Day 6: Ngombe Settlement, Lusaka

The morning of day 6 saw us all say goodbye to Monze and the Southern Province and head back up to Lusaka for our last 2 days in Zambia. It was a 3 hours drive back up to Lusaka and upon arrival we were taken to the Cresta Golf View Hotel to check in and get ready for our afternoon visit to Ngombe settlement, a pre-intervention high density slum in the centre of Lusaka. I was quite apprehensive about this last visit as I had an image in my head of what it would be like visiting a city centre slum from footage we all see on television. I was prepared for a difficult experience.

The Cresta Golf View Hotel

We left our hotel after lunch for the short drive to Ngombe settlement. Upon arrival we were taken into a community hall for an open forum discussion with representatives from; WaterAid Zambia, the health committee, WASHE Promoters, Keeper Foundation Zambia (NGO), the local council and residents of Ngombe.

The discussion started with introductions and an outline of the history of Ngombe and WaterAid’s involvement. The unplanned settlement is a 3 mile wide slum right in the centre of Lusaka. The population in 2005 was 33,000 and recent years has seen an upsurge taking it to roughly 80,000 today. There is a lot of rural to urban migration in Zambia as men come to the cities looking for work and a better life for their families. The reality is that a lot of them end up in slums like Ngombe.

We were told of the current water and sanitation issues within the slum. The current toilet facilities they have do not give enough privacy. A lot of the families have very simple pits with a simple tarpaulin surround which is only about 4 to 5 foot tall. This does not give adequate privacy as people peer over the top as the toilets are being used. Some families defecate in plastic bags or dig holes. As a result of this, cases of cholera and diarrhoea are very high in some areas.

Some local Ngombe children

Members of the health committee advised that there is a public health act in Zambia but this is extremely difficult to implement in unplanned settlements like Ngombe. The community openly dump their rubbish within the slum which results in large piles of rubbish forming throughout the settlement. They also advised that service provision is extremely difficult and most people are still dependant on shallow wells for their water needs. Due to the size of the population in Ngombe (80,000) there is a scarcity of water. The money given to Ngombe is not enough for the current expansion levels. They have issues with water shortages during the rainy season.

Next we were given some information from Environmental Health. They advised that they have 3 pillars to their current strategy:

1. Promote sanitation,
2. Infrastructure, and
3. Advocacy.

In 20007/08 sanitation promotion was launched. This involved a 3 step approach:

1. Engage the media to promote sanitation.
2. Use advocacy to promote. This involved using the WASHE (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education) promoters to help families understand their human rights e.g. landlords should provide a latrine for every house they own.
3. Infrastructure development: options are explored via advocacy work and promotion.

The WASHE promoters have the role of promoting sanitation and they go from door to door within the community to educate the families on hygiene and their human rights. Drama performances are also used to get these messages across. Families are known to initially challenge these learning’s but it is the WASHE promoters job to bring them around by fully explaining the benefits of hygienic toilet practices and being vocal about their human rights to landowners and councils.  

Within Ngombe around 50 to 60% of the 80,000 population have VIP (Ventilation Improved Pit) or standard pit latrines. Only 3% have flushing toilets but this figure is increasing. Latrines should be more than 26 metres away from any shallow wells but within Ngombe some latrines can be only 10 metres away thus contaminating the supplies.

The Water Trust Manager then gave us a speech about the current water supply. The peri-urban schemes use boreholes instead of the piped supply as there isn’t enough for the unplanned areas. There are 16,000 properties within Ngombe and only 261 have piped water supplies. He told us that there are 68 water kiosks within Ngombe where water can be purchased. Within the richer areas locals pay 50 kwacha for 20 litres of water and families within the unplanned settlements have to pay 100 kwacha, so poorer people pay more. We asked why this was and were advised that there is no government grant for the Water Trust and 50 kwacha left them with no surplus to deliver their services so they had to charge more.

As a result of all the water and sanitation issues within Ngombe diarrhoeal diseases are ranked amongst the top ten diseases. A large amount of Lusaka’s disease cases come from Ngombe.

VIP Latrine – Rosemary Mumba

After our meeting we were then taken further into the slum to meet some of the families and experience first hand some of the issues and work we had just heard about. Our first visit was to Rosemary Mumba and her family.

