GOOD STORIES
Our Engineering team has supported Danish Engineers Without Borders, and local partners SEND and World Hope Sierra Leone to implement a solution that provides the population of Fullawahun, Sierra Leone, with clean drinking water.
In the rural community of Fullawahun, Sierra Leone, access to safe drinking water is limited. With an estimated population of 150 residents and situated on a plateau, the community faces climate change challenges, including wells running dry during the dry season and sustaining damage during the flooding season.
Access to safe drinking water is a key challenge affecting the citizens of Fullawahun. No water supply system currently exists in the community, and their only source of drinking water is open-source surface spring water, which is often polluted with trash, as well as animal and bird waste. This exposes the community to the risk of waterborne and infectious disease outbreaks.
Our engineering team has supported Danish Engineers Without Borders, along with local partners SEND and World Hope Sierra Leone, with dedicated funding and implementing an innovative solution addressing the clean water issue in Fullawahun. Here, our engineering team has specifically focused on an isolated part of the scope: A specific, physical solution that ensures that water is now running uphill to the village in Fullawahun.
To address the water accessibility crisis in Fullawahun, the project aimed to develop a water supply system. As the community is on a plateau, they previously sourced water from a nearby stream, 150 meters away, in a 20-meter-deep valley. It was decided that the best solution was a gravity system that could deliver water uphill into a storage tank, thereby securing access to clean drinking water.
After the spring box system moves the water 150 meters uphill into the storage tank, chlorine is added in accordance with national standards to disinfect the water. The people of Fullawahun will then be able to safely collect the water from a standpost with multiple taps. This solution is particularly advantageous for women and children, who are primarily responsible for collecting water using the steep and often slippery route during the flooding season.
In addition to ensuring access to clean water, the project emphasizes the importance of encouraging ownership among the people of Fullawahun to ensure the longevity of the solution.
To guarantee long-term success, the project supports a self-sustaining model, where the community actively participates by paying user fees to cover expenses related to chlorine usage and water pump maintenance.
By addressing the issue of access to clean drinking water for the population of Fullawahun, the project aligns with Emendo’s initiative, “Beyond Emendo,” which goes beyond generating profit to create a positive societal impact and shaping a better future for communities in need.
This project is a positive step towards securing access to clean drinking water and making an impactful difference for the people of Fullawahun by addressing the water accessibility crisis both today and in the future. Emendo remains dedicated to fostering positive change and demonstrating the important role businesses can play in addressing societal challenges.
To learn more about this project in Fullawahun, Sierra Leone, please reach out to Mette Niemann.
With our initiative, “Beyond Emendo,” we move beyond generating profit to create a positive societal impact and shaping a better future for communities in need. Read all our good stories here.
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