ROPE PUMP vs. NIRA AF85: A GHANAIAN CASE STUDY By Thomas Drouin

A research project report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Science of Loughborough University.

September 2004

Supervisor: R. J. Elson (BSc, Cgeol, FGS)

Water, Engineering and Development Centre Department of Civil and Building Engineering 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Water Aid and Rural Aid who made the field work research possible through their financial and technical support during all the fieldwork. I would like to thank all the staff of Rural Aid for their welcoming attitude and friendly support during all this month in Bolgatanga, Ghana, with a special mention to Isaac Chege. I would like to thank Stuart Dale and all the staff of the Loughborough Civil Engineering Department laboratory for the training and the material they provide me. I would like to thanks also Bob Elson, Peter Harvey, Mike Smith, Brian Skinner and Tricia Jackson who help me all this year and particularly in the last months. I would like to thank Henk Alberts, Guy Howard, Margaret Ince, Kali Johal, Rosy Shier and Andrew Weatley for their useful advices and help. I would also like to thank Kathy Brown for her welcoming, friendly attitude and her logistical efficiency and Katie Toop for her time, her advices and her supportive attitude all along this research project. I finally would like to thank my sister, my parents and Arusha for their numerous rereadings.

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CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that: (i)

I am responsible for the work submitted in this project report, and that the original work is my own except as specified below. I have been helped in the redaction of the statistical analysis by Rosy Shier statistician lecturer at Loughborough University.

(ii)

I have not submitted this work to any other institution for the award of a degree

(iii)

All laboratory work and Field work has been carried out by me with no outside assistance except as noted below. Laboratory training has been provided by Stuart Dale in the Loughborough University Civil Engineering Department Laboratory.

(iv)

All information (including diagrams and tables) or other information which is copied from, or based on, the work of others has its source clearly acknowledged in the text at the place where it appears.

Signed:_________________________ Date:__________________________

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………. 2 Certificate of Authorship……………………………………….………………….3 Individual Project Access From………………………………….………………..4 Table of contents………………………………………………….……………….5 List of figures……………………………………………………………………..10 List of tables………………………………………………………………………11 List of boxes………………………………………………………………………12 1

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INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 13 1.1

Introduction .................................................................................................... 13

1.2

Background..................................................................................................... 13

1.3

Project’s Aim and objectives ........................................................................... 15

1.4

Methodology ................................................................................................... 15

1.5

Anticipated impact of the project .................................................................... 16

METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................ 17 2.1

Introduction .................................................................................................... 17

2.2

Communications ............................................................................................. 17

2.3

Literature Review............................................................................................ 18

2.4

Training .......................................................................................................... 18

2.5

Field work ....................................................................................................... 19

2.5.1

Water analysis.......................................................................................... 19

2.5.2

Sanitary inspections ................................................................................. 19

2.5.3

Interviews ................................................................................................ 20

2.6

Analysis of the data......................................................................................... 20

2.7

Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 20

HAND PUMPS AND WATER QUALITY........................................................... 21 3.1

Hand pumps.................................................................................................... 21

3.1.1

General comments.................................................................................... 21

3.1.2

Wide variety of pumps .............................................................................. 21

3.1.3

Sustainability and sustainable technology ................................................ 23

3.1.4

Lessons learned ?..................................................................................... 24 5

3.2

4

The technology..................................................................................... 24

3.1.4.2

Maintenance......................................................................................... 25

3.1.4.3

The costs .............................................................................................. 26

3.1.4.4

Measuring sustainability....................................................................... 26

3.1.4.5

Hand pump impact on health. ............................................................... 27

Water quality and quantity issues ................................................................... 28

3.2.1

General comments.................................................................................... 28

3.2.2

Chemical and bacteriological aspects ...................................................... 28

3.2.3

Micro-organism index or indicator........................................................... 30

3.2.4

Methods and norms .................................................................................. 32

3.2.5

Sanitary inspections ................................................................................. 34

GHANA SITUATION ........................................................................................... 36 4.1

Upper east region situation ............................................................................. 36

4.1.1

Geology and hydrogeology....................................................................... 36

4.1.2

Rainfall pattern ........................................................................................ 37

4.1.3

Population ............................................................................................... 38

4.1.4

Ghana Water Institutions ......................................................................... 40

4.2

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3.1.4.1

Handpumps in Upper East Region ................................................................. 41

4.2.1

Former programs and standardisation ..................................................... 41

4.2.2

First attempt of technology transfer.......................................................... 41

4.2.3

Actual situation in the study area ............................................................ 43

4.2.3.1

Stakeholders......................................................................................... 43

4.2.3.2

Pump types........................................................................................... 45

FIELD WORK METHODS .................................................................................. 48 5.1

Introduction .................................................................................................... 48

5.2

Meeting and interview of the communities ..................................................... 48

5.2.1

Selection of the pumps.............................................................................. 48

5.2.2

Contacts with the communities and Interviews ......................................... 50

5.2.3

Information gathered for each sample ...................................................... 51

5.2.4

Potential or noticed problems and errors ................................................. 52

5.3

Sampling and on-site analysis......................................................................... 53

5.3.1

Sterilisation of the material ...................................................................... 53

5.3.1.1

Material used........................................................................................ 53

5.3.1.2

Description of the technique ................................................................. 53 6

5.3.2 5.3.2.1

Material used........................................................................................ 54

5.3.2.2

Description of the technique ................................................................. 54

5.3.2.3

Potential or noticed problems and errors............................................... 54

5.3.3

Temperature ......................................................................................... 55

5.3.3.2

pH ........................................................................................................ 56

5.3.3.3

Turbidity .............................................................................................. 56

5.3.3.4

Colour .................................................................................................. 56 Material used........................................................................................ 57

5.3.4.2

Description of the technique ................................................................. 57

5.3.4.3

Potential or noticed problems and errors............................................... 58

Bacteriological analysis of the samples........................................................... 58 Preparation of the media.......................................................................... 59

5.4.1.1

Material used........................................................................................ 59

5.4.1.2

Description of the technique ................................................................. 59

5.4.2

Sterilisation of the material ...................................................................... 60

5.4.2.1

Material used........................................................................................ 60

5.4.2.2

Description of the technique ................................................................. 60

5.4.3

Dilution, filtration, incubation and reading .............................................. 60

5.4.3.1

Material used........................................................................................ 60

5.4.3.2

Description of the technique ................................................................. 60

5.4.3.3

Potential or noticed problems and errors............................................... 63

5.4.4

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Sampling .................................................................................................. 57

5.3.4.1

5.4.1

5.5

On site measurements............................................................................... 55

5.3.3.1

5.3.4

5.4

Transport of the samples .......................................................................... 54

Disposal of the used membranes .............................................................. 65

Sanitary inspections ........................................................................................ 65

5.5.1

Description of the method used ................................................................ 65

5.5.2

Potential or noticed problems and errors ................................................. 66

PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS................................................................ 68 6.1

Interviews of the communities ........................................................................ 68

6.1.1

the wells ................................................................................................... 68

6.1.2

the pumps................................................................................................. 71

6.1.2.1

Age of pumps....................................................................................... 71

6.1.2.2

Repairs ................................................................................................. 71 7

6.1.2.3 6.1.3

6.2

6.1.3.1

Water Consumption.............................................................................. 76

6.1.3.2

If they were given the choice!............................................................... 77

Sanitary inspections ........................................................................................ 79 Corrections .............................................................................................. 79

6.2.2

Scores and answers .................................................................................. 84

Water analysis................................................................................................. 85

6.3.1

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physical parameters ................................................................................. 85

6.3.1.1

temperature .......................................................................................... 85

6.3.1.2

turbidity ............................................................................................... 86

6.3.1.3

pH ........................................................................................................ 87

6.3.1.4

Colour .................................................................................................. 87

6.3.2

8

uses of water and perception of the pump ................................................ 76

6.2.1 6.3

7

capital costs and maintenance costs ...................................................... 75

presumptive counts of thermotolerant coliforms ...................................... 88

6.3.2.1

Blank Bottles contamination................................................................. 88

6.3.2.2

Presentation of the results..................................................................... 89

ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS........................................................................... 92 7.1

Sanitary inspections ........................................................................................ 92

7.2

Water analysis................................................................................................. 93

7.3

Overall comparison......................................................................................... 96

CONCLUSION...................................................................................................... 99 8.1

Aim and objectives .......................................................................................... 99

8.2

Literature review ............................................................................................. 99

8.3

Area of study ................................................................................................. 100

8.4

Field work methodology................................................................................ 100

8.5

Findings from data analysis.......................................................................... 101

8.6

Final conclusion ........................................................................................... 102

8.7

Recommendations ......................................................................................... 103

8.7.1

Further study ......................................................................................... 103

8.7.2

Other recommendations ......................................................................... 103

REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 105

APPENDIX 1:.............................................................................................................. 114 APPENDIX 2:.............................................................................................................. 117

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APPENDIX 3:.............................................................................................................. 122 APPENDIX 4:.............................................................................................................. 124 APPENDIX 5:.............................................................................................................. 129

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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4-1: Upper Region soil profile (ODI 1998:14)(Adugbire 2004) ............................ 37 Figure 4-2: Map of the 6 districts of Upper East Region .................................................. 39 Figure 4-3: Nira AF85..................................................................................................... 45 Figure 4-4: Ghanaian rope pump ..................................................................................... 46 Figure 5-1: Approximate locations of the selected pumps................................................ 50 Figure 5-2: Oxfam-Delagua kit........................................................................................ 59 Figure 5-3: Delagua wooden lid and original ................................................................... 64 Figure 6-1: Gundago Nira pump without the platform, Bawku West District ................... 73 Figure 6-2: Lanaga Nira pump, worn out handle sleeve and broken sleeve bearing, Bawku west district. .................................................................................................................... 74 Figure 6-3: Temperature of water from Rope and Nira pump........................................... 86 Figure 6-4: Mean turbidity by pump and by district ......................................................... 87 Figure 6-5: Presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts distribution for Nira AF85........ 91 Figure 6-6: Presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts distribution for Rope pumps ..... 91 Figure 7-1: Probability plot for the rope pump log median counts.................................... 94 Figure 7-2: Probability plot for the Nira AF85 log median counts.................................... 94

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LIST OF TABLES Table 3-1: Sustainability: 5 dimensions, 6 factors............................................................ 24 Table 3-2: Summary of Feachem-Bradley Classification of Water Related Diseases ....... 29 Table 3-3: Comparison between membrane filtration and MPN techniques ..................... 33 Table 4-1: Nira pump AF85 vs. Ghanaian Rope Pump .................................................... 47 Table 5-1: Final selection of pumps................................................................................. 49 Table 5-2: Dilution, filtration, incubation and reading material........................................ 61 Table 6-1: Depth characteristics of the wells studied ....................................................... 68 Table 6-2: Age characteristics of the pumps .................................................................... 71 Table 6-3: Number of repairs by type of pump ................................................................ 72 Table 6-4: Variations of the answers to some key questions and corrections for Rope pumps ............................................................................................................................. 80 Table 6-5: Variations of the answers to some key questions and corrections for Nira pumps ........................................................................................................................................ 80 Table 6-6: Results of the sanitary inspections before the corrections................................ 83 Table 6-7: Results of the sanitary inspections after the corrections .................................. 83 Table 6-8: Mean thermotolerant coliform counts in cfu/100 ml for some answers of the sanitary inspections. ........................................................................................................ 84 Table 6-9: Variations in water colour by district .............................................................. 88 Table 6-10: Thermotolerant coliform counts means in cfu/100 ml and standard deviation by community and by type of pump ............................................................................... 90 Table 7-1: Ranking comparison between Nira AF85 and rope pumps .............................. 97