Rosemary had a Ventilation Improved Pit (VIP) Latrine that was constructed in the community as a demo latrine to encourage others to build similar services. Families would be given materials, which they would be asked to contribute towards depending on what they could afford, and they would then have a latrine constructed for them. A Committee Based Organisation (CBA) constructed the structure of the latrine once Rosemary provided the materials and dug the 3 metre deep pit. Rosemary allows her neighbours to use her toilet if they do not have their own to use. If families do not have their own then they will usually find the nearest one to them but they may be asked to pay to use it by the owner.

Rosemary and her family at their VIP Latrine

Water Point Seller

Next we went to see one of the 68 water kiosks within Ngombe and got the chance to interview the seller. The water point is open from 6am till 10am and 3pm until 6pm every day. It is manned within these hours by a water point worker who will be paid roughly 500,000 kwacha per month (£62). The water point is metered and the seller has the responsibility of reporting back any water losses. If there are losses then this is deducted from their commission.

Me and some local Ngombe children at a water point

As we were walking away from the water point we saw some exposed pipes on the pathway. The pipes had only originally been buried 1 metre underground and due to natural erosion from people using the path they had now become exposed. Sand bags were being used to protect some of the exposed areas.

Ngombe’s Contaminated Stream!

Our next visit was to a stream within Ngombe which is used for day to day tasks. When we arrived there were quite a lot of woman and children there using the stream to carry out their daily chores: bathing, washing clothes and washing crockery. There were also children happily playing in and around the stream.

This was quite difficult to witness as it was quite obvious that the stream was heavily contaminated from the smell and the large pile of rubbish on the banks of the stream. The most disturbing fact we heard was that families living close to the stream had created overflows from their latrines into the stream directly contaminating it with sewage. It was extremely hard to watch children playing in the stream and drinking the water knowing that fact. This was one of the most upsetting things we’d all witnessed so far and it was quite hard to take it all in.

The contaminated stream used for daily tasks

Ngombe Family – Gracie Khowoni

Our last visit of the day was to a household within Ngombe about 50 yards up from the contaminated stream scene. When we got to the families house we saw a young boy collecting water from the shallow well that was on their land. This well was just metres away from the families’ latrine and a metre or so from the contaminated stream. 

The shallow well just yards from their latrine

I went over to have a look at the latrine and it was obvious that this was one of the families who had created an overflow from their latrine into the stream. A hole had been created through the bricks at the base of the latrine and a gulley formed from the hole into the stream to create a run-off. 

The gulley created as an over-flow from the latrine to the stream

We decided to ask the householder about why this was created. Gracie told us that her latrine used to flood during the rainy season so she created the overflow to stop this happening. She was fully aware that it would be contaminating the stream that is used by the community for day to day tasks but she could not afford the 600,000 kwacha (£75) fee to have her latrine emptied. We also asked about the distance between her shallow well and the latrine and was she aware that they should be at least 26 metres apart to stop any contamination of their water source. Gracie advised that they cannot afford to build another latrine as her husband does not work.

Gracie and her family

 After the eye opening visit to Gracie’s house we spoke to a couple of the WASHE promoters about what we had witnessed. They advised that enforcement could get placed on Gracie if the issue is raised to the council but it is likely that her family would be able to pay any resulting fine. They told us that what we had seen is not uncommon in this area. They also advised that the door to door WASHE promotion hadn’t yet reached this area. There are only 6 WASHE promoters for the whole slum so resources are limited. They said that it’s all about creating a demand and that having a latrine was becoming a status symbol which meant others would want to follow suit.

Our visit to Ngombe was extremely difficult and taking in what we were witnessing was not easy. I’ve never seen such poverty before and an area that so dearly needs support and education to enable them to create better lives for themselves. Hopefully WaterAid and the WASHE promoters can help Ngombe and I hope that one day I can return to see the benefits WaterAid will eventually bring to a community in such need of assistance. 

Day 5 Afternoon: Tonga Theatre and Dance Show

On the afternoon of day 5 the WaterAid Zambia staff arranged for us all to go and see some African Dance Theatre near Monze. This was a chance for us all to let our hair down and have some fun after a few hard days.

Upon arrival we were straight into some African dancing in one long conga line. Music and dancing in Zambia is a huge part of their culture and their sense of fun is immense.

