Communal well survey
30% of handpumps required maintenance & 75% of wells showed bacterial contamination!Executive Summary
In response to this need, International relief agencies have constructed approximately 300 dug wells complete with hand pumps. Now that water is available, attention is focusing on the quantity/quality problems experienced in many of these wells.
A cooperative venture between the European Union, the Government of Liberia and Lifewater International is underway to deepen wells and improve water quality in wells supplying thousands of people. By improving access to safe water supplies, peoples health will be protected and their energy focused on recovering from the physical, spiritual and emotional trauma of civil war.
Between June 5 and 17, 1995, a team led by Lifewater volunteers Mike Turvey and Braimah Apimbire tested water quality and inspected pumps and well construction for 150 communal wells in the Monrovia area. Most wells had some well head sanitation problems but the following problems were most serious: major cracks on pads, direct infiltration of storm water, significant ponding of water, swampy and weedy well surrounding, clogged drainage/soak-away, garbage and leaky sewers near wells and algae growth.
Out of the 142 inspected hand pumps, 42 (30%) were out of service or required some form of repair and/or maintenance. Based on interviews conducted with well users, 37% of the wells either ran out of water or had noticeably reduced yields during the dry season.
Portable test meters and field test kits were used to analyze water samples. Overall, the chemical quality of the waters was good: pH ranged from 6-7.8, only 9% of the samples contained iron concentrations above 2 ppm, all but 5 wells contained less than 10 ppm Nitrate-nitrogen and the water was soft (only 2 wells had more than 120 ppm hardness and the median TDS value was 50 ppm). However, the waters were very warm (81-85 degrees F) and approximately 75% of the samples measured aerobic bacterial contamination. Forty-five percent of these wells had some level of total coliform bacteria present and 10 of the 12 conducted pathogen tests (83%) indicated the presence of unknown pathogenic organisms.
While the exact impact on human health is unknown, there is definitely a need to reduce the potential spread of water-borne disease. This is being done by implementing a sustained well disinfection program, increasing attention to improved well siting and improving sanitation practices. Recommendations regarding rehabilitation of priority wells were made; factors used in priorizing wells include: status of hand pumps, water quality and quantity, sanitary conditions around the well sites and verbal information from regular well users, especially the women and children.
Conclusion
Remedial options represent a compromise between technical feasibility, time restraints, economics and social willingness to implement required changes. In the interim, education regarding point-of-use disinfection techniques is critical to ensure that the impact of water- borne disease is minimized.
Source: Gehrels, J., M. Turvey and B. Apimbire (1995) "Well Inspection Report, Monrovia, Liberia", Unpublished Lifewater International report prepared August, 1995 for the European Union and the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation, Guly/UN Drive, Monrovia, Liberia.