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LIST OF BOXES Box 3-1: Guiding principles for well-handpump water supply ......................................... 25 Box 5-1: Never ride too fast ............................................................................................ 55 Box 5-2: The human factor.............................................................................................. 66 Box 6-1: Men also use the pumps!................................................................................... 77

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INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION For many years people have obtained their drinking water from the ground. However

in many cases they need lifting devices or pumps to raise the water. There is a vast variety of different pumps, some simple and some complex and not appropriate for use in developing countries. Of the simple pumps one such is the rope and washer pump but it is not a new technology. The principle was already known and used two thousand years ago in China. The technique is easy to understand, to adapt and to manufacture with locally available material such as wood, bamboo and tyres. This cheap handpump has been used mainly for irrigation purposes lifting water from low heads, maximum of 6 metres, at high flow rates, up to 180 litres/min for a 2.4 metres head (Arlosoroff et al 1987:188). Some industrial versions, reaching 15 metres head, have been developed in China where several millions were in use in the late 1960s (Fraenkel 1986:46). A Major evolution took place in Nicaragua during the 1980s with the invention of a rubber washer made by injecting moulds. This evolution led to a dramatic increase in the potential height of lifting, up to 60 metres for a model with double crank (Alberts 2004). This major evolution transformed this pump mainly used for irrigation into a hand pump suitable for lifting even deep groundwater. Although these washers needed to be made by equipped workshops, the technology remained cheap: around US$150 for a complete pump, as opposed to the US$700 of a Nira AF85, a widely used strong handpump. As a result, the pump spread quickly in Nicaragua where it was adopted as a standardised pump in 1996. Actually, more than 30 000 rope pumps are in use in Nicaragua and provide water to 25% of the population (Alberts 2004). There was some attempt at technology transfer in the late 1990s, notably to Ghana where so far three workshops are producing the pump. 1.2 BACKGROUND During the last thirty years, learning from different project failures and successes the Water and sanitation sector has been focusing on the sustainability of the facilities implemented. The evolution towards cheaper, more reliable ways of providing people with

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safe drinking water has taken place at the management level as well as at the technical level. In the rural water supply sector, the lack of funds and of skilled workers resulted in the failure of many centralised governmental systems of maintenance of the facilities. This led people towards unsafe sources of water, thus causing major threats and catastrophes in terms of public health. In order to limit the expenses and the logistical burden, aiming for realistic maintenance solutions, the projects evolved towards what has been called the Village Level Operation and Maintenance (VLOM) system, now more often called ‘Community Management’ or ‘Demand Responsive Approaches’ (Parry Jones et al 2001). The principle of these approaches is to involve the communities, as much as possible, in the management of their water supply, hoping that a sense of ownership on an affordable water supply scheme, using an understandable and accessible technology, would cost less and last longer. For rural water supply, the major technical advance make hand pumps more readily available and easier to maintain. The village Level Operation and Maintenance (VLOM) hand pumps, such as the India Mark II and III or the Nira AF85, have largely replaced the former centrally maintained heavy duty hand pumps. But even the Demand Responsive Approaches coupled with technological progress have encountered many failures. The communities still need outside support for some major repairs and for the provision of spare parts. Thus the standardisation of the pump and the privatisation of the spare parts supply network are now goals for the actors in the water sector. In this context, locally made pumps are of particular interest as soon as their manufacturing is affordable to the locals. This however implies a centralised system of quality control to guarantee the respect of certain norms and the standardisation of the spare parts. What are the norms that a handpump design and manufacture should respect? As any water supply device it should at least protect the water source from microbiological contamination. In fact, very few studies have tried to assess the impact of hand pumps on water quality. It is assumed that they protect the groundwater on the basis of the logical assumption that the more they isolate the source from contamination at the point of abstraction, the less pollution will enter the well. Thus the rope pump principle for which the rope goes in and out the well is often considered as not entirely satisfactory in terms of protection of the water source (Gorter et al 1995) compared to other pumps like the Nira AF85 which are more tightly closed. 14

Another concern about the rope pump is, quite paradoxically related to its sustainability. Questions have been raised following the first attempt of technology transfer from Nicaragua to Ghana, because of the breakdown of some pumps (Babisma 2004). 1.3 PROJECT’S AIM AND OBJECTIVES It was not possible within the scope of an MSc project to compare many hand pumps world-wide. The comparison has been limited to a case study in Upper East Region, Ghana. The Nira AF85 has been chosen in this project because both pumps, the Nira and the Rope pumps, were widely present in the area, fitted on the same designs of well and installed and maintained following the same principles. All the wells chosen within the scope of this study are part of the project of Rural Aid, a local NGO, mainly funded by Water Aid Ghana, promoting the rope pump in Upper East Region. The present study is to try to assess whether the rope pump is worse or better than other handpumps in terms of the impact on microbiological water quality and sustainability.




Interviews of the communities and sanitary inspections are carried out along with

the water quality analysis to enable a wider comparison to be made including issues related to sustainability.

1.4 METHODOLOGY To reach the objectives of the present study the author set out to look for every related issues in any relevant sources. This literature review would include books, articles, websites and any relevant personal communication. The purpose of this literature review being double: put the study in pace with the actual knowledge and prepare the gathering of data in the field. Some technical training also have to take place to prepare the gathering of the needed data. This training will focus on laboratory techniques, like sampling and membrane filtration for microbiological water quality analysis. The fieldwork thus prepared will allow to gather the data which will be used in the comparison of the two types of pumps. The data will be collected through water analysis, interview of the communities and sanitary inspections. The data will then be analysed using statistical methods when necessary and presented as clearly as possible in a written form. 15

1.5 ANTICIPATED IMPACT OF THE PROJECT The purpose of this project is to evaluate an interesting technology which is still under suspicion, hoping that the results will help to promote it. The results of the research will hopefully give Water Aid and Rural Aid arguments to promote rope pumps in Ghana and its inclusion in the standardised pumps accepted by the country authorities. The setting up of sanitary inspection forms is hoped to be useful for the operation and maintenance of the pumps by Rural Aid and the communities of the Upper East Region. Finally, the recommendations of the present study if positive should be one of the steps toward the sustainability of the rope pump in upper East Region Ghana.

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2

METHODOLOGY 2.1 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this project was to assess the impact of the rope pump on the

microbiological quality of water, and the sustainability of this technology. After meetings with Peter Harvey, assistant programme manager at WEDC, it has been decided that the assessment would be best conducted in the form of a case study comparing the rope pump and another handpump in a delimited geographical area. The Nira model AF85 has been chosen mainly because of the paired presence of this and the rope pump in the Upper East Region, Ghana, on similar types of wells, in a project conducted by a local NGO, Rural Aid, and financed by Wateraid Ghana. In order to achieve the aims of the present project, a literature review has been conducted. After choosing the parameters of the comparison, through the literature review, the field work has been prepared through laboratory training. The field work purpose was to gather the data that would be used in the comparison. These data have then been analysed to give substance to the comparison. 2.2 COMMUNICATIONS To define the scope of the present project, set its aims and objective, and gather some unpublished but rather useful information, personal communications have been very helpful. Numerous meetings with Peter Harvey have been a starting point and a vital lead in the preparation of the project, notably concerning the field work. Email correspondence took place with Aissa Toure Sarr, deputy representative of Wateraid Ghana and Isaac Chege, a VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) volunteer, working with Rural Aid in Upper East Region, Ghana. These correspondences have been essential to the organisation of the field work. Other emails and communications took place with different scientists and people involved in the water and sanitation sector, mainly concerning technical aspects of the project. Among them Henk Alberts, director of the Technology Transfer Division of Bombas de Mecate, Guy Howard, International Specialist working for the Arsenic Policy Support Unit in Bangladesh, Kali Johal Laboratory manager of the Robens Centre for Public and Environmental Health (RCPHE), University of Surrey, were the most useful.

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Finally personal communication and informal interview took place in Ghana with some of the key stakeholders of the Water and Sanitation sector in Upper East Region, Ghana. 2.3 LITERATURE REVIEW In parallel to these communications a literature review has been conducted which gave the background to this study. Very few studies have been found on the influence of handpumps on microbiological water quality. Although, books and articles associating handpumps with sustainability were found to be abundant. Researches of information have been conducted using many sources. Books, articles from scientific reviews and journals, internet websites and databases were used. Department For International Development (DFID) and Water, Engineering Development Centre (WEDC) publications, World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and other publications, International Standard Organisation (ISO), UK and United States norms, as well as some manuals and instruction for use of field instruments, have been consulted concerning the technical aspects of the study. Many articles from WEDC conferences, scientific or popular journals such as Water Research and Waterlines were consulted for further, precise and up-to-date information on different issues concerning handpumps, geology or water quality. Some reports from organizations like Wateraid, Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), British Geological Survey (BGS), Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the upper regions community water project (COWAP) were used, mainly to gather information on the area of the case study and on the handpump projects in Ghana. Finally, former WEDC MSc project reports and other theses have also been checked, either for information related to the present project or as an example of how to write and present such a study. 2.4 TRAINING Once the parameters of the comparison were chosen, notably the microbiological indicators, training was necessary to be able to gather the data during the field work. The training took place in the laboratory of Loughborough University’s civil engineering department, under the supervision of Stuart Dale, laboratory manager (now retired). This training concerned the different technical aspects of the coming field work:

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sterilisation, sampling, preparation of the media, filtration, incubation, reading of the counts, disposal of the contaminated material. 2.5 FIELD WORK The field trip thus prepared took place between June 29th 2004 and August 1st, 2004. The aim of the field work was to gather three sets of data concerning the two types of pumps. The first set consisted of the physical and bacteriological data involved in the comparison of their respective influences on microbiological water quality. To support and help the interpretation of these data, sanitary inspections were prepared and conducted for each pump. Other pieces of information were also to be collected for a broader sustainability comparison, including costs, maintenance network and social aspects. 2.5.1 Water analysis The preparation of the field work, through literature review and correspondence, led to the choice of the parameters to be measured. Turbidity, pH, colour and temperature were checked on site and registered for each sample. The presumptive counts of thermotolerant coliform have been obtained by using the membrane filtration technique. The samples were cooled and analysed within 4 to 6 hours of sampling in a hotel room in Bolgatanga using an Oxfam-Delagua Kit. The depths of the wells have been taken from Rural Aid’s unpublished reports. As the majority of the wells were hermetically closed, very few data about the actual water levels at the time of sampling have been collected. The communities were asked to give the date of the last rain. Twenty pumps, ten Nira and ten Rope pumps, from different areas of the Upper East Region were selected in accord with Rural Aid staff. Three samples were taken for each pump. The samples were taken weekly during three weeks from July 9th to July 29th 2004. 2.5.2 Sanitary inspections Sanitary inspection forms were set up on site after visiting pumps of both models, and adapted to their specific settings. One sanitary inspection form was prepared for each type of pump. They have been modified, to suit the local habits, following the advice of Rural Aid staff, especially concerning the drawings accompanying the questions. One sanitary inspection was conducted for each sample taken. 19