After another warm African welcome we were then treated to some comedy sketches by the theatre group. Our translator, Robert did a great job of translating the fast paced sketches for us. Whilst the sketches were very funny they had some serious messages as they dealt with topics like HIV and Aids and Zambia’s water and sanitation problems. The Zambian people seem to have a great way of getting across serious messages in a light hearted manner.

After the sketches we were then all invited up for some more dancing, a great chance to further improve my African dance moves! It was a great hours entertainment and a great way to end our time in the Southern Province of Zambia. 

Day 5 – Part 2: Muzoka (pre-intervention)

On the afternoon of day 5 we visited Muzoka; a pre-intervention, urban settlement. Muzoka is a junction town on the main road from Lusaka to Livingstone and it’s main source of income is the passing trade at their local market.

Muzoka

Before we went to meet with the community we were giving a briefing from WaterAid and SWASCO as they wanted to explain a few things before we went into the town. We were advised that Muzoka is ‘scoping in action’ as it is currently being considered for investment by WaterAid. The community has little or no awareness of WaterAid’s work and we were told not to make any offers of help as their needs were still being assessed. WaterAid and SWASCO are currently working with the community and the head man to understand their water and sanitation needs.

Following our initial briefing we were taken into the community for an open forum discussion with the households, SWASCO and representatives from their local council. We were welcomed by Mr Tembo, the council Chairman and introduced to the local councillor and Vincent Machumba, a representative from the local market. They would all be speaking on behalf of the community during our questions and answer session. Mr Ndilla from SWASCO then stood up and told the community that the aim of our afternoons visit was for us to get an understanding of their water supply issues and then went on to tell the community not to expect a solution from our visit as it was more of an information sharing session.

Our meeting with the Muzoka community

The Council Chairman spoke next and outlined the last few years of the towns’ history and their current water situation. They currently have two boreholes with pumps but one is situated at the school and they have limited access and the other is in the town but apparently breaks every other week. Muzoka, Chisekesi and Batoka were all identified as development cases in 1989. From my understanding this meant that the town and council had to prioritise their required services. They told us that education, health and electricity were their priorities as they already had access to water in the form of open wells. They understood that this water gave them health issues but their comment was that they thought the water situation would be resolved naturally! To me this clearly showed a community which had not yet benefited from the education WaterAid provides. As they originally prioritised education, health and electricity these services had been provided; they have a local school, a small medical centre and an electricity supply.

We went on to ask a bit more about their water issues. The demand for water in Muzoka is now a lot greater as they have an ever increasing population (2500 people). However, they are blessed with more water in the rainy season but this is in the open wells near the side of a main road. They advised that they welcomed the opportunity to tell us of their water issues as they receive little to no support from their government due to other priorities.

The local councillor for Muzoka then gave a speech about the towns’ issues. There is not enough water for the community due to the ever growing population. The council provides boreholes but these are to be shared by the ward and can be shared by up to 50 people. Their view is that each village requires more than 3 boreholes each to meet demand. The whole ward only has 30 boreholes which results in three villages sharing one borehole. Some villages still collect water from open wells and dams shared by animals. They know that the water quality is not good and they all fear diseases. Some people try to dig for water to avoid drinking contaminated supplies. These hand dug wells dry up in August and September, in the dry season. If people want water from the pump they need to rise at 3am and stand in a queue which can be up to 30 metres by 5am. They council may be providing the ward with five boreholes but this is still not enough. Woman in the ward are suffering as some still need to walk for 4km to collect water carrying 20 litre containers. Each family needs five containers for just one day.

Muzoka town

The councillors went on to tell us about the sanitation situation in Muzoka. Only a small minority of the households have latrines but due to the way they’re constructed a lot of them collapse in the rainy season. They cannot afford to buy cement to build solid foundations. Some people are forced to go to the toilet in the bush.

Next we asked about the water pumps and how the community currently maintains them. They advised that each borehole has a committee and an area pump minder who have the overall responsibility for the pump. The local householders all pay a monthly fee of 3500 kwacha (roughly £0.50) to go towards repairs. This all goes into a shared bank account. It was obvious that this process was not working in Muzoka as they’d already told us that their pump breaks every other week. Another clear example of a community in need of WaterAid support and education. This visit was the polar opposite of the experience we had in Mavwili (a post intervention community).

