Drilled 6 boreholes next to clinics maintained by MSH, providing water to the nearby community. H20+ unifies health, water, sanitation, and education activities at the community level for a maximum technical synergy and cost-effectiveness.

Narrative

The Pallisa project was funded by the S.L. Gimbel Foundation through Blue Planet network, and done in partnership with Management Sciences for Health. ILF and its partners were charged to provide clean water at six health centers. ILF was able to successfully install six boreholes, each with a trained Water User Committees in the Pallisa District of Eastern Uganda. The grant's intent, as described in the award and agreement letter, was to "Enable sustainable clean water and associated education and health benefits for up to 3,900 people in rural communities in Eastern Uganda." ILF was able to exceed this goal by providing access to drinking water to the six health centers, and also to a total of 7,037 individuals.

All of the water sources from this project are deep boreholes that have aquifers sourced in the basement. Biological and chemical water quality analysis confirmed that all the water sources are providing clean water that meets or exceeds Uganda National standards for drinking water. Five of the six boreholes were sited on the health center compound, and the last was sited 150 meters away, because of the lack of groundwater presence on the health center compound. The flow rates for each of the six boreholes were very good, and two of the boreholes (Kanyum and Opweteta) have a flow rate that is high enough (>3 m3/hr) to support a submersible pump. Indian Mark U3M hand pumps were installed on all the water sources which are rustproof and have a long time interval between repairs. A borehole commissioning ceremony was held and district, sub-county, WUC chairman, LC1 and community members were invited. There was a strong turnout of 50 invited guests and another 50 community members at Kanyum borehole. During the ceremony, the borehole at Kanyum was dedicated to Amuge Theresa, an elderly woman, who donated the land for the health center.

H2O Health Plus' first priority was for ILF, as Blue Planet Network's member and expert in water, hygiene, and sanitation project implementation, to conduct thorough evaluations and baseline surveys of the water and sanitation needs of each community, school, and health clinic in the Pallisa District. ILF collected information including population density, distance to closest water source, geological and hydrological surveys, community readiness and ownership, location of health clinics and schools, and health and education indicators. ILF's full implementation process is summarized through 12 steps, from beneficiary selection to completion of a functioning borehole and fully trained Water User Committee.

The beneficiary selection began with a list of health centers provided by the District Health Office, in coordination with MSH. Unfortunately, none of these centers were good candidates for boreholes, either because they were located within 100 meters of a water source, or boreholes had been previously attempted and had come up dry at those sites. From there ILF performed site assessments at 17 health clinics and visited 36 water sources to select a final six health clinics. These six were selected based on four criteria: closest water point, size of community, groundwater potential and likelihood of siting borehole within health clinic grounds, and whether the health clinic admits patients overnight or has a maternity ward. The sites chosen were then confirmed with the District Water Office and District Health Office. Once the locations were selected, the second step was for ILF to administer baseline surveys at the village level. These surveys are meant to gather information in four focus areas: current water access, the sanitation situation, hygiene practices, and household social-economic situation. These surveys allow ILF and its staff to understand the situation and the needs of the particular region in order to have the most impact and ensure the sustainability of the projects. Prior to ILF’s intervention, the community members living around the health clinics chosen were gathering their water from unprotected springs, protected springs, and shallow and deep boreholes. Their source depended on the village; some had boreholes on the other side of the village from the clinic, others did not. Most of the people traveled between 1/2km and 5km to gather their water. The overwhelming majority of people collecting water were women and children. Latrine coverage ranged from 68%-89%. The third step is borehole siting. Selecting the exact location is based on the presence of groundwater and required setbacks, and not on individual desires, local politics or community factions in order to ensure that the best location is selected.

The fourth step is for ILF to facilitate the creation and training of a WUC for each borehole. These committees are created in order to ensure proper usage, continued functionality and borehole oversight during the lifespan of the borehole. Seven trainings were conducted by ILF's Sanitation and Hygiene team during this project, one at each successful borehole and one at the Kachuru site before the decision was made to change sites because of low groundwater yield. These committees, along with the VHTs, are elected by their community and are trained to lead in the operation and maintenance of the water points to ensure continuous functionality and sustainability on behalf of the community

The next four steps, drilling, borehole completion, borehole development and slab casting, each went well and resulted in six functioning boreholes. While twelve boreholes were drilled, ranging in depth from 27.90m to 47.85 meters, six boreholes ended up being dry due to the geological constraints. The final six boreholes were completed with 4 1/2 inch plastic casing, gravel packed above the screen casing and a sanitary seal installed with cement to the surface. All six completed boreholes produce clear water, with the concrete slabs easily installed. A signpost with the names of ILF, donors and implementing partners, as well as the DWO number, date and village, was placed at each borehole site.

Step 9 is the pump (aquifer) test, and each of the six boreholes far exceeded the national standards. Next, the hand pump was installed in the borehole, each with an Indian Mark U3M. This was a new model for ILF, and was requested by the District Water Office. This model has the benefit of having no iron parts that could rust, increasing its functional longevity. Step 11 is to test the quality of the water. All six water sources provided drinking quality water that met or exceeded national chemical and biological standards. The chemical analysis was performed by a technical lab and administered by the Ugandan National Government, and ILF WASH team conducted the biological analysis. Finally, a borehole completion report was submitted to the Ministry of Water and Environment for all six successful boreholes and four of the non-successful boreholes per national guidelines.