2.5.3 Interviews The gathering of information about the sustainability of the pumps mainly occurred through directed and informal interview of key stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector of the Upper East Region, Ghana: among them the employees of the workshop producing the rope pump, Raphael Nampusuor, consultant working for the Canadian international Development Agency (CIDA) in Ghana, Enoch Babisma, engineer working for the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) in Bolgatanga, Ghana and Wiljo Fleurkens, founder of United Cross Culture, a Ghanaian NGO who funded some of the first rope pumps in Bolgatanga district. Interviews were prepared and conducted in each community. The questions aimed to collect information about the construction of the well, the acceptance of the pumps by the community, the uses of water, the maintenance system and the costs. 2.6 ANALYSIS OF THE DATA The data concerning sustainability, collected through the interviews, were finally computed trying to take into account the biases due to faulty translation or stakeholder’s interest. The data from the water testing were entered in Excel and SPSS. This allows the analysis of covariance with the thermotolerant coliform counts as the dependent variable. The independent variables considered were the depth of the wells, the number of users, and other parameters from the sanitary inspections or from the formal interviews with the community. 2.7 CONCLUSION The findings of the present study aim to provide material to the promoters of the rope pump. The results should be communicated directly to Water Aid and Rural Aid. Hence a larger diffusion is planned through article(s) and online publication.

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3

HAND PUMPS AND WATER QUALITY Water supply may seem simple but it is a complex issue. Where water exists, how it is

accessed and whether it is of acceptable quality and will remain of good quality as it is distributed and used are key questions to be answered. People and their complex sociological issues influence the whole process. This project can’t deal with all of these but will focus on the aspects affecting choice of water lifting technology in Upper East Region, Ghana. The issue addressed will be the sustainability of pump technology and what effects, if any, the choice of pump has on the quality of the water. Thus pumps and water quality are the major factors in the ensuing discussion. 3.1 HAND PUMPS 3.1.1 General comments Many rural areas in sub-Saharan areas rely mainly on groundwater for their water supply especially during the dry season. Despite the works and research made during the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (IDWSSD, 1980-1990) (Reynolds 1992), there are still more than one billion people lacking access to clean water supply, hence, by 2015, due to increasing population an additional 1.6 billion people will need access to improved water supply (Brikké and Bredero 2003:V). In rural areas handpumps are the preferred option to provide them with good quality water. During the last thirty years numerous studies, projects and monitoring programs have been dealing with handpumps (Arlosoroff et al 1984), (1987), Reynolds (1992), Skinner (2003), Brikké and Bredero (2003) The common aim of all these activities was to improve the sustainability and performance of this type of water lifting device. Improvements were sought from a technical as well as a maintenance point of view. 3.1.2 Wide variety of pumps The technical progress is undeniable, leading to the production of numerous different models of pumps. These handpumps were adapted to different hydrogeological situations and social organisation.

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The simplest design that might be considered as a hand pump is the rope and bucket fitted onto a well (Cairncross and Feachem 1993:74). It is also the cheapest. But there is some concern about the potential pollution of the water source. Pollution might occur through unhygienic handling of the bucket, touching dirty soil or hands before being sent back to the water. Also many things such as bird faeces, living or dead animals can fall into an open well. Furthermore the yield of such a pump is very low: around 0.06 litres per second for the best ones (Brikké and Bredero 2003:29). So in a successful attempt to increase the yield and improve the protection against pollution, many design have been proposed and tested (Arlosoroff et al 1987) (Skinner 2003). Improved techniques of water lifting are far from being new. The first ones might have been invented even before the Romans, in order to empty the seagoing vessels (Reynolds 1992). Though the actual systems are often only modern versions of old techniques, the pumps might be roughly classified into the following six categories depending on their modus operandi (Fraenkel 1986)(Skinner 2003:7.6):



Blair bucket pump: this could be called the Rolls Royce of the bucket and windlass

principle. It uses a narrow valved bucket, chain and windlass to raise water.



Inertia and oscillating water column pumps: these pumps are seldom encountered.

They function by using the inertia of the water column (e.g. Pulsa). Their operating system is close to the one of the following category.



Cylindrical diaphragm pumps: a piston pushes air into an elastic diaphragm placed in

an underwater cylinder, the movement of the diaphragm pushes the water up in the pipe fitted on the cylinder (e.g. Vergnet).



Progressive cavity pumps: a helix rotor rotates in a double helix rubber stator, thus

lifting water up (e.g. Mono).



Rope and washer pumps: A continuous rope, with pistons attached to it, is pulled

through a pipe the bottom of which is in the water. Each piston traps some water and lifts it up. This principle is very old and several designs exist. The one this study is interested in is a design developed in Nicaragua at the beginning of the 1990s. Further details will be given in the next chapter.



Reciprocating rod and piston pumps: Most handpumps belong to this category

which can be split in three sub categories:

22

o Suction pumps (e.g. rower): these pumps lift water by creating depression in a cylinder, the air pressure pushing up the water in the cylinder. Thus they have a very limited head, around 7 metres at sea level. o Deepwell pumps: a piston is moved up and down in a cylinder under the water level, a double valve system traps and lifts the water. In this category are found the most famous and common hand pumps, the India Mark II and III, and the Afridev. o Direct action pumps: The principle of functioning is the same as the one of the deepwell pumps but the maximum operating depth is much lower due to the absence of lever. The Nira AF85, the other model of interest in the present study, belongs to this category and will also be described in more detail in the next chapter. The evolution of all types of pump, but mainly the reciprocating ones, was meant to make them easier to be operated and maintained by the communities. The technical progress was meant to improve the sustainability of the water supply in an attempt to reach the global coverage first hoped for in the Water and Sanitation decade. 3.1.3 Sustainability and sustainable technology For the past 30 years the Handpump has been the preferred option, of the donors, for rural water supply (Parry Jones et al 2001:1). It is assumed that Handpumps are a low cost and affordable, easy to maintain technology, efficient and easy to install, user friendly and which should be readily available (Parry Jones et al 2001:1). This ideal description is undermined by the reality of rural water supplies, notably in Africa. As shown by many studies, many of them failed regardless of which type of hand pump was provided (Lynch 1984), (Roy 1984), (Morgan 1989), (Skinner 1996),(Parry Jones et al 2001). As a result, sustainability is one of the main issue of any water supply, though defining sustainability is not easy (Parry Jones et al 2001:1). In their literature review, Parry Jones et al (2001:7) gave several definitions from different authors. It is possible in the context of the present study to accept the one of DFID (WELL 1998:31): “aiming for sustainability means ensuring that WS&S services and interventions continue to operate satisfactorily and generate benefits over their planned life.”.

23

To reach these criteria any project should gather information on and take into account 5 general dimensions and 6 factors more precisely related to a handpump implementation project, presented in table 3.1 below.

Table 3-1: Sustainability: 5 dimensions, 6 factors 5 Dimensions (WELL 1998)

6 factors (Arlosoroff et al 1987)

Institutional (organisational): Support and Community: institutional capacity, regulation of projects

demand, willingness to pay

Social: Empowerment and gender issues

Aquifer: reliability and quality

Technical: Appropriate technology

Well: design, location

Environmental: Issues of water quality and Maintenance system: organisation and quantity

spare parts

Financial, economic: Affordability and

Pump: most appropriate one, considering

costs recovery

social and technical aspects Finance: capital costs and maintenance

These recommendations are the results of many years of experience, failed projects and errors. The travel toward sustainability is however far from the end and many progresses, improvements and errors are still to be made. 3.1.4 Lessons learned ? 3.1.4.1 The technology In the last decades, the evolution of handpumps for rural water supply in developing countries went through three main stages. Before the 1970s, there were mainly heavy duty handpumps centrally maintained, and often subject to failure as the maintenance was often poorly conducted (Parry Jones et al 2001:12), (Lynch 1984). During the seventies, UNICEF sponsored research in India for improving pump design. This ended up with the invention and production of the India Mark II in 1978 (Arlosoroff 1987:49). The third generation of pump such as Afridev and India Mark III, designed to be maintained by the communities, appeared on the market in the 1980s (Parry Jones et al 2001:12). The progress path aims to simpler, more easily maintained handpumps. Some guiding principles for the choice of hand pump have been proposed by Carter et al (1998)- see box 3.1. 24

Another important finding is that there is a need of a sufficient number of pumps of the same type in a defined geographical area to build a viable maintenance structure (Skinner 1996:208). That leads to the necessary standardisation on one or a few pumps. The standardisation increases the number of pumps of one type, aiming to create a substantial market for spare parts suppliers. It eases also the training of the people maintaining the pumps, caretaker, area mechanic etc (Arlosoroff 1987:69). The standardisation facilitates also the quality monitoring of the pumps (Skinner 1996:208). Another noticeable consequence of the standardisation should be the reduction of the costs at different levels. As a consequence of these evolutions, it seems that the technology is no longer the key factor to sustainability. Box 3-1: Guiding principles for well-handpump water supply (Carter et al 1998)



Provide at least 15-25 litres/person/day



At least 1 hand pump for 250 users



Water hauling less than 1 woman-hour/day



Improve significantly the former supply technology



Less than 10 thermotolerant coliform/100 ml at the outlet point



Pump downtimes less than 2% (7 days/year)

 

Services provided at less than £15/capita for the capital cost Services provided at less than £1/capita/year for the recurrent costs 3.1.4.2 Maintenance Several maintenance systems have been tested. None of them has been proved entirely

satisfactory. After the failure of many centralised systems, the 3 tier (or pier) system appeared first in India in 1976, (Parry Jones et al 2001:12). The responsibility of the maintenance is shared between three tiers. The first one is the community in charge of the preventive maintenance. The second one is represented by the area mechanic in charge of the routine repairs. The third one being government paid mobile teams in charge of the major repairs. This system was not successfully implemented in Africa mainly because of the lack of area mechanics (Parry Jones et al 2001:12). But some critics also arose in India in the 1980s on some UNICEF projects, pointing out that the area mechanic was poorly 25

trained and over-skilled engineers used for the major repairs thus acted as a disincentive. Hence the area mechanic was not paid by the community nor by the government (Roy 1984). This lead to the development, in the 1980s of the concept of Village Level Operation and Maintenance (VLOM) pumps (Arlosoroff 1987:32). The term is now replaced by “community management” or “Demand Responsive Approach” (Parry Jones et al 2001:13), but the concept is the same: decentralising the maintenance to the lowest appropriate level. This system also has its weaknesses. The community still needs outside support. There is often a lack of preventive maintenance. This leads to experimentation of new approaches like the social sector funds, the leasing or the household centred approach (Parry Jones et al 2001:29)(Cairncross and Feachem 1993:56). There is no one ideal system of maintenance. Its final success or failure will largely depend on the human factor and on its economic sustainability. 3.1.4.3 The costs The handpumps are not always a cost effective, affordable option for the communities. In Ghana, for example, the cost for an Afridev in a 30 metres deep borehole is US$400 and for a Nira AF85, on a 12 metres deep well, is US$700 (Nampusuor et al 2000:14,21). Therefore, most of the time donors or government pay for the major part of the capital cost. Communities are asked for a participation in kind or a rather symbolic financial contribution. The main purpose of this cost “sharing” is to raise a sense of ownership in the community. In fact, most of the failures occur because the communities do not know how to deal with the maintenance costs. Many communities collect money for the maintenance when the pumps break down, which leads to longer gaps in the water supply or to the abandonment of the pump (Arlosoroff et al 1987:48)( Parry Jones et al 2001:20). The issue of the costs is closely tied to the maintenance systems as the capital costs are almost never paid by the users in rural areas. 3.1.4.4 Measuring sustainability Facing the difficulties of implementing sustainable programmes, the different stakeholders in the Water Supply and Sanitation sector tried to set up some tools to evaluate the sustainability of their projects.