As we now had an understanding of the support process WaterAid followed we asked if the community would be willing to re-organise themselves in readiness for WaterAid investment, if they were able to help. They seemed willing to do what was required as they were very keen to receive some support. They advised that they had previously set up committees in preparation for support they had been given from other charities. I wondered what had went wrong to cause the water pumps installed by other charities to fail. Was it just over use of the pumps or a community which hadn’t received the necessary training and education to enable them to take ownership for their own services?

To conclude our visit we were taken to see two of their water points; one of the open wells and the hand pump within the town which breaks every other week. The well was just yards from the main road which passes through Muzoka and it was clear to see that the water was extremely contaminated. There was even a diesel spill just meters from the water body. The well is only 2 metres deep and is not easy to access due to the water logged ground. The only protection for the supply was an old fence around the perimeter that looked like it would collapse at any moment. Not a nice thing to see!

The open well in Muzoka

Diesel spill a metre away from the open well, their water source!

 Lastly we saw the six year old water pump which was currently out of service. This had been installed by another charity which was another great example of where training and education is more important than simply installing a pump. It was clear that the community didn’t have the knowledge to properly look after the pump so they would really benefit from WaterAid giving them the sense of ownership and pride which was so clear to see in Mavwili village (WaterAid success story).

Our day in Muzoka was a less positive experience but the one thing I left with was the knowledge that WaterAid have the right approach. All the people of Muzoka needed was a bit of support and education to give them the sense of ownership and pride to look after their own water and sanitation services. Hopefully our continued fundraising will mean that Muzoka get the investment they so dearly need.

Day 5 – Part 1: Chisekesi Solar Powered Water Works

Today was to be our last day in Zambia’s Southern Province before heading back up to the big city lights of Lusaka. Our plans today were to visit Chisekesi solar powered water works in the morning and the water kiosks served by the works. In the afternoon we were being taken to a peri-urban, pre-intervention community called Muzoka.

Our day began with a visit to Chisekesi Water Works hosted by Southern Water and Sewerage Company (SWASCO). We were introduced to some of the SWASCO staff responsible for Chisekesi works who gave us an overview of the area and water works. They told us that Chisekesi is a junction town and they estimated the current population at 2500. Chisekesi Water Works currently serves roughly 2/3 of the population so not everyone in the community depends on this water supply. The water supplies a number of water kiosks where the community can purchase water from a vendor who mans the kiosks.

Chisekesi Solar Powered Water Works

Chisekesi Water Works consists of one elevated 10m3 tank which is filled from a nearby borehole. The borehole pump is solar powered which controls a DC unit that continues working throughout daylight hours and shuts off when the sun goes down. Pumping does reduce with cloud cover and they start to experience problems if there are 3 days or more of cloud cover but this is an extreme circumstance. Demand is less in the rainy season due to rain water harvesting but we didn’t see all that many examples of this during our visits. This was the first installation of solar powered technology by SWASCO.

The works was surrounded by a high brick wall topped with barbed wire which we were advised was to prevent theft of the equipment on site. We enquired as to how they decided on what size of tank to install and were told that demand was used to size the existing tank. The tank gives a days storage but during the dry season it only caters for about 30% of the demand. The water is supplied to the community via 2 inch steel and poly pipes.

SWASCO advised that Chisekesi was the first initiative they worked on in partnership with WaterAid.

Chisekesi Water Kiosks

We then went to see a water kiosk which is supplied by Chisekesi Water Works. When we arrived there was a queue of half a dozen women waiting for water. As it was overcast they were waiting for the sun to power the pump so they could get some water for their families.

Chisekesi Water Kiosk

As I mentioned the kiosks are manned by locals who charge for the water and take home 40% of their takings, the rest going to SWASCO. The charge is 2000 kwacha (around £0.25) for forty twenty litre containers which we were advised is affordable for the locals. Each household has a payment book to track all of their water payments. The kiosks are run like small shops as they sell other produce and have become a useful service to the community.

Me and Susie with some of the local Chisekesi kids

Me at the Chisekesi water kiosk with some of the Chisekesi kids

Before the water kiosks were installed the community collected water from hand dug, open wells which was also charged for. They have seen drastic health improvements within the community since the kiosks were put in. Now that they are realising these benefits the community would like more kiosks and a larger tank so there is always a plentiful supply of water. This would reduce queue sizes at the kiosks during the dry season.

Hopefully the funds we raise will make this a reality for the people of Chisekesi. Another informative visit seeing first hand where our fundraising helps so many people.

