| Article Index |
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| The aqueduct goes to the village |
| Objectives and results |
| Beneficiaries |
| Data synthesis |
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Access to drinking water in the District of Njombe and in the Iringa Region, Tanzania.
Giving continuity to the program initiated by ACRA in September 2006 and co-financed by the EU Water Facility Initiative, this project aims at extending the aqueduct built in Tove in order to connect it with another five villages, which currently have not access to drinking water. Access to water shall be also ensured to other centers of the District through the connection of deep wells to already existing aqueducts.
Giving that the benefits of water availability are optimized only when related to improved health conditions, ACRA shall spread the use of improved latrines and shall activate courses in order to sensitize the communities on the importance of hygiene.
Problems to solveIn the Iringa region, only 54% of the population has access to protected drinking water sources. Surface wells are the most widely used for water supply but the quantity and quality of these sources is very low. For example, during the rainy season - although water is more abundant - it is contaminated because it comes from superficial erosion. The average time for water supply - activity performed mainly by women - is one hour for a total of more than three trips per day. Sanitary conditions of all ten villages - currently connected to the aqueduct of Tove - remain alarming due to the lack of sanitation. Hence the high frequency of water-borne diseases (diarrhea, intestinal, skin and eyes infections) with over 18% of them diagnosed in children below 5 years.
Other critical aspects lie in the limited technical skills, the poor coordination of the various entities responsible for the management of the aqueduct and the lack of dissemination of appropriate and standardized technologies. For this reason, the strengthening of the institutions responsible for the proper operation of the water infrastructures - such as the Regional Hydrological Department - is very important.