26

Evans (1993) presents an equation to evaluate the sustainability of a handpump project. This equation, given below is based on the number of repairs occurring on the pump.

Mq =

Ur ×f Tr

Where: Mq = the maintainability quotient Ur = the user-performed repairs Tr = the Total number of repairs performed f = factor based on difficulty and frequency of the repairs A result approaching 1 indicates a good sustainability. A result near 0 describes a non sustainable project. One of the main problems of this equation is that it is only an evaluation and monitoring tool. It does not help in the implementation phase as the data necessary to compute the equation are not yet available. Another tool, the sustainability snapshot, mentioned as a project in Parry Jones et al (2001:32), and used in a more advanced stage in Harvey (2002:32) has been developed recently by Water Aid. For each water supply of a community, a series of 16 questions concerning different issues are addressed, for each of which 3 answers are proposed leading to a scoring from 1 to 3 for each question. An average score is then computed for the supply, 3 indicating a sustainable pump and 1 a non sustainable pump. The last simplified version of this tool, was tested by Water Aid in three African countries, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique and had proven to be a useful tool to focus on sustainability issues (Sugden 2001). 3.1.4.5 Hand pump impact on health. All those efforts towards sustainability of handpumps in rural areas aim to provide good drinking water quality to the populations concerned, assuming that handpumps protect groundwater quality from microbiological contamination much better than even properly designed protected wells do (Cairncross and Feachem 1993). This assumption relies on the logical thought that an open well will allow more pollution to reach the groundwater than a closed one. In fact, there seem to be very few studies actually conducting a comparison of the impact of different technologies on the microbiological water quality. One is to be 27

mentioned which was conducted by Gorter et al (1995) to compare the well water quality of unimproved bucket and rope wells, with wells with a windlass, and rope pump with and without a concrete cover. The study took place in the rural municipality of Carlos Fonseca in Nicaragua. The results indicated a 62 % reduction in the geometric mean of the thermotolerant coliform contamination of the well water due to the installation of a rope pump on a well, but they indicated also that the impact of a simple windlass seemed equally important. However, it seems that the main impact on health of the handpump is related to the increase in water availability rather than to the improvement of water quality. Studies summarised by Arlosoroff et al (1987) tend to show that an increase in water quantity has more impact on the health of the population than an increase in water quality, the greater availability of water favouring the use and spread of hygiene practices. In this sense, the use of a locally made hand pump even though not really efficient but easily made and maintained, such as the rope and washer pump (Lambert 1990) or the treadle pump (Elson and Shaw 1999), might be a sustainable solution even though the quality of the water pumped might not reach the WHO or country standards (WHO 1993). The impact of water quality or quantity on health was beyond the scope of the present study. But these two parameters are of importance in the comparison of the technologies. 3.2 WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY ISSUES 3.2.1 General comments The quality of the water supplied is not the main factor in improvement of the health of a population. The improvement of water quality should always be seen as a part of an integrated programme of health care (Arlosoroff et al 1987). Water quality does however need attention and is still an issue of importance, particularly for some diseases, such as Dranunculiasis (Guinea worm), wide spread in Ghana, where the improvement of water quality is the only method of eradication (Hopkins 1989). The quality of water does not concern only the biological and microbiological aspects, as many chemicals are also of importance. 3.2.2 Chemical and bacteriological aspects The chemical quality of groundwater might influence the reliability and sustainability of a source in three different ways. 28

Firstly some chemicals can be a threat to the lifting device, either by corroding it, mainly in acidic water, or encrusting it, mainly due to basic water (McGowan and Hodgkin 1992:22). Some others like iron or manganese, though not harmful to health, may lead the users to leave the source because of the taste, the colour or the odour of the water (Cairncross and Feachem 1993:35). They might then return to traditional unimproved sources. Finally some chemicals are harmful to health, often provoking slow poisoning such as arsenic in Bangladesh (Smith et al 2000) or fluoride in Upper East Region, Ghana (Wateraid 2004). But most of the time the main threat to water quality is microbiological. Water is closely related to health, is indispensable to life and can therefore be the host or the carrier of many small micro-organisms which relations with human beings are not always friendly. The diseases related to water can be classified in four main categories as proposed by Feachem and Bradley (Cairncross and Feachem 1993:5) and adapted by DFID (WELL 1998:66). This classification is presented in table 3.2 below. Table 3-2: Summary of Feachem-Bradley Classification of Water Related Diseases (after Cairncross and Feachem 1993) (WELL 1998) Type of water related

Examples

Water-related control

infection Faecal-oral diseases

Diarrhoea, Typhoid, Hepatitis, Cholera

Strictly water-washed

Scabies, Trachoma,

measures

 

Increase water quantity used Improve water quality

Increase water quantity used

Conjunctivitis Water based (intermediate

Guinea worm, Schistosomiasis

host)

Restrict contact, provide alternative sources

Water related insects vector

Malaria, Filariasis, River

Focus on insect breeding sites

Blindness

(not much scope in domestic water supply)

As shown by the control measures, a hand pump programme is able to act on three of them. Against the water based disease (intermediate host) a handpump fitted on a hand dug well will provide a sufficient protection to the contamination of the ground water by guinea worm eggs for example. This worm spreads its eggs through the skin of infected people in water. The larvae are then hosted in small aquatic arthropods (Cyclops) which infect a new

29

human host when ingested in drinking water. This disease, still present in Ghana, affected 890 000 people in 1989 and only 35 000 persons in 1996 (WELL 1998:67). This dramatic decrease in the morbidity is due to a vast programme of hygiene education and provision of protected sources of water (WELL 1998:65) (Hopkins 1989). As a handpump increases the availability of water, it will help to control the strictly water washed and faecal oral diseases, by furnishing an incentive for good hygiene practices. As they protect groundwater from contamination they also counter the faecal oral diseases by improving the microbiological water quality. This parameter is however variable and needs to be assessed through microbiological analysis of water samples. 3.2.3 Micro-organism index or indicator It is difficult, if not impossible, to do an exhaustive microbiological analysis of a water sample. All the microorganism strains which might be encountered in a water sample are not likely to be identified in the allotted time or with the available money. Therefore, most of the time a microbiological water quality analysis looks for a pollution indicator. Dufour et al (2003:19) recommend use of the term ‘index organism’, for the qualification of untreated water sources, and ‘indicator’, for the monitoring of water treatment. The presence of this microbiological index or indicator in the sample will indicate a probable contamination of the water, and its absence should normally indicate that the water is safe to drink. An index or indicator must fulfil some criteria, which have been enriched over the time through experience. Two versions, however not contradictory, of the criteria list are presented below The bacteria selected as indicators of faecal pollution should (WHO 1996):



Be universally present in faeces of human and warm blooded animals in large number



Be readily detected by simple method

 

Not grow in natural water Be similar to water borne pathogens in terms of their persistence in water and the

extent they are removed by water treatment.

30

Criteria based on the assumption that the same organism would serve to detect faecal pollution in raw water and to assess the effectiveness of the treatment process (Dufour et al 2003:19):



“The indicator should be absent in unpolluted water and present when the source of

pathogenic microorganisms of concern is present.



The indicator should not multiply in the environment



The indicator should be present in greater numbers than pathogenic microorganisms



The indicator should respond to natural environmental conditions and water treatment

processes in a manner similar to the pathogens of concern



The indicator should be easy to isolate, identify and enumerate.

 

The test should be inexpensive thereby permitting numerous samples to be taken. The indicator should not be a pathogenic microorganism (to minimise health risk to

analysts)” According to the WHO, “In practice, the criteria to be satisfied by an ideal indicator cannot all be met by any one organism.” (WHO 1996:60). However, several microorganisms can partially fulfill this role. The oldest, used for one century, and still the more widely used in monitoring of water quality is Escherichia coli (E. Coli) (Dufour et al 2003:16). This microorganism is a gram-negative, non sporeforming, rod-shaped bacterium, motile or non motile, of the family of the Enterobacteriaceae. E. coli is the main species of a smaller group, the thermotolerant coliforms, previously known as faecal coliforms, a group of bacteria able to ferment lactose at 44-45 degree Celsius. Some E. coli strains grow at 37 degree and not at 45. Escherichia Coli, most of the strains of which are not pathogenic, is the only thermotolerant coliform of specifically faecal origin. In temperate climates, 95 percent of the thermotolerant coliforms are E. Coli (Bartram and Ballance 1996:238) (Howard et al 2003a:27). Even in tropical climates it seems that the majority of thermotolerant coliforms are represented by E. Coli. In a study by Howard et al (2003c) in Uganda, the confirmation test suggested that 99% of the thermotolerant coliform colonies were E. coli. As a result, because the test for E. Coli is time consuming, the count of thermotolerant coliforms is an acceptable alternative to E. coli, when looking for an index of water contamination. However, this widely used indicator has some weaknesses. Some concern has arisen recently that E. Coli might be present and multiply in tropical waters without faecal 31

contamination ((Fujioka et al 1999) quoted by Dufour et al (2003), and Byappanahalli and Fujioka (1998)) thus leading to false positive test results. Apart from this extreme case, its presence indicates recent faecal contamination, not the presence of pathogens. Its main weakness is that it is less resistant to treatment than many pathogens; therefore, its absence does not guarantee the absence of pathogens, leading to major public health concern. Consequently, very early in the history of water quality testing, there have been attempts to find other microbiological indicators, not all of which are bacteria. Among them, one can find: Bacteriophages, Sulphur reducing Bacteria (H2S test) and Faecal Streptococci. The bacteriophages, viruses which infect bacteria, notably E. coli, present the advantage of being very similar to human enteroviruses in terms of persistence in the aquatic environment and resistance to treatment. Their main disadvantage is that they are very small in number in faeces. The H2S test looking for bacteria producing hydrogen from organic sulphur, like salmonella, gives too many false positives as these bacteria occur naturally in the environment. Faecal Streptococci, often used as an additional index to E. coli, present some advantages over the latter. They are more resistant to drying and other adverse conditions than E. coli and do not multiply in polluted water. According to Godfrey (2003b), it is the “ideal indicator”. Further investigation and communication with Johal (2004) and Howard (et al 2003b), (2004), notably, arouse concern about the presence of many false positives in the presumptive counts of Faecal streptococci. Hence, the time of incubation, 44 hours, needed to grow the bacteria would have posed logistical problems in the time allotted for the present study. As a result, the author decided to use presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts. 3.2.4 Methods and norms Two main methods are used to test for thermotolerant coliform: the Most Probable Number (MPN) and the membrane filtration. Both of them are regulated and standardized internationally: norm ISO 9308-1:2000 for the membrane filtration technique and norm ISO 9308-3:1999 for the most probable number technique. In the MPN technique measured volumes of samples are poured in a series of tubes containing liquid differential medium. After incubation at 37   !"!$#&%'()+*

