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New build rural community hospital in Manafwa

RedR TSS
RedR TSS
KnowledgePointAdmin
RedR CCDRR

Hello

What are the best methods to provide a continuous water supply to a remote new community hospital where there is no power? There is a well in the village. Can you direct me to some technical information and support please?


3 Answers

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RedR TSS
RedR TSS

Unless there is a well/spring to be capped uphill from the hospital it would need a solar pump to get water up there - or a donkey/person on a wheel!! or generator/diesel/petrol/wind pump. Any of these in the area - make sure you have access to maintenance engineer and spare parts. A rain water tank up the hill might be worth considering unless you are in a very dry part of Uganda. Alan

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RedR TSS
RedR TSS

This question is pretty open-ended and has insufficient details to be able to form a solution. One assumes they want a continuous potable supply. With no power? I assume this means electrical power! From this I would say for a continuous supply then water needs to be manually pumped (or via horse/cattle power) or if fuel available to a reservoir at height sufficient to then gravitate to hospital. In central Africa this reservoir must be covered and provided with screened vents to prevent mosquito etc. access. The reservoir can be simply valved etc. to give a constant of declining rate flow to the hospital.

If the water is contaminated by microorganisms then filtration required - two small slow sand filters will do the trick nicely and no power required if at a suitable elevation with regard to the reservoir and hospital.

If the water has chemical contaminants e.g. arsenic, then wood charcoal layer on top of the filter would remove these.

Note that slow sand filter should also be covered to exclude light and insect ingress - but enable manual scraping/replacement of the sand.

There are photos of similar plants elsewhere in Africa and India for small local supplies.

The alternatives such as 'conventional' treatment would not apply (chemicals and power).

Hope this helps but I can't offer much more without more information!

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RedR TSS
RedR TSS

Hi.

Perhaps the easiest approach would be a submersible pump and an elevated tank. Olaf panels are viable in remote communities. The best supplier would be Davis and Shirtliff who have an office in Kampala. D&S are main dealers for Grunfos & Davy pumps in East Africa & have a lot of recent experience insupportable & installation for NGO's. Solar technology has moved forward in the last few years and if there is shallow groundwater available it probably represents your best option. Power limitations limit achievable pumping heads, and the other main objection that people have had in the past is that the panels get nicked. The later should not be a problem for an institutional setup like a hospital. D&S have good technical sales staff and will be able to quote for supply &installation. You can access their website via a goggle search.

regards Cody