Recently, the Water Mission and the Grundfos Foundation celebrated an important milestone: A unique solar-powered water supply system that provides around 23,000 people with access to drinking water in Makere, Tanzania.
This endeavour is changing lives and gaining recognition from the country’s government. Tanzania’s Minister for Water, Jumaa Hamidu Aweso, together with his delegation, visited the Makere drinking water project to inspect all the components of the project and take part in the inauguration ceremony.
Due to the type of soil in this region of Africa, it is difficult to locate good sources of underground water, which makes this project a challenge. However, with the help of tTEM technology, Water Mission identified a suitable water source and successfully drilled a borehole close to the community. This ensured a consistent source of water.
Using a 22Kw Grundfos Solar Renewable Inverter and an SP 46-12 pump, water is pumped from the borehole to a treatment enclosure containing 10 erosion chlorinators. An oversized solar array, which includes around 100 panels, allows the water to be pumped earlier or later in the day. The treated water is pumped into a 50,000 gallon (200,000 litre) storage tank and then pushed on demand through approximately nine miles (15 kilometres) of distribution piping to 35 access points throughout the community.
At the moment, a pre-paid connection with a meter is being tested in the Makere community centre, while the other access points use a tap operator to control water consumption. This is the first time that the community has safe, treated water and enough water for everyone.
Find out more at: https://www.pdjf.dk/en/article/solar-powered-drinking-water-for-23000-people-makere/