fee collection

By A Single Drop Posted on Fri 30 Jul 2010, almost 14 years ago

Hi there

Can you tell me how fees are collected? Do people pay monthly, or by the jerican? is it free for the students? Does anyone get paid for repair, or is the women's group all volunteer?

I understand you've estimated a $410/year for the maintenance and the collection yields $250. Where are the donations coming from?

Who works with the hydrologist to find the best sites? Are women involved in the decision-making around location selection?

Thanks! Good luck!
gemma

fee collection

By The Samburu Project Posted on Mon 02 Aug 2010, over 13 years ago

Hi Gemma,
Fee collection methods are left up to the determination of the local communities, but generally each community has a Water Committee that determines the collection method and actually collects the fees. Community members pay a monthly fee and people from outside the community can pay by the jerrycan or by the head of livestock that they wish to water.
The first line of repair is for the community to repair the well themselves. Maintenance workshops are taught by our project manager at the time of drilling and he is often available to help with repairs after drilling as well. If the community cannot repair the well themselves, they must higher an outside contractor at their own cost.
We factor our project manager's salary into the maintenance costs. That salary is paid by donations from the public, etc.
The community, our project manager, and local woman's groups all work with the hydrologist to find the best sites.

Hope this answers your questions,
Robert

The water situation and its use

By Agua Para la Vida (APLV) Posted on Sun 01 Aug 2010, almost 14 years ago

This looks like a desperately needed project and so should have high priority.
On the source of water:
-The wells are hand dug or sometimes perforated by drilling rigs?
-How deep down does the water lay?
- Do the wells dry out sometime in the year or are the aquifer abundant?
-Are the wells completely covered?

On its uses. Are your villages concentrated? what would you say is the average distance beween the well and the houses?

Have you any idea how much water the family members carry per family per day?
If they pay by the jerry can or pail that should be easy to figure out.
Gilles Corcos APLV

The water situation and its use

By The Samburu Project Posted on Tue 03 Aug 2010, over 13 years ago

Hi Gilles,
Our wells are all drilled and not hand dug. They are all completely sealed with a concrete slab and accessible only by hand pump. We normally drill to about 70 meters, but typically the water is found between 35-40 meters down.
We have yet to have a well dry out even in sever drought. This is because of the depth of the wells and the abundance of the aquifer. We are going down 70 meters and tapping into a very abundant aquifer.
Samburu culture is not really village oriented, but is more clan based. Communities tend to be more spread out and live in non-permanent structures. Many of these together form a community. As such there is not much of a concentration of housing, but most people will be within a kilometer of the well.
Funding for community members is through a community fund and not per jerrycan. For that reason, we are unsure of the exact amount that each family uses per day.
Thanks,
Robert

Stats on well maintenance

By Aqua Clara International Posted on Fri 06 Aug 2010, over 13 years ago

Hi Robert,
Thanks for your answer to my previous question. How often do you test the wells are they are drilled? I understand that this project is part of the second set of 25 wells by the Samburu project. Could you share any statistics on how often the first set of 25 wells had to be repaired or maintained? The proposal mentions that some of the spare parts are available from the well drilling company. How successful has this approach been? Is this part of the contract with the company?
Best wishes,
Claire

Stats on well maintenance

By The Samburu Project Posted on Tue 10 Aug 2010, over 13 years ago

Claire,
We are currently developing a system wherein we will randomly test a sample of our wells each year to ensure that they remain contamination free. While I do not have the exact statistics that you requested, I spoke with our project manager who informed me that while the period between repair and maintenance varies greatly with each well due to the different levels of use in each community, the average is that a well needs maintenance or repair once every three months. To clarify about the spare parts, the well drilling company will leave parts behind on the drill, but that is not specified in the contract. So initially, the community can use any spare parts that the drilling has left behind, after that they can purchase parts from our project manager at cost.
Thanks,
Robert