Water Charity

This project is to provide clean drinking water for the 600 residents that live in the village. The goal is to implement an accessible, sustainable, and easy-to-maintain system that will provide clean drinking water throughout the village.

To achieve its objectives, the community has planned a rainwater catchment program based on rooftop water collection and storage. The concept was arrived at after careful consideration of all of the options available to the village.

The project is intended to reduce the incidence of frequent gastro-intestinal illness prevalent due to the current use of contaminated water from the river. It will be carried out under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Amber Ray.

The project will utilize large, round, covered tanks, commonly known as “duro tanks”. These tanks are popular in the region, easy to maintain, and sustainable.

A total of 46 rainwater-harvesting tanks, each with a capacity to store 400 gallons, will be installed at convenient locations throughout the village.

Project funds will be used to purchase the tanks, gutters, fixtures, and materials.

Each of the 36 sections into which the village is divided will provide the labor for the installation and maintenance for each water system. The sections will also contribute the sand to make the concrete for the foundation of the stand for the tank.

The community will also contribute the labor for loading and unloading all materials and the use of the boat.

Each section will also communally donate a monetary contribution of 50 SRD (about $20 USD) per tank.

Members of the water committee will help train other villagers in proper maintenance of the duro tanks, which will expand their longevity to 20 years.

Basic sanitation concepts relating to clean water will also be taught to all the people of the village.

In providing readily-accessible safe water to the entire community using this appropriate technology, the standard of living will be improved, the work of retrieving water will be reduced, and illness will be drastically decreased.

To indicate your desire for your contribution to be allocated toward this project, please click the Donate button below.

This project will serve 114 homepartner families and other members of “Peace and Development Communities” located in two low-lying barangays (villages) in North Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines. The houses in these communities were built with international funding. However, funding for a water infrastructure was not included, and they are left without a water supply.

The project to bring potable water will utilize 12 Jetmatic pumps, each serving several dwellings from a centralized location. These hand pumps of Philippine manufacture provide the appropriate technology for the specific need, as rainwater catchment systems would not serve well in this climatic condition.

The two communities to be served are:

Each of these communities has a profound need for a ready water supply. Presently villagers must retrieve water from a substantial distance away, rely on contaminated sources, or be forced to purchase water from vendors at exorbitant rates.

The project is being carried out in collaboration with the Office of the Governor and the Midsayap Habitat for Humanity, Inc.

The project for the installation of the water systems will begin immediately, and will lead to vastly improved health, sanitation, and productivity.

This project has now been funded, through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

Any donations using the Donate button below will go toward additional water and sanitation projects in the Philippines.

The overall project was the construction of a Kindergarten/Nursery School in KwakuSae, a community in the West Akim District of the Eastern Region of Ghana. The involvement of Water Charity was for the rainwater collection system.

After the building was largely completed, with walls, roof, floors, and ceilings, the work was done on the water tank. The plumber installed a tap and prepared the tank for installation next to the school.

The tank was placed on the concrete stand, and the gutters were then put up and connected to the tank.

The building was then completed with doors, windows, and paint. It was then dedicated, and put into use!

Alan expressed his gratitude and that of the community:

We want to thank you all again for helping to make this whole project possible. The town and students are all very excited about the new facility, and we are very happy to be able to offer this project to help improve the life of the students in KwakuSae.

After the conclusion of this project, Alan undertook the renovation of one of the classrooms in the JSS (Junior Secondary School) that had been condemned for safety reasons. This amply demonstrates the momentum that derives from successfully finishing a major endeavor, and building on that base of community support.

Alan and his wife Marian are completing their Peace Corps service and heading home. We owe Alan a debt of gratitude for completing this ambitious project, and continuing to do more.

We again with to thank Six Senses Resorts & Spas for providing the funding for this project.

The project was to provide safe water to 200 students of the Kwemvumo Secondary School by reconstructing a water catchment tank, connecting it to the school, and running piping to various locations throughout the school.

Emilia reports:

Overall, the project ran very smoothly. The only major setback was that there were construction delays of 1.5 months due to the rainy season.

In addition to the managing the construction, Emilia held a seminar for students and teachers about increasing awareness and knowledge of water-borne diseases, and water users’ rights and responsibilities.

We are grateful to Six Senses Resorts & Spas for providing the funding for this successful project.

This project to build a ferro-cement tank for storage was the second to be implemented under Water Charity’s Ferro-Cement Tanks for the Dominican Republic and Haiti Program.

Duncan reports:

Work was recently completed on the 15,000 liter ferro-cement tank in the rural community of El Brison in the Dominican Republic. The tank will serve as the main storage tank for a water system that is being constructed to serve 45 homes in the village.

The construction was also the second of three ferro-cement tank trainings in which three Haitian masons are being trained in the design and construction of this technology. The three Haitian workers will then go to Haiti where they will build more tanks and capacitate more masons in the country.

As this is the second tank in the training process the Haitian workers were put in charge of the actual construction with the Peace Corps volunteer and a master of construction overseeing their work.

Work brigades, each with eight men from the community of El Brison, worked each day to support the masons in their work. They helped with mixing the mortar, transporting materials, etc. Because El Brison is a very remote village with very little access, all of the materials had to be transported to the work site with mules.

Duncan reports on the process:

The ferro-cement tank construction is a five day process. On the first day the plumbing is placed and the floor is poured. This is the only day in which concrete (the cement mix contains gravel) was used on the tank. The floor is about 10cm thick and has 3/8” rebar inside it.

