The following are descriptions of the different water infrastructure
facilities and equipment

Water Supply Systems – Countless villages and communities in rural areas of developing countries are currently in need of new local water supplies and the infrastructure that is associated with these systems to treat and distribute water. Through local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), many communities request help to create gravity flow, spring catchment systems in Central America, new wells and pump systems in Africa, and new rain catchment systems wherever there is sufficient rainfall.

Spring Catchment Systems

Basically, spring catchment systems require building a concrete box around a local water spring or other surface water source (to protect from future contamination), piping the water to a storage tank located at a higher elevation than the village, and distributing it to faucets located just outside individual home sites, or in some cases, centralized locations (when home sites are too spread out).

Wells

Drilled Boreholes: Well drilling projects often involve contracting with local well drilling companies and hiring them to drill and develop wells and install pumps. Deep wells (over 200 feet) are often the most expensive water supply infrastructure projects undertaken by Global Water (or any water-oriented organization). As much as possible, we try to connect with an NGO that owns a well drilling rig since they are often more economical than a for-profit company.

Hand Dug: If the water table is within 100 feet below the surface of the ground then hand digging a well is theoretically possible. However, hand digging a well is not possible in rock or unconsolidated soil such as sand. Hand digging is less expensive and is often an option in Central and South America.

Rain Catchment Systems **

Rain harvesting systems consist of the following sub-systems:

1. catchment area (roof, hillside)
2. conveyance system (guttering, downspouts, piping)
3. pre-filtration (screen)
4. storage tank (above ground or below ground)
5. distribution (pump or gravity flow)
6. treatment (slow sand filtration, UV, chlorine)

Rainwater Harvesting is an excellent way to create a water supply system when there is sufficient rainfall in an area. A useful rule of thumb is - you can collect 600 gallons of water when 1 inch of rain falls on a 1,000 square foot surface (for example, a 33 foot x 33 foot roof).

** Information relating to rain catchment systems has been received from the Save the Rain Organization.

Hand Pump Repairs

There are tens of thousands of hand pumps being used in the developing world since a hand pump is the simplest form of water pump to be installed on a well. Unfortunately, hand pumps are also notorious for needing repairs as all hand pump designs have components that require routine maintenance that realistically can’t be done by most non-technical well users. Because of this, there is a continual need for repair of hand pumps, especially on the African continent.

Latrines

The lack of adequate sanitation is a major reason why many existing water supplies in developing countries are so contaminated. Once introduced into a water source as a result of inadequate sanitary facilities, protozoan, bacterial and viral microorganisms can live in water supplies for very long periods of time. These microorganisms are often the primary cause of disease and sickness throughout rural areas of developing countries.

Global Water routinely funds the building of latrines to create proper sanitary facilities as a complement to installing a new water supply system. In addition, we also support hygiene and sanitation education wherever we support water supply projects.

These efforts (safe water, proper sanitation, hygiene education) are synergistic and go hand-in-hand to create a safe environment for rural populations. In particular, latrine facilities and hand-washing stations are constructed in the proximity of schools and other children-oriented facilities.

Hand-Washing Stations

Hand-washing facilities are needed at all schools in developing countries for the following reasons

1. Students can wash their hands in safe water after using latrines at school;

2. Students can brush their teeth in safe water at school;

3. Students can practice the hygiene education they learn at school; learning to wash hands after using latrines is practically useless if a school doesn’t have a hand-washing facility so students can practice. Likewise, students must practice brushing teeth at school, as well, because many students attending rural schools in developing countries do not wash their hands nor brush their teeth at home; therefore, it must be practiced at school.

Laundry and Bathing Facilities

Centralized laundry and bathing facilities are routinely needed throughout the developing world. If not provided, women, especially, are placed in harm’s way as they try to clean clothes and bathe in streams and rivers.

Water Treatment Equipment

Global Water provides support in the form of water treatment equipment and technical consulting for its projects. This usually takes the form of funding the creation of slow-sand filters for filtration and shipping disinfection devices to NGOs in developing countries. In addition, a goal of Global Water is to become a clearinghouse for technical information and innovative solutions for water treatment equipment that is sustainable in remote regions of developing countries. In concert with this goal, Global Water has created the Technology Push Program to distribute water treatment technologies applicable to developing countries.

The Program is starting with disinfection equipment as indicated in its description found in the Technology Push Program write-up located in the Current Projects – 2007 Link Box on the Global Water website’s main page. Disinfection is recommended for most surface water sources, but may be needed, as well, for groundwater sources, especially those at a shallow depth (within 20 feet of the ground surface, groundwater is influenced by surface contamination). Unfortunately, disinfection is a luxury for all water supply projects in developing countries. Global Water now provides disinfection equipment to NGOs in developing countries either free-of-charge or at a nominal fee depending upon the situation.

Global Water Partners – As described elsewhere on this Web Site, Global Water works with many local, community-based partners in order to implement our projects around the world. Often, Global Water provides funding, program management and technical support for water supply infrastructure projects, while our partners provide the local program management, supervision and manpower needed, as well as two especially crucial elements – establishing a relationship with a village before, during and after a water project and continuous local monitoring of a completed water system. Technical support provided by Global Water is often in the form of furnishing equipment and spare parts, technical information and consulting.

This is a partial list of non-governmental organizations (NGO) in the developing world that Global Water has formed partnerships with in order to implement water/sanitation/hygiene facility projects.

Aqua Para La Salud (Water for Health)

Aqua Para La Vida (Water for Life)

By Provision

Desarrollo Sostenible en Acción - DESEA (Sustainable Development in Action)

El Porvenir (The Future)

Global Resource Alliance

Program De Ayuda Para Los Vecinos Del Altiplano or (PAVA), (Program to Help Highland Neighbors)

United States Peace Corps