Day 4 – Part 2: Silimi Village (Latrine Construction)

Day 4 – Part 2: Silimi Village (Latrine Construction)

On the afternoon of day 4 we visited Silimi Village; an early intervention, rural community with a population of 279 people (46 households). Silimi had achieved 70% sanitation coverage and the aim of our visit was to help to raise that percentage by assisting in the construction of some latrines, a welcome chance to get stuck in and get our hands dirty!

Silimi villagers dancing around their water pump

When we first arrived in the village we were given the usual Zambian welcome of African singing and dancing. My African dance moves had thankfully started to improve by this point! This was followed by a talk from DAPP, WaterAid’s project delivery partners, outlining the history of the WaterAid project in Silimi. DAPP started by telling us that when they first began working with the community the villagers thought that the questions they were being asked were silly and not relevant e.g.

• Where do you currently collect water from?
• Do you know that the water source is contaminated?
• Where do you go to the toilet?

They didn’t understand what WaterAid were there to achieve.

DAPP went on to explain that the first step in the process once they understood the communities water and sanitation issues was to ask the villagers to prepare for the WaterAid investment. They asked the village to begin by implementing the following:

• Latrines for each household.
• A bathing shelter for each household.
• A rubbish pit.
• A dish rack to hygienically dry crockery.
• Set up a Water Point Committee to look after the pump once installed.

The community took on this advice and began implementing all DAPP had asked. As the community responded so positively to this guidance DAPP then provided the Silimi villagers with cement and slabs to assist with the latrine construction. Once this work was underway DAPP worked with the new Water Point Committee within Silimi to decide on a location for the borehole. What then followed was hygiene education and training on how to construct simple hand wash facilities. The community now has all the facilities requested by DAPP along with a water pump, 70% sanitation coverage and are working towards increasing that to 100%.

Next, we were given the chance to interview the Silimi Water Point Committee to understand the history of the project and how they look after the pump on a day to day basis.

 Question Time with the Silimi Water Point Committee:

Silimi borehole and the Water Point Committee

Question 1: When was the water pump installed?

Answer: November 2011.

Question 2: How has life improved since the pump was installed?

Answer: We no longer have to walk for 4km to collect water from open wells and streams. Life has improved and the community is much healthier.

Question 3: How do you maintain the pump?

Answer: We put together a maintenance committee and they were given training by DAPP. We regularly grease the pump and check the bolts.

Question 4: What you do with the extra time you now have since you no longer have to walk 4km a day to collect water?

Answer: We now spend more time discussing the development of our community and how we can continue to improve the facilities we have.

Question 5: Does your pump give a constant water supply?

Answer: Yes, we always have clean water.

Question 6: Do you allow neighbouring villages to use your pump if they do not have their own safe water supply?

Answer: Yes we do as we were once in their position.

Question 7: Does everyone in the village have easy access to the pump?

Answer: Yes, all villagers can easily access the water pump.

After interviewing the Silimi Water Point Committee we then spent some time with a local Silimi family, who had a functioning Latrine, to understand the benefits this had brought to the family.

We were introduced to Tobias (31) and Amelda Mazuba (28), a local family who have lived in the village since August 2010. They have 4 children aged 2, 7, 9 and 11. They moved to the village from another location 20km away as the land within Silimi was good for farming. The headman of Silimi gave them the land and they used animals to transfer all of their belongings.

Me with Tobias, Amelda and 2 of their children

We went on to ask a bit about the Latrine the family had built. Tobias built the latrine in 2011 after DAPP had instructed the villagers to begin constructing toilet facilities. His latrine is a standard pit latrine with a concrete base and hand wash facilities. DAPP provided hygiene education which seems to have been completely taken on board by Tobias and his family as they had a full understanding of the benefits of the latrine and hand wash facilities, which was great to see.

Tobias's latrine and hand wash facility

We asked about their life since they moved to Silimi and the benefits this has brought to their family. Amelda explained that their children find it easy to attend school now as its only 5km away and they no longer have to get up early and walk a long distance to collect water first. They have also noticed a drastic reduction in illnesses within their family and they can now take regular baths as there is a plentiful supply of water for the community.