On the second day a cage is constructed of a mesh of soldered ¼” rebar covered on either side by chicken wire. The cage is constructed in a long 10 meter piece and then placed on the floor in the shape that the tank will take. The cage is wrapped tightly on the outside by tarps. Then a cement and sand mortar is applied to the space between the two layers of chicken wire. This first layer of mortar is about 3 cm thick.

On the third day a second and third layer is applied to the inside and the outside of the first layer to cover the chicken wire which is still exposed. By this time the walls are almost at their full thickness of about 6 cm and are very sturdy.

A plaster coat is applied to the inside of the tank on the walls and the floor on the fourth day. The plaster coat contains a cement additive called Sika which makes it impermeable to water. This coat is extremely important for the tank to function correctly.

The roof is constructed on the final day of the tank construction. A support structure is built using wood beams and plywood. As soon as the structure is in place the tank can begin to be filled so that the floor and walls cure correctly. The tank will never be left without water in it after this point, except for a yearly cleaning. The roof is poured on top of this structure and left to dry for about a week. After a week the tank is entered through a door on top and the wood structure is deconstructed and removed from inside the tank.

Duncan comments on the technology:

The ferro-cement tank has several advantages over a cement block tank of equal size. Because the walls are only about 6cm thick the tank uses significantly less materials. This cuts costs by nearly one half and makes transporting the materials to difficult locations much easier.

Despite using less materials, the tank is structurally superior to a block tank because it is round. Block tanks generally leak from their corners. Furthermore the mesh cage that holds the cement makes the walls flexible so that they are much less susceptible to breaking in the case of seismic activity. For all of these reasons we are trying to spread this technology to Haiti where water is such a dire need at this time.

We again wish to thank Santevia Water Systems and Six Senses Resorts & Spas for providing the funding for this project.

The community has a health post, a primary and secondary school, and a recently-renovated gravity-fed water system. However, it lacks basic sanitation infrastructure.

As is the case with most villages in the district, there is a high level of water and soil contamination resulting from human and animal defecation in the open-air, or in poorly-designed pits. Chronic gastro-intestinal illness and childhood malnutrition are a direct result.

This project is to construct 60 “dry bathrooms”, one for each family in the community. It will benefit 300 people.

Dry bathrooms use no water, do not fill up the way that pit latrines do, and produce usable compost and liquid fertilizers for use in agriculture.

The project has been planned and will be coordinated by a project committee, composed of five dedicated community members (three men and two women).

Peace Corps Volunteer Matt Inbusch will direct the project.

Each participating family will provide the sand, gravel, and rock for the concrete mix, as well as wood beams for the roof, 500 adobe bricks for the hut, and manual labor during the construction phase.

Recipient families will prepare home gardens, micro-landfills, and small corrals for their domestic animals before receiving their construction materials.

Also required will be participation in a series of training workshops regarding various aspects of the project. In this way, the project will encompass more than sanitation alone.

In addition to the public health benefits derived from proper sanitation, the project also addresses the issues of nutrition, solid waste management, and environmental protection.

The participation of Water Charity in this project has now been funded, through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

Any donations using the Donate button below will go toward additional water and sanitation projects in Peru.

The only school in the community lacks running water and a bathroom. Teachers and students must retrieve water and use a latrine a distance from the school.

This project is to provide the school with running water and a bathroom. This has been an ongoing project for the past few years, but has been stalled for lack of funds to complete it.

The project will be carried out under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Adam Montgomery.

The community has already built a room for the bathroom and has also acquired several key materials for the completion of this project.

Project funds will be used to buy the lacking materials to fully complete the project.

The bathroom will include three private stalls (3 commodes), one sink, one shower, and lighting.

The school currently has an artesian well located about 30 feet from the proposed bathroom that they use to retrieve water.

Water will be pumped from the well to the bathroom. The water is potable, and a spigot will be installed at the school garden along with the faucet in the bathroom

Bathroom waste will pumped to a secluded area located at the site of the old latrine in the back of the school.

170 people will benefit from the project, including the 40 students and 5 teachers at the school and the rest of the community that regularly uses the school for community events.

This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

Any donations using the Donate button below will go toward additional water and sanitation projects in Paraguay.

The project was to construct 50 family latrines in Bagou. According to Elliot, all of the latrines were completed in accordance with the specifications.

By way of background, Elliot reports:

Before this project there were a total of 18 latrines for a population of 3,500. Needless to say the village could use many more, but I am confident that this project has set them in the right direction.

Elliot continues:

Two months after starting, we had finished all 50 latrines. All holes were dug at least 5 meters, and now currently nearly all have walls and roofs covering the latrine.

The biggest hump was halfway through when the cement ran out everywhere for 300 km. Once it returned, the price was too high for our budget, so I had to anxiously wait while families grew restless to finish their latrines. Eventually I bargained a workable price from a nearby town, and convinced the mayor to let me borrow his tractor to transport the remaining cement to Bagou. The rest was a piece of cake (wink).

Regarding the impact on the community, Elliot reports:

After having spent two years in this village, I am positive that latrines are the most needed improvement to the population’s well being. It will most likely be difficult to imagine how it is possible for so many people to be living without things as basic as a latrine. All I can say is there is a lot of strength, and stubbornness that allows them to survive.

But after speaking with so many women who spend at least one hour a day walking to and from the outskirts of the village to ‘fertilize the crops’ (most said the walk was 30min and none had bikes to speed up the trip like the men), it was clear that the latrines will not only help with disease and sickness but also serve as a time saving product.

We are grateful to Six Senses Resorts & Spas for providing the funding for this successful project.