Projects
Axim Clean Water System Extension
When in Ghana in 2006 as part of the Global Citizen Journey children’s
home project, Bellingham
Washington engineer Ravyn Whitewolf conducted
an engineering assessment of the needs
in the community with the hope of developing
a project that could be completed with
the assistance of
Engineers Without Borders.
Paired with local engineers from the Nzema
District, Ravyn traveled the area looking
at roads, drainage courses, sanitation
systems and water sources.
It was not until a day was spent touring the local
area schools and observing the lack of
bathrooms and hand washing facilities that
a decision was made about the type of project.
In an area with so much need, providing
clean water was clearly essential to the
long-term health of this community.
By interviewing officials with the Ghana Water
Company, the Axim Clean Water System Extension
project was formed.
The project will involve extending the public water system owned by the Ghana Water Company so that it reaches the poorest part of the community. In the first phase of the project, it is estimated that 250 meters (820 feet) of 4-inch pipe will be needed. The existing reservoir of 4,500 liters (1,188 gallons) has the capacity to serve this area since the existing system only pumps 8 hours per day. In addition, two deep wells (bore holes) are maintained by the Ghana Water Company to supplement the water supply system during dry periods. This will provide water for the most heavily populated region of this fishing community. The new public main supply line will also be strategically constructed to front public property, schools and churches so that people without plumbing to their homes will have easy access. Because it is common for people to walk for great distances to collect firewood and trade for fish, it is estimated that an area exceeding a 5-kilometer radius (3.1 miles) will ultimately benefit from this project.
The current public water system was installed
in the early 1960’s by the Ghana Water
Company. The water comes from the
Crocodile River, which is diverted by a
dam in the mountains approximately 2 miles
from town. The diverted water is mechanically
pumped to a treatment plant where it undergoes
treatment for iron and sediment removal,
and chlorine-based bacteria purification.
The water is tested weekly and sent to
a laboratory in Takoradi, the capital of
the Western Region approximately 2 hours
away. Since the original installation,
the system was expanded by 3 km, and in the center of town the
pipe was upgraded from asbestos concrete to PVC. The population
of the area has grown much faster than
the system expansion, leaving 22,000 people
without access to clean drinking water.
This is compounded each year during fishing
season (July-October) when the population
doubles.
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