Sambacounda Well

Sambacounda Village, Simbandi Br. Municipality, Senegal, Africa

Status: Completed in 2019
Donors: Private Donors, 5x1000, My Gift, Kaira looro, 8x1000 UCEI
Senegalese Collaborations: Regional Bureau of Hydraulics, Municipality of Simbandi, Local Community
Number of beneficiaries: 3 villages, 3,000 people

Sambacounda is a small village in the Sedhiou region of Senegal of about 1,100 inhabitants, flanked by the villages of Simbandi Brassou and Sambacounda Santo. Not far away is the village of Kegnimacounda. There are very few wells in this area, and those that do exist are rudimentary pits a maximum of 8 meters deep, which do not reach the underground water table but deposits, and empty quickly, causing serious water supply problems. In addition to the supply problem there is the health problem, in fact, the phenomenon of saline intrusion has caused acidification and contamination of the subsoil and aquifer, the consequence of which is the presence of contaminated and salty water in the pits. Weaker people such as children and the elderly are at risk, 60% of diseases are due to water, so the risk of infection, giarda, cholera is high. The project has enabled the construction of a modern well that reaches a depth of 18 meters allowing much more water to be collected so that Sanoufily and neighboring villages can tap into the water resource at any time of the year. The well also donated of a solar-powered immersion pump and an osmosis desalination and decontamination system and UV debacterialization of the water, which returns the highest quality water free of bacteria and viruses. The implementation was also an opportunity to raise community awareness about the use of the water resource and train a local team on the maintenance and management of the filtration system. Today the well has about 2,500 total beneficiaries from neighboring villages as well as Sanoufily. The system represents a real technological breakthrough for the whole of Senegal and is intended to be a humanitarian model to promote accessibility to water as a fundamental element for children's lives and health.


The impact of the project

reduction of cases of diarrhea

Thanks to the presence of the decontamination filter and thus the return of water free of viruses and bacteria the cases of diarrhea of minors in the village have been considerably reduced which brings benefits in terms of preventing malnutrition and infant mortality which in the area at the highest rate in the country.

people who drink filtered water

The conditions of widespread poverty and lack of infrastructure means that it is inaccessible to drinking water. thanks to the presence of the well, anyone in the village and anyone passing through can fill up cans and bottles for free to get free drinking water for the family.

reduction in procurement time

Traditional wells empty quickly leading to the need to source water from other villages during the dry season. With the presence of our well the water presence is much more important this prevents families from having to travel miles to retrieve water.

The characteristics of the well

The realized well is an 18-meter pit. The excavation is protected from erosion and from collapses through reinforced concrete cylinders. The pit fills with water thanks to the water pressure from the underground aquifer and will be recharged seasonally depending on the rainfall cycle.In addition, being a well that is much deeper than traditional wells, the water is less polluted and there is a lower amount of fixed residues.

Inside the pit is installed a 24v submersible pump powered by solar anergy through a small photovoltaic station, then equipped with 250w solar panels (depending on the depth) and batteries that allow solar energy to be stored and reused at any time of the day. This is controlled with a control station and a solar controller and inverter. The water extracted by the pump is sent to a phased filtration system: an initial filtration takes place through a pre-filter with membranes that removes sediment and dust, the water then passes through an Inox pipe with a UV lamp which sterilizes the water and eliminates bacteria ( this is the same sterilization normally done to sterilize surgical instruments). The sterilized water is, finally, sent to a Osmotic membrane filter that eliminates 98% of bacteria including, for example, cholera, staphylococcus, and giardia. The water coming out of osmosis is inviene collected in two sterile basins to be ready for community use.

Beneficiary community participation
The project was implemented with the Direct participation of the local community, in order to create awareness and knowledge about environmental issues and the phenomena that cause groundwater contamination, as well as good water resource management practices, the area of intervention being at risk of desertification. A special local well committee has been formed and appointed, which is in charge of monitoring and managing the well in full autonomy. While Balouo Salo will take care of periodic monitoring visits and extraordinary maintenance.

Architecture
As per our approach, this project was also developed with an architecture that can enable the education and involvement of the community and local workers. In the wells we build, it is crucial for us to create a surrounding area that allows the community to identify the well and give it recognition, so as to give value and protection to the water resource. For this reason, as in all the other wells that have been built, an architecture has been created that incorporates the well. The space allows for water recovery in the shade, and is equipped with a technical room that houses the filters and solar system, facilitating maintenance and monitoring. The construction team, as always, is composed of locals i.e., the Balouo Salo construction team and was accompanied by the entire beneficiary community in work that required mass participation.

What benefits to the beneficiary community

With the realization of one of our wells the 60-70% of disease due to contaminated water is greatly reduced. The population, as a result of the construction, will therefore tap into a source of drinking water purified and sterilized and the social impact will be evident especially in cases of reduction of diarrhea, infant mortality and infections for children having an age range of 2 to 10 years. As the well comes on line and sanitary conditions stabilize, the results will stabilize in the long term.

Children (under 5 years of age), the elderly (over 60 years of age), and pregnant women are most at risk for contracting diseases and infections from drinking contaminated water, which can bring short- and long-term harm. In the adjacent graph, we show how the percentage of these Subjects at risk is between 70 and 85 percent, while with the realization of the well, this estimated percentage Will be reduced below 20%, thus making it possible to reduce the risk of infant mortality and malnutrition, increase life expectancy, and avoid the weakening of mothers and breastfeeders, which is often the cause of malnutrition, disease, and mortality for infants and the mothers themselves.

Project location: Sambacounda, Senegal

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