E-mail from Tanzania

Paul Singleton is senior project manager water for ICS in Tanzania. Via e-mail he regularly updates the office in the Netherlands on the progress the water project in Maganzo en Masagala makes.

Paul: “The technical design for the pipelines is now finished and we have found ourselves a contractor that will take care of the installation of the pipes before the beginning of May. A while ago we had organised a meeting with villagers where, once again, it became clear how great the need for clean drinking water is here. We heard about the feelings of guilt many mothers struggle with, because they now have no other choice than giving their children polluted water to drink and about medical staff that doesn't have access to safe water for their patients. And on top of that we heard about women who got attacked while fetching water outside of the village. Therefore the message that there will soon be clean drinking water available, centrally located and reasonably priced, is a message we would like to scream from the rooftops! Moreover, we do spend a lot of time announcing and promoting the water outlets beforehand and looking for local inhabitants that can help us with construction activities. We do everything we can to make locals feel part of this water project."

Twenty five new water outlets
The Tanzanian government is working on the construction of a long water pipeline from Lake Victoria inland to the town of Kishapu. The pipeline also passes through the villages of Maganzo and Masagala in the north. However, there are no outlets planned here, so the locals can't benefit.

Therefore ICS has started fall 2015 with research, design and the construction of subdivisions that will be attached to the main pipeline. Each new water outlet will have a meter for pre-paid cards. The profits generated are put into the maintenance of the system, repairs when necessary and quality control checks. This way we unlock clean drinking water, via 25 new water outlets for 12,000 inhabitants.

Would you like to know more about ICS' waterprojects? Read here how ICS realises sustainably working water outlets both in Tanzania and Kenya.

Paul and his colleague Opita explain two children from the village how the prepaid system works.