32

the positive and negative reactions are counted and the most probable number of bacteria can be estimated by using statistical tables. The membrane filtration technique consists in filtering a sample of 100 ml or less of

,.-0/21435/76(3)89':6;-&:=@?!AB10ADC(3E-GF'1H,.=/76.6I8(J@1KL8NM5OIP QRTSNU@VGRDWYX2WYZE['\>RDV]^]NWG_'`aNb h to retain

bacteria on the membrane. The membrane is then placed on an agar or a broth impregnated pad to act as a nutrient for the bacteria. After a period of recovery the bacteria are incubated for 18 to 24 hours at 44 c d egfhjikIhYlmon'eqp'rGsYt"eYu)i@rvswNf@wxIi@eghrYu e then visible to the naked eye as little yellow dots and can be counted. Each small yellow dot is supposed to come from one bacteria and is counted as a colony forming unit (cfu). The counts are always noted in cfu/100ml of water sample. Both methods have their advantages and inconveniences presented in table 3.3 below. Table 3-3: Comparison between membrane filtration and MPN techniques

Disadvantages

(WHO 1997:63) Most probable number method

Membrane filtration method

Slower: requires 48 hours for a negative or

Less sensitive

presumptive positive result

Not applicable to turbid waters

More labour intensive

Consumables costly in many countries

Requires more glassware Result obtained indirectly by statistical estimation (low precision)

Advantages

Not readily adaptable for use in the field More sensitive

Quicker: quantitative results in about 18

Applicable to all types of water

hours

Consumables readily available in most

Less labour-intensive

countries

Requires less culture medium

May give better recovery of stressed or

Requires less glassware

damaged organisms under some

Results obtained directly by colony count

circumstances

(high precision) Readily adaptable for use in the field

Considering the financial and logistical means available and the allotted time for the present study, the membrane filtration technique has been the technique of choice.

33

Further confirmation techniques are used to estimate the percentage of E. coli among the thermotolerant coliform colonies seen on the membrane. Those techniques use other media to cultivate randomly chosen colonies from the membrane for another 48 hours. In order to reduce the times and the cost of the microbiological analysis to be able to conduct them in the field, the membrane filtration technique has been adapted as described in the directions of use of the Oxfam-Delagua kit (RCPEH 2004). The results are therefore presumptive counts of thermotolerant coliforms which are considered as acceptable alternatives to E. coli. But those analyse cannot be used alone to characterise the groundwater quality. They are still time consuming and only give the quality of the water at a precise point in time. To obtain a more reliable vision of the potential quality of the water it is necessary to think about the risks and pathways of pollution. This approach has been formalised in what is called the sanitary inspection. 3.2.5 Sanitary inspections Considering the weaknesses of any microbiological index or indicator, any water quality assessment or monitoring should take into account the potential sources and pathways of pollution. The material presented here is mainly from WHO (1997), Howard (2002a and b), and Godfrey (2003a). Sanitary inspections are a very useful tool in this research of water contamination causes. A sanitary inspection form contains three types of factors: the hazard factors, the pathway factors and the indirect factors. The hazard factors identify the potential sources of faecal pollution. The pathways factors identify the potential pathways that the pollution might follow to reach the water source. The indirect factors identify situations that might lead to or facilitate the occurrence of a pollution event, such as the absence of a fence around the water source. The sanitary inspection form presents a series of questions, at least ten, concerning the three types of factors. The questions must be adapted to the actual situation and design of the water source. The questions must be formulated in a way that any ‘yes’ answer indicates a risk to the water source. Each ‘yes’ answer is given a score of 1 and each ‘no’ answer a 0. This allows the analyst to sum the results of the answers and obtain a sanitary risk score. The sanitary inspection form must include all the necessary information to identify the water source evaluated: name of the community, location, person responsible etc. 34

This tool is to be used with the communities in order to help them to identify the problems and to propose simple improvements. To make this evaluation and monitoring tool accessible to poorly- or non-literate water supply caretakers, drawings representing each question are to be inserted in the forms. The sanitary inspections deal with risks and do not give actual evidence on the water quality. In their study, Lloyd and Helmer (1991), pointed out some limitations of sanitary inspections. The equal weighting of all the factors is not entirely satisfactory as some are more at risk than others. Some causes of pollution might be hidden either underground or in remote places. This last point leads in some cases to broader risk assessment. The scope of the inspection should be geographically extended, particularly in the case of a fractured aquifer where microbial pollution might travel hundreds of metres without much attenuation. This environmental impact assessment is, however, more time and money consuming and requires much more skill to be undertaken (Howard 2002a:63). Within the scope of the present study, only localised sanitary inspections have been done. The allotted time and the author’s skills did not allowed broader investigations. Sanitary inspection forms were prepared while in Bolgatanga and filled in for each sample taken during the study. Some questions arose, during the field work, concerning the use and the interpretation of the results of these sanitary inspections. The author encountered difficulties in interpreting what was seen, notably considering the drainage, as for the remote source of pollution, the stagnant water contaminating the well might have disappeared by the time of the sanitary inspection. Ensuing from this issue, was the question on how to relate the sample and the corresponding sanitary inspection. These issues are developed in the chapter presenting the results of the fieldwork.

35

4

GHANA SITUATION The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of hand pumps on water quality. A

global assessment being impossible, the study has been centred on two types of pumps, the Nira AF85 and the rope pump. These two pumps are widespread throughout the rural areas of Upper East Region, Ghana. They are often close to each other, thus making Upper East Region an ideal location for a comparison of whether there is any difference in bacteriological water quality between a commercial pump and a simpler locally made unit that may be more sustainable in the long term. 4.1 UPPER EAST REGION SITUATION 4.1.1 Geology and hydrogeology The Upper East Region, is part of the plateau that forms the North and North-west of Ghana at an altitude of 150 metres to 300 metres ASL, according to British Geological Survey (2000:1), Kesse (1985:11) and Boateng (1960:191) which gives the elevation in feet: 500 to 1000 feet. The region lies on Precambrian rocks and intruded granites. The Precambrian metamorphic rocks are of two major types, the Tarkwaian and the most common Birrimian (Boateng 1960:19), (Kesse 1985:13) (Pelig-Ba 1998:74) or Birimian (ODI 1998:14), (BGS 2000:1). This last formation of metamorphic rocks consists of volcanic schists, greywacke, quartz veins, muscovites and phyllites. The reading of the maps given by different authors (Boateng 1960:17), (Kesse 1985:13), (ODI 1998:13),(BGS 2000:1), seems to indicate that the different sites of sampling, of the present study, lie on Granitoid formation. Only the Pelungu area pumps, in Bolgatanga district, appears to be located over a Birrimian formation. This last observation is contradictory with the information given to the author by the Rural Aid Hydrogeologist, Nassir Adugbire who indicates that Pelungu pumps lie on Bongo Granite (Adugbire 2004). The soil profiles given by Adugbire have been established through site observation of at least one borehole in each district (Adugbire 2004). The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) gives a geological description of the soil profile over Birrimian and granitoid formation in the Sudan savannah of the Upper Region (ODI 1998:14). Figure 4.1 is a graphical representation of the soil profile described by the 36

Overseas Development Institute in comparison with a compilation of the soil profile given by Adugbire. Figure 4-1: Upper Region soil profile (ODI 1998:14)(Adugbire 2004) Top soil (< 0.7 m)

Top soil

Lateritic layer, different

Weathered or slightly fresh

degree of consolidation

(dirty) sandstone

(< 4.5 m) Highly decomposed rock, clay and quartz

Clay or shale

Moderately decomposed

Highly weathered or slightly

rock

fresh mudstone

Poorly decomposed rock

Or shale Or slightly fresh granite

Fresh unweathered

Diorite or granodiorite or

beddrock

Bongo Granite or interbedded sandstone and Bongo granite

ODI (1998:14)

Adugbire (2004)

The weathering zone is 40 metres deep on average, up to 60 m in some places according to the ODI (1998:14). It is in this, highly to moderately, weathered zone that most aquifers occur (Adugbire 2004). Pelig-Ba (1998:74) mentions that the 3000 boreholes drilled during the time of his study present depths between 6.5 and 46.5 metres with a water level depth of between 0.6 and 22.2 metres. The data collected by Rural Aid about the depth of the wells chosen for the present study, from 6 to 12 metres, corroborate this information (Rural Aid 2004). The Bolgatanga area encounters problems of excess fluoride and iodine deficiency related to granites and Birimian formation, although shallow dug wells are less likely to present this health hazard due to the higher dilution by recent recharge (BGS 2000:3). 4.1.2 Rainfall pattern The Upper East Region is watered by a single rainy season. It lasts from late April to October, for a duration of 140 to 190 days, with a peak in late August early September, with 60 % of the rainfall from July to September (ODI 1998:5,7). Pelig-Ba makes it last 37

from May to September (Pelig-Ba 1998:74). Friesen (2002:11-13) in his study on the spatio-temporal pattern of rainfall in northern Ghana describes the meteorological structure that gives its rain regime to Ghana. The Inter-Tropical Discontinuity (ITD) (Friesen 2004:10), mentioned by other authors as the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) (Boateng 1960:24), (ODI 1998:5) is a front line between dry north-east and moist southwest air masses. The rains are mainly concentrated south of this boundary which moves all year long, reaching its furthest north point around mid September and its furthest south point in December (ODI 1998:5). Friesen (2004:11-13) described five more precise zones (A,B,C,D,E), one (A) north of the ITD and four south of it. The rainy season described by the other authors happens when the third zone (C), a zone of local convectional rain, is above the Upper East Region from mid May to mid October. The peak of rainfall, mentioned above, coincides with the arrival, around August, of the fourth zone (D), the proper monsoon zone, over the area. The second Zone (B), covering Upper East Region from mid March to mid May and then from mid October to mid November, is responsible for isolated thunderstorms. This corroborates local observations reported to the author by Saint John Baptist, an Ivorian Rasta running a studio in Bolgatanga, who, on the 25th of July was observing with the author of the present study, his 22nd day of rain on the city since February (Saint John Baptist 2004). It is worth mentioning also that over the last 30 years, due to climate change, the temperature has risen by about 1 y zH{4|}~€I}L~@ƒ‚&„N…GN…†‡E{}+€I|ˆ2~‰'Š.~‰;…q‡‹{4Œ€'Žˆ~@(‘5’'“(”•(‘ rainfall and 30% of runoff (UNDSD 2004). This is a major threat for agriculture but also for the reliability of the groundwater, due to a decrease in recharge estimated to be between 5% and 22% by 2020 (UNDSD 2004). This trend is likely to deeply affect the population of the Upper East Region, which relies mainly on subsistence agriculture and groundwater. 4.1.3 Population The population of Upper East Region is around 915 000 people (ODI 1998) (Ghana 2004)(GHC 2004) on 8842 km2, 3.8% of the national territory (IFAD 2004), giving a density of population of a little bit more than 100 person/km2 in the rural areas which is superior to the national average 63 pers/km2 (IFAD 2004). The Region is administratively organised into six districts: Kasena-Nankana, Builsa, Bolgatanga, Bongo, Bawku West, Bawku east, from west to east, shown on figure 4.2. The population is mainly rural, 85%, relying on agriculture for subsistence (ODI 1998). In the 38

three districts, Bolgatanga, Bawku West (Zebilla) and Kasena-Nankana, where the present study was conducted, the rural habitat is composed of scattered households. There are also numerous handicrafts around Bolgatanga (“Bolga”), the regional capital, making straw hats and baskets, leather goods and metal jewellery. Figure 4-2: Map of the 6 districts of Upper East Region Source: adapted from UNU (2004)