Tobias went on to tell us about what a typical day for them consists of. They spend the morning weeding the field followed by some more light work in the field in the afternoon. They grow vegetables, such as sweet potatoes which they grow for their own consumption. They also grow maize which they sell to buy soap and clothes and also use the money at the grinding mill where they grind the maize in order to turn it into food and drink for his family. If they want to buy soap or new clothes they need to walk for 2 hours to get to a local town called Pemba.

Tobias's house (and their dog Scooby)

Tobias's bathing facility

It was obvious that WaterAid and DAPP had a huge positive impact on Tobias and his family and the benefits were clear to see.

Latrine Construction

After our time with Tobias and Amelda we were given the chance to help construct the foundations of a pit latrine for a local Silimi family, Felix and Ensha Chimpamba and their 6 children (3 boys and 3 girls).

Felix and Ensha have lived in Silimi for 21 years and they use the land for farming maize, cotton, cowpeas and groundnuts. They have had a traditional latrine for 5 years and are looking forward to having improved facilities. All their children help with the daily farming. Felix is the village secretary and works with the headman to make sure all householders have or are working towards toilet facilities. Before the water pump was installed the family collected water from a shallow well in the rainy season. In the dry season they started their walk for water at 7am returning at 10am and they would only have enough water for half of the day. They would need to go back later on in the day for more. They carried 2 jerry cans of water on a bike.

We started the latrine construction by helping David Hamalambo from DAPP construct the concrete slab which would form the base of the latrine. A circular mould is used to hold the concrete mix together to form this base slab. The following mix was used for slab:

·        6 buckets of sand

·        8 buckets of stones

·        3 buckets of cement

·        water

This is all mixed together and put in the circular mould to set for 5 days.

The mould used to construct the latrine slab base

Jess working hard to mix the concrete for the latrine slab

We then went on to assist in the laying of the foundations of a pit latrine for Felix and Ensha. This involved laying 2 layers of bricks around the top of a 6 foot pit which had already been dug. We worked under the supervision of the Silimi mason who kept a watchful eye over us. He had been trained by DAPP to provide the masonry services to the village.

The pre dug pit for the latrine

My handy work. I know what you're thinking, don't give up the day job!

Once the foundations were complete we then put the latrine slab on top of the bricks which had been setting for the 5 previous days. After this was successfully over the foundations we then packed soil around the brick foundations for stability. The final part of the process was to mark out the boundary of where the walls would then be built. They use something they call a G design for the outside of the latrine which provides an entrance which gives no visibility of the person using the latrine which ensures privacy.

It was another fantastic afternoon and it felt great knowing that we’d helped a number of families in the construction of better toilet facilities. The construction process is really simple but it was obvious that this simple technology could bring so many benefits to the local families. Another great example of where WaterAid improve the lives of so many people.

Day 4 – Part 1 continued: Customers of Batoka Water Works

Day 4 – Part 1 continued: Customers of Batoka Water Works

After the visit to Batoka Water Works we got the chance to interview a couple of the Batoka households to get their views on their water supply.

Nzila Muleya

Our first visit was to Nzila Muleya (19 years old) who lives with her mother, father and 6 brothers and sisters in Batoka. She is the fourth born and has lived in Batoka since 2008. Her father is a chemist and has his own business. Nzila is about to start a 7 year University course in Lusaka to study medicine and natural sciences. She would like to follow in her fathers footsteps and open up her own business. Nzila and her family have a water supply to their house, they have a tap at the side of their home.

The water tap at Nzila's house

Question Time with Nzila

Question 1: Have you always had access to water?

Answer: Yes, but we haven’t always had a tap at our house. Before moving to Batoka we had access to a communal hand pump.

Question 2: Do you like the taste of the water from Batoka Water Works?

Answer: Not always, sometimes it tastes chlotinated.

Question 3: Does everyone in the community have taps at their houses?

Answer: No, some have to use a shared water pump.

Lee (Northumbrian Water) and Helen (Environment Agency) with Nzila

Question 4: Have your family and friends always had access to clean water?

Answer: Yes.

Question 5: Is there anything you would change about your water and sanitation services?

Answer: Yes, I would like water and toilets inside our house. We have our own toilet but it is not inside the house.

Matt (Yorkshire Water) with Nzila

Brenda Mudenda

Our next visit was to Brenda Mudenda (35 years old). Brenda has lived in Batoka for 1 year and lives with her husband and 4 children (16, 14, 10 and 6 years old). They own the house they stay in and they also own the house adjacent to theirs which they rent out to another family. They have a water tap at their house and they share a toilet with their tenants.

