People in Burundi lack clean drinking water and sanitation. The situation is aggravated by the return of war refugees, who preferably settle in the capital of Burundi, in Bujumbura - the demand exceeds the local water availability. Three schools are benefiting from the project supported by Sika, and drinking water will be provided to about 5,000 school children and residents in the villages in total. At present, the schools withdraw the needed drinking and cooking water from small water holes or irrigation canals. This untreated water is strongly contaminated with bacteria causing serious diarrheal diseases.
Installation of a water filter system
The installation of a water filter system provides safe drinking water to the schools. One filter produces up to 10,000 litres per day. It has been specially developed for developing countries with little infrastructure.
To ensure best possible care and maintenance of the filter system, native technicians were trained for several days to be able to carry out repairs independently at the end of the project. Additionally, the headmasters and teachers were informed comprehensively about the operation and function of the new filter system. Furthermore, the careful use of the natural resources and renewable energies, particularly solar energy as well as the care of the filters are explained.
The local partner, Biraturaba, is a non-profit organisation based in Bujumbura striving to combat social imbalance, ignorance, and exclusion. The Kenyan Pureflow company is specialised in planning, installation and operation of water filter systems in Eastern Africa. The water filters, called sky hydrants, are based on a solar powered membrane filtration system, and produce clean water without electricity.