african piping project
In close collaboration with the Government of Senegal, the Millennium
Villages Project (MVP) aims to provide piped drinking water access to
an additional 11,000 people in the Potou cluster by adding an additonal
110km of piping to an existing water supply network. These additional
public taps should raise the piped drinking water coverage for the
project zone to nearly 100% and in effect, meet the Millennium
Development Goal for access to drinking water. The source of drinking
water is an extensive aquifer that runs along the eastern boundary of
the cluster at depths between 80-100 meters. Groundwater is pumped up
from the aquifer, stored in elevated water towers and then supplied via
a gravity-fed PVC pipe distribution system to public taps in the
village centers. To ensure sustainability of these water works, water
from the public taps is sold by volume to the communities and
community-based water management committees manage the finances and
ensure the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the pumping and
distribution networks.
This particular extension in Senegal has been greatly facilitated
by the donation of PVC pipe from JM Eagle and this is only the
beginning of their significant contribution to the MVP sites. Similar
drinking water distribution systems are currently being designed in
Uganda, Ghana, Mali and Rwanda and JM Eagle will be providing the PVC
pipes for these project sites as well. In addition to their pipe
donations for drinking water systems, JM Eagle has also expressed
interest in providing pipes for irrigation and several MVP sites across
Africa are determining their irrigation piping needs and this should
become a major component of their donation during the next couple of
years.
Contact Researcher: Brett Gleitsmann, bag2120@columbia.edu