Brenda's house

Question Time with Brenda

Question 1: Do you always have a good water supply?

Answer: No, it’s only on for an hour in the morning (06:00 to 07:00), an hour in the afternoon (12:00 to 13:00), when we only get a few drops out of the tap and for an hour in the evening (17:00 to 18:00).

Question 2: Do you like the taste of the water?

Answer: No, it tastes chlorinated.

Question 3: Have you and your family always had access to clean water?

Answer: No, we used to collect water from uncovered wells before moving to Batoka.

Question 4: Did you and your family get ill from drinking water from uncovered wells?

Answer: Yes, we did get ill. The water created a lot of diseases in the community. Our health has been a lot better since having access to safe water.

Question 5: Where do you get water from when your supply is off?

Answer: We use the local hand pump which always has a good supply.

It was a very interesting morning as we got the chance to hear from the water company and their customers. It’s evident that the clean water supply does give a lot of benefits to the community but it’s obvious that there are still a few challenges which will hopefully be addressed if funding allows.  

Day 4 - Part 1: Batoka Water Works

Day 4 – Part 1: Batoka Water Works

Today was a day of two halves. In the morning we visited a water works in Batoka run by Southern Water and Sewerage Company (SWASCO) along with a few households supplied by the works and in the afternoon we visited a post intervention community called Silimi.

Batoka is a small town in the southern province of Zambia and as of 2005/06 it had a population of 2,500 which is now ever increasing (they had no official records to confirm the current population). On arrival in Batoka we were introduced to Mr Ndilla who is the Technical Manager for SWASCO. He introduced to his team and then gave us an insight into the Batoka treatment process. The water works uses a very simple treatment process comprising of a 10m3 elevated plastic water tank (to deliver adequate water pressure in order to feed the community), 2 electric boreholes and pumped Calcium Hypochlorite dosing. They dose from 1 to 7 parts per million as it’s seen as not enough f it drops below 0.6 ppm. Proportionate dosing is used based on the water flow and pumping rate. One batch of Calcium Hypochlorite is mixed per day and they can get through 45kg of dry chlorine in 3 to 4 days. The water network consists of 3km’s of 40 year old 2” Galvanised Iron (GI) pipe and Mr Ndilla would like to upgrade this to 4 to 5km’s of 3” UPVC pipe given adequate funds. The supply at Batoka was originally from Boreholes.

Batoka water tank and dosing pump house

We went on to ask about the supply and how many householders have a water supply at their house. Mr Ndilla advised that a few households have this but a lot of the community get water from the communal water points. We then asked about how much the community pays for their water and he advised that on average it is 34,000 kwacha per month which is around £4.50. There are different price structures, some householders are on fixed tariffs and others are metered. It’s 2,000 kwacha per m3 if they are on a metered tariff (roughly £0.25). Mr Ndilla also advised that householders who consume over a certain amount will pay more. If customers do not pay then their water supply is cut off.

We asked about the water quality and what the customers think of the taste if they had previously been used to untreated water. Some of the community do object to the taste of the chlorinated water but SWASCO are still trying to achieve the optimal dose so this will improve over time. Water sampling is done twice a month in Batoka but it’s done daily in some of the larger towns in the area.

The old water tank and one of the existing boreholes

Mr Ndilla went on to tell us more about SWASCO. Each province has a water utility and SWASCO is the utility for the whole of the Southern Province. They have 300 employees in Southern Water and 2 are based at Batoka. SWASCO has 40,000 customer accounts with 6 to 7 inhabitants per household, so roughly 250,000 customers. The vision for SWASCO is to provide 24/7 water supply and metering for all. He advised that this would be a particular challenge for the more rural settlements and he didn’t think these communities would have a water supply delivered by SWASCO in the near future as it would be too expensive. SWASCO receives very little government funding as this is only given in exceptional cases. The projects are cross subsidised by water utilities in towns which are making a profit.

Batoka does not have a sewerage network and communities still use pit latrines. Sewage disposal is paid for on the customer water bills.

It was great getting the chance to see how SWASCO are delivering water services to their customers and get the chance to ask them about the vision of their company. They have a huge challenge on their hands to deliver water for all but it was great to hear that this was their target.