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Water supply systems in Ethiopia
Working closely with the Ethiopian government, UNICEF provides funds and
technical assistance for the development of water delivery systems at the
local level. Most of the projects that UNICEF supports are in rural villages
and towns where rainfall is unreliable and infrastructure is limited.
There are several different types of basic water schemes:
- Hand-Dug Wells with Hand Pumps - These are very basic systems
that usually support a single water point. A typical site serves about 500
people. The wells are shallow.
- Bore Holes with Hand Pumps - These systems require the use of a
drilling rig to reach ground water sources too deep for a hand-dug well.
A typical site serves about 500 people. These are also single-point systems.
- Bore Holes with Motorized Pumps - These systems employ a motor-driven
pump and can serve 1,000 to 5,000 people. UNICEF often provides financial
support for the fuel required to run the pump. More than one service point
is possible with these schemes.
- Protected and Developed Springs - Employed where reliable ground-water
springs are available, these simple projects usually serve about 500 people.
However, Africa's longest developed-spring system (125 km) serves 22 villages
with extensions off the main conduit. Each village has more than 1,000 users,
making this system in southeastern Ethiopia a vital lifeline.
- River Intake & Filtration - Few of these relatively expensive
systems exist in rural Ethiopia, although there are some. One prime example
is the system at Gode, in the Somali Region. Originally constructed more
than 15 years ago, it was completely overhauled in the mid-1990s with funds
and technical assistance from UNICEF. Powerful new pumps were housed in
a new, flood-protected concrete silo, and a simple filtration system was
added. The source for this system - the powerful Wabi Shebelle River - is
a year-round water course that paradoxically passes through the driest part
of the country. Unfortunately, its deep waters are too muddy for casual
use and must be filtered.
- Rain Water Collection Reservoirs - Used primarily in the dry, pastoral
areas of eastern and southeastern Ethiopia, these systems are meant mainly
to serve livestock. They are, of course, reliant on rainfall for replenishment.
With the exception of the Somali Region, much of Ethiopia is rich in ground
water, even during the dry seasons. That makes long-term development the key
to the country's water stability and self-sufficiency.
Return to 'Ethiopia: The hardest hit'
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