The land ownership is communal everywhere (ODI 1998:). The farming systems rely on mixed cropping and cattle breeding. The use of animal dung as fertiliser is widespread. The most common farm types in the area of study are the compound farms where the fields are near the compound (ODI 1998) The number of students in primary school in Upper East Region is of 175 713 students for 476 schools: 118 406 girls and 57 307 boys. This pattern shared by the Western Region, Ghana, is an exception in the country. The other regions present a greater number of boys attending school than girls, though the figures between gender are almost equal (GETfund 2004). Other sources mention that the percentage of children attending primary school is around 40%, male and female, for the Upper East Region compared with the 75% average attendance of the entire country. Primary school, starting at 6 years old 39

and junior secondary school, 9 years in total, are supposed to be free and compulsory since the reform of the education system in 1987. The reality is that in the entire country, half of the women and a quarter of the men were illiterate in 1998 (DHS 2004), the situation is certainly worse in Upper East Region. It is in this geographical, hydro-geological and human context that the government of Ghana has implemented several water supply programmes in the last thirty years. 4.1.4 Ghana Water Institutions In 2003 the government adopted a National Community Water Supply and Sanitation Policy which aims to provide rural areas with 85% coverage for Water supply and sanitation by 2015 and 100% coverage by 2020 (UNDSD 2004). This aim should be achieved through a policy of decentralisation, launched in 1989, empowering the local district assemblies to manage all the water and sanitation projects. The administration and national water agencies must deal at local level with the traditional authorities who are still in charge of the land and water allocation and tenure, uses and conflicts, as there is no land registration in Ghana. The Ministry of Work and Housing, in partnership with the World Bank and other international donors and institutions who undertook a study on the Ghanaian Water Institution which led to the creation of the Water Resources Commission (WRC) in 1996. This institution, supposed to coordinate the water sector at a national and international level, is entitled to far reaching powers and duties but given few human and financial resources. It is supposed, among other things, to collect, collate, store and disseminate data about water in Ghana (Van Edig 2002). The author, however, found no availability of a website to help the distribution of this collected knowledge. In 1998, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) was created to replace the Ghana Water and Sewerage Company (GWSC) (Harvey et al 2002) as an independent body along with the Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL). The United Nations Division for Sustainable Development (UNDSD) presents the division of the GWSC, as a separation between the urban water supply under the responsibility of the Ghana Water Company Ltd and the rural water supply under the CWSA (UNDSD 2004). The CWSA act, act 564 of the parliament, in 1998 assigns the following functions to this agency (Harvey et al 2002):

–

–

Support the District Assembly to promote the sustainability of water supply Formulation of strategies for effective mobilisation of resources 40

—

Encouragement of private sector participation

—

Technical assistance to District assemblies

—

Assistance and co-ordination with the NGO

—

Collaboration with the international agencies This agency, present in the 10 regions of Ghana, is under the Ministry of Work and

Housing which is the key ministry in the water sector (DANIDA 2003). At a local level, between 1974 and 1981, the Ghanaian government and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) drilled 2700 boreholes in the Upper East Region and fitted them with Moyno and Monarch pumps (Nampusuor 2000 and 2001). These pumps were put on boreholes and were managed and maintained through a centralised structure by the GWSC. In 1982 a CIDA- assisted project, the Upper Region Maintenance/Stabilization project, was launched to increase the operational reliability of water supplies (Arlosoroff et al 1984:58). The results of this study and others led to the implementation of the Upper Regions Community Water Project (COWAP) for the Upper East and Upper West Region, between 1993 and 2000. 4.2 HANDPUMPS IN UPPER EAST REGION 4.2.1 Former programs and standardisation The COWAP’s first realisation was to change all the Moyno and Monarch pump for two types of VLOM pumps, the Afridev and the Nira AF85 (Nampusuor 2001). These two pumps are part of the standardised pumps selected by the government of Ghana (Nampusuor and Mathisen 2000). The presently selected pumps are the Afridev, the India Mark II, the Vergnet and the Nira. Currently three other models are under review: the modified Vergnet, the DIT Wonder pump and the rope and washer pump (Harvey et al 2002). 4.2.2 First attempt of technology transfer Among all the pumps invented in the last decades, one deserves special attention: The rope pump or rope and washer pump. The functioning principle is far from being new and mentions of this type of pump are made in Chinese texts more than one thousand years ago (BOMBAS 2004). The actual design is an evolution of the rope and washer pump used in Central America in the 1970s and 1980s (Sandiford et al 1993). This pump is already

41

mentioned by Arlosoroff (1987:189) as a pump meeting the VLOM criteria and providing a particularly high discharge rate, but operating only at low heads (up to 6 metres). The major innovation introduced, in 1984, by a small Nicaraguaian workshop called HUTECNIC, is a rubber washer made by injecting moulds (Alberts et al 1993). This innovation allows a dramatic increase in the operating head of the pump, up to 40 metres for the standard depth. Some adaptations of the design such as narrow pipes and double crank allows it to reach depth of 60 metres. There is even mention of depths of 80 metres (Alberts 2004:22). After a difficult start at the end of the 1980s, the creation in 1992 of Bombas de Mecate S.A., a small workshop in Nicaragua gives a new boost to the spread of this technology. In 1996, the Nicaraguan National Water Utility recognised the rope pump as a national standard (Alberts 2004:23). The rope pump technology actually serves 25% of the population in Nicaragua with 30 000 pumps, made by several small producers. Bombas de Mecate technology transfer division supported by the Swiss Agency Development and Cooperation and the WSP hand pump programme made a first attempt of technology transfer from Nicaragua to Ghana in 1999-2000 (BOMBAS 2004). The programme formed workers of two workshops in Tema and Tamale formerly selected by Ghanaian government under the expertise of Bombas de Mecate. It led to the implementation of 100 pumps by 2000 (BOMBAS 2000). This programme presented some weaknesses that need to be mentioned. The pumps were not grouped: some isolated pumps were 100 kilometres from the nearest other rope pumps, limiting the creation of a rope pump culture among the communities and the mechanics (BOMBAS 2001). The other problems were relating to the poor manufacture of some parts. The steel used for the handle was of poor quality leading to frequent breakdown. The rope was also of poor quality and the manufacture of the guide box was badly done on some pumps leading to an early wearing of the rope and frequent breakdowns (BOMBAS 2001). All these elements led some of the CWSA’s engi neers to be suspicious about the sustainability of the pump (Babisma 2004), (Fleurkens 2004). Nevertheless, this programme was not the only one to occur in Ghana. The present study is centred on the Upper East Region where neither of these workshops implemented rope pumps.

42

4.2.3 Actual situation in the study area 4.2.3.1 Stakeholders The workshop making the rope pump in Bolgatanga, Jenamise enterprise, was opened in February 2001 on a personal initiative of Jan Mons a Dutch specialist of the rope pump working for the “Programma Uitzending Managers” (PUM) a Dutch group of experts. Since its foundation this workshop privately owned by Edwin Annan and Jan Mons and financially sustained by the Victory Foundation a Dutch organisation, has already installed 120 rope pumps. Six workers make the pumps and install them. The workshop is also responsible for the repairs. In July 2004, the director, E. Annan, was on a training course for the treadle pump, another lowcost pump mainly utilised for irrigation, with the objective of diversifying the products of the enterprise. The first parts of one treadle pump was already stored in the workshop. The first pumps were installed in town some under the responsibility of the CWSA which is still testing them (Babisma 2004). Some pumps have been ordered by United Cross Culture, a local NGO, whose goal is to “improve the social living condition of the people in the Upper East Region” (Fleurkens 2004). 40 pumps have thus been installed on hand dug wells since 2002. Two of the pumps chosen in the present study are from these. The NGO plans to install 50 more pumps by the end of 2004. The main promoter of the rope pump in the upper east region is Rural Aid. This local NGO founded in 1986 by Gani Tijani, aims to provide Water supply and Sanitation to the rural areas in the Upper East Region. The financing is mainly from Water Aid Ghana, the Ghanaian branch of the English Charity. Rural Aid is engaged in many projects all over the region and was notably fitting hand dug wells with Nira pumps. This program involves the communities in the setting up of the facilities. The communities are consulted and trained to organise Water and Sanitation Committees. These committees are then in charge of the facilities and in the particular case of the hand pumps are responsible for the maintenance, for the collection of the money to cover the costs of the repairs and for the notification of breakdowns to the area mechanic or Rural Aid. Rural Aid is linked with the Water and Sanitation Committees through some Zonal Based Facilitators (ZBF). The ZBFs are literate people, trained by Rural Aid and responsible for the training of the Water and Sanitation Committees and reporting on any breakdowns of the pumps or demands of the communities. They receive a small allowance from Rural Aid and a bike to help them in their visits to the communities of their zone. 43

These ZBFs are directly linked with the District Managers. The District Managers, Simon Kaba, Frank Agree and Nassir Adugbire, are employed by Rural Aid and each of them is responsible for two districts of the Upper East Region. The programme of Rural Aid was to dig and improve wells as a first step, then to equip the improved wells with handpumps. The communities were asked for a financial commitment of around 150 000 cedis (around $15) and a substantial contribution in kind, notably the digging of the well. The pumps installed were mainly Nira AF85, each of which costs around $700 (Nampuosor and Mathisen 2000). So far, 2000 wells have been dug but by the end of 2003, 1200 wells were still not equipped with handpumps. The money has been collected from the communities but Rural Aid was not able to afford the price of the Nira. The NGO decided to go for rope pumps which were sold for $150 by the Jenamise enterprise. To implement the rope pumps the NGO hired Isaac Chege, a VSO specialist of the handpump who had a previous experience in Papua-New-Guinea where he successfully implemented the rope pump in rural communities for drinking water and irrigation (Chege 2004b). Rural Aid is thus now implementing the two types of pumps of which the rope pumps are in the majority and are financed by Water Aid. Rural Aid is still implementing Nira pump because of a contract with UNICEF renewed in July 2004.

