Focus on Water

FUM was founded in 1965 and in 2015 launched a major Jubilee fundraising effort with the aim of providing our four most needy sites with a reliable supply of good quality water. The appeal was very successful and raised the £50,000 target amount.

Background

Water is a significant and ongoing problem for much of Tabora Region, and climate change is making it worse.

The traditional shallow-wells and rainwater harvesting systems found in most of our villages are becoming increasingly unreliable. Crop yields and people's health are both affected.

Poor quality drinking water is a major cause of diarrhoea, the second most common ailment after malaria and the cause of death of an estimated 30,000 children each year in Tanzania.

Reliable water supplies

FUM's approach is always to take advice from the local District Water Engineer and tailor an optimum solution for each locality.

Three sources of water are possible, depending on the local situation. These are:

1. a deep borehole where the subterranean strata are suitable
2. connection to a reliable town water supply
3. an extensive system of rainwater harvesting, with large storage tanks

FUM has a good track record over the past years with successful boreholes drilled and in operation at Nzega Hospital and near Urambo Hospital. They provide a reliable, potable water supply and have functioned without problems for many years in Nzega and Urambo.

Thanks to the Jubilee Appeal Mwasala and Semembela villages now have fully functional boreholes providing a good supply of high quality water.

At Urambo and Sikonge FDCs improvements to the local town water supplies have meant that metered connections to them are the best solution and these also are now fully functioning. Some rainwater harvesting is also in operation to reduce the supply costs.

At Mbooga, a remote village with neither a town supply nearby nor suitable strata for a borehole, extensive rainwater harvesting is being used. The 50,000 litre concrete tank was completed in y mid-October 2017 in time for the arrival of the rains.

At Nyasa, another remote village, the large clinic roof was used to collect rainwater for storage. Here the ground was suitable for a large underground tank of 96,000 litres.