Potable Water Supply

Dorgobom, Ghana

The EWB-USA Portland Maine Professional Chapter (EWB-PMP) teamed with the Community Directed Development Foundation (CDDF) to support a potable water project in the village of Dorgobom, Ghana.  Dorgobom is in Ada, a coastal dry savanna area with the lowest rainfall in Ghana. This small rural community did not have a safe water supply: the groundwater is saline, and the stormwater collection pond is turbid and easily contaminated.  Approximately 30% of the community had contracted parasitic diseases including malaria and schistosomiasis, both of which impacted the health and lives of the community and could be managed via clean water.

When the project started

The Portland Maine Professional Chapter observed the women and girls of Dorgobom carrying water from the local pond to their homes for their family’s needs. Each could make up to four trips per day to provide enough water to supply their families. The water in the pond is extremely turbid with very fine particulates and although it should be filtered or treated prior to consumption, it rarely was.

 

Rainwater Harvest System & Dorgobom’s First School Library

Over several years, the chapter installed a rainwater harvest system that would provide several days of water for the entire community with only 0.5 inches of rain.  The system was constructed with the community, and we left them with the tools and resources to maintain it.  We also donated boxes of books to start the school’s first library.  The books were immediately catalogued and then used by the entire community.

  • Early introduction to STEM for these students!

  • Students helping to construct the rainwater system.

  • Students review library book donations.

EWB-PMP team members and the community successfully installed the rainwater harvest system on the school building and it was duplicated on additional school buildings.

Knowing that rainwater would not provide sufficient water during the dry season, the EWB-PMP chapter started pilot tests for water purification. We worked with sand filtration systems as well as using moringa seeds.

The moringa tree grows everywhere in the community and its leaves and seeds are used for medicinal purposes. Thanks to some research on our part, we determined that the seeds also work as a flocculent, providing positively charged particles that bind to the clay particles in the water, forming heavy colloids that can then sink within the vessel to provide clean, safe water. 

  • A sand filter system was set up for a longer-term pilot scale, and data were promising, but not good enough to embark on large scale construction.

  • A second pilot test was then conducted to use locally grown moringa seeds to treat the water. This also had promise, but the community did not like the taste of the treated water.

Lessons Learned

The rainwater harvest system was originally a success, so much so that there were several more installed on additional buildings. However, as the project continued the community no longer maintained the rainwater harvest system and did not provide data needed to continue the pilot tests. They also did not post the required percentage of the project costs which is an EWB requirement to ensure that the community is vested in the projects. Without the feeling of ownership, and with losing our in-country project contact, the project was closed. Because the system was not maintained, the success was short-lived. We learned a lot from the experience and have used these lessons in our next projects. We are still in touch with the community and willing to help should there be an opportunity.