Toward the end of June 2022, the GWB Committee selected two new projects for funding. One of the selected projects is in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
About the Project
Water as a necessity in life, is part of what has been sustaining life on earth. The demand for water has increased due to population growth. However, groundwater is not only a valuable source for water supply but also a vital component of global water cycle and environment. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO), **“It is estimated that one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water, two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with soap and water, and more than 673 million people still practice open defecation.”**
All these may be the consequence of scarcity and lack of accessibility to clean and healthy water to the common population. According to Kelly Ann Naylor of UNICEF, **“Mere access is not enough. If the water is not clean or safe to drink or is far away, and if toilet access is unsafe or limited, then we are not delivering for the world’s children.”**
This GWB project was selected for two villages in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Angwan Rimi (Basawa) and Angwan Fulani (Palladan), are two peri-urban villages, under the Sabon-gari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The inhabitants of these two villages are estimated to be about 25,000. They are mainly smallholder farmers, who trade their farm products in the nearest big town. Presently, there are no government piped-borne water supplies, and the possibility of it in the nearest future is uncertain.
The aquifer in this areas are classified into two major types, fractured rock aquifers and regolith aquifers (according to Bala, (2010)), which are said to be in hydraulic connection. Residents of this villages use open hand dug wells (which are usually not very deep) that often get polluted from open defecation, dump sites, open polluted drainages, farm fertilizers and chemicals etc. This unhygienic water is what they use for drinking and domestic use. To make matters worse, during the dry seasons, even this unsafe water supply is no longer available and scarce because the groundwater level falls below which makes the wells dry up. The villagers then rely on any source of water from a private water vendors, who usually get water from distant and unreliable rivers/sources. With poor economic status of these villagers, they opt for the cheapest available water, which over time has resulted in several public health issues and setbacks some of which includes illnesses, (water borne diseases such as cholera), increased poverty, reduced farming input and degradation of environment and sanitation (via open defecation). According to Dr Maria Neira, (WHO Director), **“Investing in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) is cost-effective and good for society in so many ways. It is an essential foundation for good health.”**
The main goal of this project is to provide clean, safe and accessible water to the above two villages by applying an integrated geophysical, geological and engineering technique to:
- Determine the earth’s subsurface structures, layer thicknesses, geo-electric and geological layers, the hydraulic and aquifer properties
- Achieve a universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water
- Make available an improved quality of groundwater
- Substantially increasing water-use efficiency by a reliably suppling freshwater to address water scarcity
- Implement an integrated water resources management, that protect and restore water-related ecosystems like the aquifers
- Support local communities by improving water and sanitation management
- Train the participating students and local youth in capacity building and technical know-how for a sustainable management of groundwater resources
Project Partners
– Multi-User Science Research Laboratory, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.
– The Mechanical Engineer Workshop, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.
– ScienTeque Consultants Limited, Suite 417, 4th floor, Bank of Industry, Kaduna, Kaduna State
This project directly helps addresses United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) 3 (Good health for all), 5 (Gender Equality) and 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation for all).
For more info on UNSDGs, please visit: sdgs.un.org/
To learn more about our grantee partners, Ahmadu Bello University, please visit this website.
Visit the GWB website for this project’s progress updates.