided it would be best to teach community members how to build a tippy tap (a hand-washing station built with a jerrycan, string, and sticks). They will use these tippy taps for handwashing demonstrations, and will also teach about other tools like dish racks and the importance of properly penning in animals.

These trainings will also strengthen the water user committee that manages and maintains this well. They enforce proper behavior and report to us whenever they need our help solving a serious problem, like a pump breakdown.

About the Community

It is an urban area with a bustling business community just a few minutes down the road from the Port Loko motor vehicle park. Noise is in high supply as people quest for their daily bread. People move about the community all throughout the day and night.

Every compound is surrounded by green vegetation ranging from fruit trees to varieties of vegetables. The fruits and vegetables on private properties are well-guarded because in this part of the country, everything is for sale. The beautifully covered green landscape shows you it is still the rainy season. Puddles of water settle along the street and corners of some homes, making it an obstacle course when on foot. The footprints and motorcycles tire marks are all calculated to prevent treading in puddles of water.

To be considered a well-to-do family, living in a house built with cement blocks is most of the time considered a prerequisite. The homes made from blocks with cement plastering have the luxury of enjoying cool interiors during the dry season.

The construction and provision of electrical facilities have greatly improved the lives of most of the community members. Fans and refrigeration facilities are now available to the common man, at certain times during the day and night one can enjoy a cold drink of water or sit in front of a cool breeze.

Project Updates


July, 2019: Kasogha, 8 BB Kamara Street Project Complete

We are excited to share that there is a safe, reliable water point at 8 BB Kamara Street that’s already providing clean water to community members! Hygiene and sanitation training was also conducted with community members, which focused on healthy practices such as washing hands and using latrines.

Clean Water Restored

The drill team made sure all the equipment and supplies were checked and double-checked before moving to the site one day before the drilling took place. A specific location not too far from the well was chosen and cordoned off from being accessed by the community members to avoid any accidents during the construction process. The team set up camp to stay for the duration of the construction.

Here is how we restored clean, reliable water here:

1. Raised the tripod

2. Found the original depth (for this well, we measured 15.15 meters)

3. Socketed the pipes

4. Installed casing

5. Lined up the drill rods

6. Drilled!

The team removed the hatch cover first thing in the morning and lowered a temporary 6 inch PVC pipe through the open hatch to the bottom of the well. The bucket auger drill bit was connected to the drilling rod and lowered inside the temporary casing to the bottom of the well. Each drilling rod is 18 feet long. A team member pulled a rope through a pulley to raise the rod out of the casing so that two team members could empty the bucket.

The drilling was stopped at a total depth of 24.54 meters. The team was very confident that the reached total depth would produce the desired quantity of safe, clean water that will pass the water quality testing and serve the community throughout the year without drying.

7. Installed screening and filter pack

8. Cemented an iron rod to well lining, and fixed it with an iron collar at the top

9. Bailed the well by hand for three days and flushed it

10. Tested the yield

11. Built a cement platform, walls, and drainage system

12. Installed a stainless steel India Mk11 pump

The hand-drill method allowed the team to install the cylinder far below the aquifer so that the community can have great water access throughout the year.

13. Water quality test

The dedication took place on a Monday afternoon, a day of movement.

People are usually out at that time, often looking for work opportunities. The team had to make house calls to gather people from their various homes to participate in the dedication ceremony. The ceremony was conducted in Krio, the native language that is common to all the different tribes in Sierra Leone.

"In the past, the rationing of water brought the fights but now clean, affordable, and accessible water is going to be available, thanks to you," said Dean Mansaray, head of the water user committee.

"I am going to sleep very good at night knowing that after a hard day's work I can come home to peace and quiet."

New Knowledge

Dean Mansaray was notified of our pending hygiene training a week ahead. Word spread slowly, but by the third day of training, the turnout was even better than we anticipated with more than 150 people in attendance.

The training was held under a cashew tree at the compound of the chairperson of the water user committee. A hot weekday afternoon with no place to hide from the burning sun made the training close and personal. The seats were placed snuggly together to allow everybody under the tree.

It is difficult to get people away from their cozy and comfortable homes to sit through a lecture about health. Most people are under the impression that the water is for free so there was no reason to attend. But there is something in the lessons that each person can benefit from, so we require at least one representative from each household.

The topics taught are based on the information gathered from our baseline survey. The order they are taught is not reflective of their importance but rather our ways of targeting hygiene issues in an easy way for the community to grasp.

Training topics covered included:

  • The importance of handwashing
  • The construction of tippy taps (used for handwashing)
  • Good and bad hygiene
  • Healthy and unhealthy communities
  • Disease transmission stories
  • Diarrhea
  • Dish racks
  • Keeping the water clean
  • Proper care of the pump
  • Importance of having and using a latrine

An old woman blind in one eye, deaf, and mute, stood up and took part in the good and bad hygiene portion of the training. She is an example of the importance of immunizations at an early age. Her parents had neglected to take the proper precautions to inoculate her and over her younger years, she developed measles which caused irreversible damages to her health.

Tippy tap construction

Sallay Kai Turay is a retired nurse who uses the well for water. She expressed her gratitude for holding the training so that other people can do things that will improve their health.

"I am a retired nurse and have been blessed with knowledge about hygiene and sanitation. I have witnessed a lot of lives being lost and lots more that could have been saved only if precautions had been taken," she said.

Sallay Kai Turay

"The daily choices people make influence their health and the health of their children. This training was a discovery process on how diseases are transmitted in the community. I pray and hope that the people will try to eliminate or minimize the infestation and infection rate of preventable illnesses."

Thank you for making all of this possible!




May, 2019: Kasongha, 8 BB Kamara Street Project Underway

We are excited to let you know that thanks to your generosity, we have the opportunity to restore reliable clean water to a well in Kasongha. We also plan to hold training on hygiene and sanitation to teach families about how to live healthier lives.

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 news of success!




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!


Giving Update: Kasogha, 8 BB Kamara Street

February, 2021

A year ago, your generous donation helped 8 BB Kamara Street in Kasogha, Sierra Leone access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for M’balu Kanu. Thank you!

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Kasongha Community 5.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Kasongha Community 5 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!

"It was not really easy for this community because most of the people in this community get water from this well. Actually, it was not sufficient to supply the community. Sadly for us school-going children, we suffer a lot in the morning in other to fetch water, most time, we are even late for school," explained 17-year-old Sheiku.

"It's perfectly ok now to get water from this water point, and it has impacted my life greatly. The sanitation aspect of my compound, community, and even the water point environment are all clean compared to the previous years."

Sheiku

"The upgrading of this water point has impacted my personal life so much. Fetching water from this water point is very easy, and the pump is much lighter than the previous one. The hygiene aspect of the pump environment has changed for good, and no more shortage of water in the community and even the drainage that was risky for children are now safe," added M'balu Kanu.

M'balu Kanu


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 Kasongha Community 5 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 Kasongha Community 5 – 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.


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