44

4.2.3.2 Pump types The Nira pump is one of the Ghana standardised pumps. It is made in Ghana by Ghanira, the local branch of the Vammalan Konepaja Inc, Finland. Figure 4-3: Nira AF85 Source: Nampusuor and Mathisen (2000) It is a direct action pump used for lifts up to 12 metres. The model AFD 85 for bigger depth can reach 21 metres. The large diameter pump rod and the raising main are in polyethylene and thus resistant to corrosion. The Plunger and the foot valve are in High density Polyethylene (HDPE) and wear quickly in sandy water (Arlosoroff 1987). The discharge rate can reach 24 litres (Arlosoroff et al 1987:160) to 28 litres/min for a 10m head (Nampusuor 2000).This pump has been designed to be a VLOM pump. The maintenance is easily handled by an area mechanic and does not need many tools (Arlosoroff 1987:161). But its price is high, US$700 capital cost in Ghana, and then around US$89 per year for the maintenance (Nampusuor and Mathisen 2000).

45

The Rope pump made in Ghana, shown in figure 4-4 is an evolution of the Nicaraguan model (BOMBAS 2004). The pump is manufactured in Bolgatanga, Ghana by Jenamise ent.. It is a rope and washer pump. The raising main is in PVC. The main innovations compared to the former rope pump, as mentioned above, are the guide box at the bottom of the raising main and the moulded washer. Figure 4-4: Ghanaian rope pump Source: WSP (2001) The Ghanaian model has a cover to protect the rope (Chege 2004a). The washer and the raising pipe can be of several diameters to reach different depths. The diameter decreases when the depth increases. A depth of up to 40 metres can be reached by the standard model. Some adaptations such as a double crank allow for a reach of 60 metres and depths of up to 80 metres have been reported (Alberts 2004). The discharge rate for a 10 metre head can reach 41 litres per minute (Chege 2004a). The pump can also be fitted on a borehole. The average cost of the pump is around US$150 for the capital cost and the maintenance costs are around US$5 per year (WSP 2001). The following table 3.1 summarises the different aspects of the two pumps.

46

Table 4-1: Nira pump AF85 vs. Ghanaian Rope Pump Pumping head

Nira pump AF85

Ghanaian Rope pump

12 metres

40 metres

21 metres (model AFD85)

60 metres with double crank 80 metres (still in test)

Discharge rate

28 litres/min at 10 metres

41 litres/min at 10 metres

Capital costs

$700

$150

O & M costs

$ 89/year

$5 dollar/year

The rope pumps in Upper East Region have thus been fitted on wells previously designed to receive Nira pumps. It is within the context of this programme that the present study took place. The purpose was to compare the two types of pumps implemented by Rural Aid : the Nira AF85 and the Rope pump. The two pumps were fitted on identically designed wells allowing the study of their respective influence on groundwater. Actually some concerns have been mentioned for the two pumps with regard to their influence on microbiological water quality (Gorter et al 1995) (Nampusuor and Mathisen 2000). Therefore, some field tests have been conducted in order to gather data for a more documented comparison.

47

5

FIELD WORK METHODS 5.1 INTRODUCTION The realisation of the present case study was conditioned by the collection of

meaningful data in the geographical area of choice: Upper East Region, Ghana. The purpose of this chapter is to present the methods and techniques used to gather them. The field trip took place between June the 29th 2004 and August the 1st 2004. The field work thought and prepared through literature review and laboratory training needed to be adapted to the local situation in agreement with Rural Aid. The author was based in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region capital. After ten days allotted to the purchase of the missing material in Accra, journey to Bolgatanga, selection of the sites of sampling, the preparation of the sanitary inspections forms, the questionnaires and the sampling information forms, and the introduction meetings to the communities, the sampling started on July the 9th and went on up to July the 29th. A set of analyses was conducted on site to measure some physical parameters of the water sources. The membrane filtration method was used to calculate the presumptive thermotolerant coliform count. All the material was adequately sterilised before use and disposed of after use. 5.2 MEETING AND INTERVIEW OF THE COMMUNITIES 5.2.1 Selection of the pumps The selection of the pumps was made by Isaac Chege and the District managers in consultation with the author of the present study. The pumps selected were of various ages and spread throughout the Upper East Region. One criteria of selection was that each tested rope pump should be located near a tested Nira pump. The team first came up with a first selection of twenty-four pumps located in three districts of the Upper East Region, six rope pumps and six Nira pumps in the district of Bolgatanga, two rope pumps and two Nira pumps in the district of Bawku west-Zebilla and four rope pumps and four Nira pumps in the district of Navrongo. 48

After a meeting with Wiljo Fleurkens, working for a local NGO, United Cross Culture (UCC), it was decided to add two rope pumps from Sumbrungu zone, Bolgatanga, to this list. United Cross Culture, an NGO whose goal is to improve the social living condition of the communities in Upper East Region, had funded the installation by Rural Aid, of 40 rope pumps since 2002 on hand dug wells. These two extra rope pumps have thus been introduced in the sample in order to have some information on older rope pumps. Out of this set of 26 pumps thus prepared, 20 pumps, ten rope pumps and ten Nira pumps, were selected for the study in order to give a representative sample of the population of the pumps in the area. The final selection of the pumps, presented in table 5.1, was also made for logistical reasons. Table 5-1: Final selection of pumps Community’s name

District

Zone

Type of pump

1 Sokabisi

Bolgatanga

Bolgatanga central

Nira

2 Atiabisi

Bolgatanga

Yikene

Rope

3 Atoobisi-Asogrobisi

Bolgatanga

Sumbrungu

Nira

4 Asapombisi

Bolgatanga

Sumbrungu

Nira

5 Aguridone

Bolgatanga

Sumbrungu

Rope

6 Azinsum

Bolgatanga

Sumbrungu

Rope

7 Aniabisi (UCC)

Bolgatanga

Sumbrungu

Rope

8 Asulgum Asaka (UCC) Bolgatanga

Sumbrungu

Rope

9 Pelungu Nairi

Bolgatanga

Pelungu

Nira

10 Baandaborg

Bolgatanga

Pelungu

Rope

11 Gundago

Bawku West-Zebilla Sakum

Nira

12 Lanaga

Bawku West-Zebilla Sakum

Nira

13 Natinga

Bawku West-Zebilla Sakum

Rope

14 Gandare

Bawku West-Zebilla Sakum

Rope

15 Asason

Navrongo

Katiu

Nira

16 Afania

Navrongo

Katiu

Nira

17 Adunia

Navrongo

Katiu

Rope

18 Muslim

Navrongo

Katiu

Rope

19 Piose Talua

Navrongo

Yitonia

Nira

20 Piose Talua Aduntra

Navrongo

Yitonia

Nira 49

It was not possible, because of the size of the ice box to carry more than eight sampling bottles, one of which was a blank bottle and the other a spare. The allotted time between the first sample and its filtration, four to six hours, didn’t allow more than six samples a day to be taken. The pumps which were chosen were spread over more than one hundred kilometres from east to west, from Zebilla to Katiu. The users were from at least four different tribes, Kosasi, Nabdam, Fra-Fra, Kasena, from east to west. And they were speaking four different languages, Kosal, Nabdam, Gurune, Kasem, again from east to west. The approximate locations of the pumps are shown on figure 5.1. Figure 5-1: Approximate locations of the selected pumps Source: Adapted from UNU (2004)

5.2.2 Contacts with the communities and Interviews The author was introduced to the water and sanitation committee of each community by the district manager and the Zonal Based Facilitator in charge of the area. The purpose of this presentation was basic politeness and intended both to ensure the community of the 50

good intention and full respect of the author and ease the future sampling work by ensuring that the community was willing to help. After a presentation of his background and of the purpose of his presence in the community, the author was allowed to ask some questions to the committee members about the well and the pump and the uses of water. The aim of those questions was to find information concerning the depth and geology of the well, but also the acceptance, the costs and the operation and maintenance. During these interviews, the Zonal Based Facilitator of the area, and, in Navrongo, Simon Kaba, the district manager, did the translation. The interview’s form, presented in appendix 5.1, were organised into four parts. The first one was dedicated to the identification of the community, of the well and of the pump. In this first part was also quoted the name and function of the main members of the water and sanitation committee. The second part was a set of questions concerning the well. The main purpose of this part was to have some clue about the geology at the well site. As the communities, in most cases, dug the wells themselves, it was possible to gather some information concerning the different layers of soil encountered during the digging. The third part was meant to gather information about the pump itself, notably concerning the costs and operation and maintenance organisation. The questions were designed, notably, in order to find out how the reparation network was organised and perceived by the community. The fourth and last part of the interview, was aimed at the women and concerned the quantity of water withdrawn daily and its uses, as well as the perception of the pump by the community. The results are presented in the next chapter.

5.2.3 Information gathered for each sample For each sample, a set of information was gathered to help interpret the results of the bacteriological analysis. The form shown in appendix 5.2 was to be filled with information to identify the pump: type of pump, name of the district, name of the community, Rural Aid’s number of the pump if any. Another part of the form was meant to be filled with information about the sample: date and time of sampling, date of the last rain before sampling, sample number, sanitary risk score, and three boxes for the time of filtration, of incubation and period of incubation. 51

The last part was dedicated to the physical characteristics measured on site and the Thermotolerant coliform count in cfu/100ml. The physical characteristics measured were: colour, temperature, pH, turbidity, free chlorine residual, depth of the well and depth of the water table. A box was also designed for any remarks or observations that might have some importance or interest.

5.2.4 Potential or noticed problems and errors The selection of the pump was meant to set a representative sample of the population of pumps in the area. It might have been more significant in the perspective of a comparison between the two techniques to limit the geographical distribution of the pumps, in an attempt to have a more uniform geological profile of the wells. Bacteriological water quality was not the only parameter to be used in the comparison. Social acceptance, uses, costs and maintenance network efficiency were also of interest. Therefore, a heterogeneous population of users was likely to give more relevant and significant information than a restricted, homogeneous one. Most of the community seemed to understand what was the aim of the study and were willing to help. In most communities, a direct communication between the author and the community was impossible because of the language barrier. The author was relying on the Zonal Based Facilitator or the District Manager. Translation is always a source of errors and misunderstandings. It is not easy however to identify and specify them. The answers about the different layers of the soil should be used with caution, not only because the conversation took place between non specialists. On several occasions, the word clay was used by the translator for a type of soil that seems to be a sandy loam to the author. This part of the interview helped to provide at least a rough idea of the type of soil, sand or fractured rock. Concerning the depth of water table, most of the wells were sealed. And when they were not, the author did not have the material to do the measurement. These two last reasons explain also the absence of measured water level for most samples. Concerning the maintenance of the pumps one of the main biases that could have been introduced is the perception of time. It was often difficult to know the date of the last repairs or the time it took to do it. The precision was, often, not more than ‘during the last dry season’. Therefore these answers also must be used cautiously.

