Manica Province is a largely rural province where local people typically use wood fuel on inefficient three-stone fires to purify their drinking, cleaning and washing water. This process results in the release of greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of wood – this can be avoided if a technology that does not require fuel (wood or fossil) supplies clean water desired by households.

Many existing boreholes were established by community groups or community based organisations and had fallen into disrepair because maintenance programmes had been poorly managed, or proven too expensive. This project helped to identify communities in Manica Province in need of a safe water source, where boreholes would be installed; and identify broken down boreholes which needed to be rehabilitated, so that communities have reliable access to clean, safe water.

The capacity of communities to maintain their boreholes will also be supported through the project to ensure that the water keeps flowing. The boreholes included under the project will be powered entirely by emission-free technologies such as hand or solar-powered pumps.

Benefits

• 3125 additional people gain access to safe water
• 10,000tCO2e reduced each year
• Improvement of indoor air quality due to reduced need to boil water
• The project reduces the occurrence of water-borne diseases locally
• Time spent collecting firewood will be reduced by >30 mins per day through the removed need for wood fuel to boil water
• The boreholes are monitored and tested annually for water quality
• Water point committees will be set up and trained in to ensure that they are empowered to manage the boreholes.