Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Program: Wells for Schools - Uganda

Impact: 400 Served

Project Phase: 
Community Managed
Implementing Partner Monitoring Data Unavailable
Initial Installation: Jul 2013

Project Features


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Community Profile

Upon completion of the project, our partner in the field reports...

When the Living Water Uganda team arrived, 320 Students and 60 surrounding households who were dependent on a water catchment system to meet their water needs. As is common in this area, students and surrounding households share their water source with cattle and other livestock. Because of this, families were suffering from typhoid, malaria, diarrhea and severe dehydration among other preventable water related illnesses. During the team’s stay, community members assembled a water committee consisting of 5 men and 5 women who assisted the team with the water project whenever possible and provided any materials they had available. This water committee is also responsible for collecting a well maintenance fee of 100 Ugandan Shillings per jerri can. Most residents farm and raise livestock to earn a living. Others raise livestock, mostly cattle. There is a primary school located in the community with 320 students; 149 boys and 171 girls, all who now have access to a safe water source. Before leaving the community, the team provided the water committee with a Living Water Uganda contact number in case their well were to fall into disrepair, become subject to vandalism or theft.

During the hygiene education, the Living Water Uganda team addresses: Hand washing, how to properly transport and store water, disease transmission and prevention, how to maintain proper care of the pump, as well as signs and symptoms of dehydration and how to make Oral Rehydration Solution. All of these lessons are taught in a participatory method to help community members discover ways to improve their hygiene and sanitation choices, and implement community driven solutions.

The Living Water Uganda team had an opportunity to meet with fifty-three year old community member, farmer and local councilor, Tumisiime Stephen, who stated, "Byanamira being community of mainly low income earners, the little resources we earn can never enable us to meet even the most basic needs, like clean water. With no option, we have for such a long time depended on the dirty water from a rich man’s dam, from which we are constantly chased and which also often dries up during the dry season. We often have had to move about 5km during the dry season to find water. Living water has come to our rescue at a very critical time during this dry season, when some people had even begun migrating. We thus commit to caring for this water source as a treasured possession and we are all in agreement to apprehend anyone who refuses to contribute the user fee meant to ensure its sustainability. We thank God and thank LWI for having a heart for our hurting people."

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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!