52

Few communities were able to compare their pump with other types of pump. Only in two places, Sumbrungu and Katiu, had some peoples tried out different types of pumps and were able to make a comparison. Finally the last day of rain was not always easy to establish. Rain might fall over night and people might not notice it. People would not call rain what they considered as a few drops. Some rains might be very localised. Sometimes also, the author was without any translator and that question and its answer was far beyond the communication capacity of the author and his interlocutors.

5.3 SAMPLING AND ON-SITE ANALYSIS The techniques used by the author were mainly based on Hutton (1983;14) and Bartram and Ballance (1996;85). Advice obtained through personal communications with Stuart Dale, Bob Elson, Peter Harvey and Sam Godfrey was also useful in the setup of the technique. The technique was the same for the two types of pumps.

5.3.1 Sterilisation of the material 5.3.1.1 Material used The laboratory of Loughborough University’s civil engineering department kindly provided the author with a ‘prestige medical’ portable steam sterilizer and autoclave tape. The guest house where the author stayed in Bolgatanga had a kitchen with gas cooker and tap water. 5.3.1.2 Description of the technique Before each day of fieldwork, the sampling bottles were sterilised using the autoclave on the gas cooker. The technique was the one explained by Stuart Dale during the training time (Dale 2004) and in the directions for use of the portable steam steriliser (Prestige Medical 1989). The bottom of the autoclave was filled with a the appropriate amount of water. After putting the sampling bottles, with the cap loosely tied, in a rack inside the autoclave, the lid was closed and the autoclave put on the cooker. The autoclave was heated over a fast fire until steam came out of the safety valve. It was left like this for 5 minutes. Then the autoclave was put over a slow fire, steam still getting out, for 15 minutes. The autoclave was then removed from the fire and the steam evacuated before 53

opening. The bottles were taken out of the autoclave and allowed to cool down before tightly closing them. For each day of sampling, a blank bottle and a bottle for dilution, both filled with distilled water, were also sterilised in the autoclave using the same technique.

5.3.2 Transport of the samples 5.3.2.1 Material used The laboratory of Loughborough University’s civil engineering department kindly provided 12 HDPE (with PP screw cap) 500 ml sampling bottles. The author had been told that ice boxes and ice packs could be easily found in Bolgatanga. In fact only Ice boxes are sold in that town. One, big enough to contain 8 sampling bottles and ice, was bought in a small shop in town. To replace the ice pack a deal was made with a local ice supplier. Ice was collected at the beginning of each day of sampling and kept in the ice box. A very useful off-road motorbike was provided by Rural Aid for the transport of the author and his material not always without any problem – see box 5.1. 5.3.2.2 Description of the technique The blank bottle was used as recommended in Bartram and Ballance (1996;226) to check possible interference during transport. On each morning of sampling, the ice box was filled with one bottle for each sample, a spare sampling bottle and the blank bottle. The ice box was then tied to the rack of the motorbike. The ice and water meant to cool down the samples were then collected from the local supplier Miss Gloria. The ice was put at the bottom of the ice box and around the bottles and water poured to fill half of the ice box. 5.3.2.3 Potential or noticed problems and errors The ice and water used to cool down the sampling bottles were taken from a tap in town. This water should have been chlorinated as was the water from the tap of the guest house where the author stayed. However, contamination might occur while pouring the water in plastic bags to prepare the ice packs. Contamination occurred also during the transport when sampling bottles were put back in the ice box after sampling.

54

The sampling bottles were not put in clear plastic bags to protect them from the surrounding potentially polluted water as recommended by Bartram and Ballance (1996;90). As a consequence, the outside of the sampling bottles were likely to be contaminated before filtration. Box 5-1: Never ride too fast Here must be mentioned also one event that, fortunately, occurred only once, on the last day of sampling. After taking samples from Aniabisi and Asulgum Asaka, in Sumbrungu, west of Bolgatanga, the author was riding pretty fast to Pelungu, east of Bolgatanga. He was in a hurry because he had to take two samples, from Pelungu Nairi and Baandaborg, and then be back at the guest house to read the previous day’s results in less than one hour and a half. Riding fast on a rugged dirt track, the ice box suddenly decided to leave the motorbike’s rack and to spread water, ice and sampling bottles on the mud. The author was able to put back all the bottles and some ice in the ice box and went to the next house on the road to ask for water. After a quick cleaning, the author ended his sampling trip at a slower speed, and managed to be back on time. The blank bottle of that day presented a result of 1 cfu/100 ml.

5.3.3 On site measurements 5.3.3.1 Temperature The temperature was measured in degrees Celsius using an alcohol thermometer provided by the laboratory of Loughborough University’s civil engineering department and a sample bucket provided by the communities. The alcohol thermometer was placed in a bucket under flowing water for one minute. The pump was often operated by a child or a woman of the community, sometimes by one man of the community or by the Zonal Based Facilitator, and twice by the author himself. The alcohol thermometer was graduated by degrees. The results have been rounded off to the nearest graduation.

55

5.3.3.2 pH The pH was measured with a comparator using bromothymol blue and m-cresol purple tablets. The comparator and the tablets were provided by the laboratory of Loughborough University’s civil engineering department. The pH was measured using the comparator and the tablets. The comparator was rinsed at least three times under the flowing water from the outlet. Then it was levelled using a little plastic spoon. The tablets was put in their respective compartments and mixed. The pH was then estimated in consultation with the people around if necessary. The pre-printed colours of the pH comparator never matched the colour actually read. The results were always estimated in between two pre-printed colours. The values of pH are therefore only estimations. 5.3.3.3 Turbidity The turbidity was then measured using the turbimeter filled up by the water flowing through the outlet. The reading was taken holding the turbimeter vertically under the eyes. Water was poured out little by little until the little black circle at the bottom of the tube was visible. The reading value noted on the sample information form was the nearest graduation to the water level. As the weather was not always the same all the visual readings might have been biased. A bright sunshine might give lower results for turbidity than a rainy day. 5.3.3.4 Colour For this parameter the only tools were a bucket provided by the communities and the eyes and brains provided by the author and the people around at the time of sampling. The colour was characterised by looking at it in a recipient and in consultation with the people around if necessary. Concerning the appreciation of the colour, there again the weather might have influenced the results. So as did the containers’ colour, iron bucket, rusted iron bucket, plastic blue or black bucket and so on.

56

5.3.4 Sampling 5.3.4.1 Material used The author bought at a chemist’s in England some dry soap to wash his hands before sampling. As it was not possible to import ethanol into Ghana, the author tried to buy some in Accra after his arrival. The smallest quantity sold there was 2.5 litres. In an attempt to limit the numbers of kilos to carry and to avoid the waste of this chemicals, the author bought instead three hundred millilitres of isopropyl alcohol. Three hundred millilitres of Methylated spirit had also been bought in a first stage as a replacement for methanol. Finally, following the advice of Stuart Dale from Loughborough University, the isopropyl alcohol was rejected and the methylated spirit was used as a replacement for ethanol for the sterilisation of the pump outlets. After two weeks in Bolgatanga, Mr Alhassan Batong, director of the laboratory of the hospital of Bolgatanga, provided the author with one litre of proper 96% pure ethanol, and distilled water as needed. Cotton was bought at local chemist’s shops. Napkins to dry the outlet of the pump before disinfection were also bought locally in a small general store. 5.3.4.2 Description of the technique The technique had to be changed after the first set of samples. The author was concerned by the high level of bacteriological contamination encountered. Technique for the first set of samples For the first set of samples, the temperature, turbidity, colour and pH were measured before the sample was taken. The outlet was dried using a napkin. The author would then wash his hands with the dry soap. A piece of cotton was cut and wetted by immersion in the methylated spirit using the pair of big tweezers. The outlet was then wiped inside, as deep as possible, and outside with the soaked piece of cotton. It was not flamed in order not to damage the PVC outlet of the rope pump. The technique had to be the same for the two types of pump. The pump was then operated to allow the water to flow for one to two minutes, while the ice box was put down from the motorbike and the sampling bottle taken out of the ice box. The bottle was then opened carefully, making sure that the neck of the bottle and the inside of the cap remained untouched. The bottle was filled under flowing water always

57

leaving an air space. After a careful tight closing, the bottle was labelled with the name of the community and put back in the ice box. The ice box was then tied on to the motorbike. Technique for the second and third sets of samples For the second and third sets of samples, the samples of water for bacteriological analysis were taken just after the temperature and the turbidity. Though the technique was mainly the same, the author washed his hands and the neck of the closed bottle with the dry soap just before sampling. The bottle was also labelled before the sample was taken. This preparation allows water to flow more than 2 minutes after sterilisation of the outlet with methylated spirit or ethanol. The bottle was then filled, in the same way as before, and put back in the ice box. When the methylated spirit, only used for the sterilisation of the outlet, was finished it was replaced by ethanol up to the end of the third set of samples. 5.3.4.3 Potential or noticed problems and errors One of the main problems encountered was that the flow was difficult to regulate and was often high. Water was flowing in and around the sampling bottles. The disinfection of the outlet, although done meticulously, might have been only partial as flaming was not used.

5.4 BACTERIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SAMPLES The author used the techniques described in the direction of use of the Oxfam Delagua kit, shown in figure 5-2 of the Robens Institute (RCPEH 2004), adapted, notably concerning the preparation of the media, following the advice and training of Stuart Dale of the laboratory of Loughborough University’s civil engineering department.

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Figure 5-2: Oxfam-Delagua kit. Source: RCPHE (2004)

5.4.1 Preparation of the media 5.4.1.1 Material used The laboratory of Loughborough University’s civil engineering department provides the author with twenty-three universal bottles containing around 1.75g of membrane lauryl sulphate broth powder to be mixed with 22.5 ml of distilled water. The author was also in possession of thirty sterile disposable 2.5 ml syringes for pouring the media on the pads. 5.4.1.2 Description of the technique The author would prepare five universal bottles of media before each week of sampling. The bottles were filled up to the shoulder, approximately 22.5 ml, with ten minutes boiled distilled water, using a plastic pipette. The bottles were then closed and shaken until all the media was dissolved. A piece of autoclave tape was put, over the top and the side, as a simple seal. They were then put in the fridge of the guest house until the day of use.

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5.4.2 Sterilisation of the material 5.4.2.1 Material used In Bolgatanga, Dunstan Zong, director of Wellfare laboratory, a small local private laboratory, provided the author with 150 ml of methanol. The methanol was used for the sterilisation of the filtration unit and of the Petri dishes. 96% pure Ethanol provided by the Bolgatanga hospital’s laboratory was used for the sterilisation of the tweezers. 5.4.2.2 Description of the technique A few drops of methanol were poured into each Petri dish to be used and then flamed. The cap was put back in place before all the Methanol had been burnt. The Petri dishes were then left closed for ten minutes before putting in the pad and the media. The tweezers were kept in the 100 ml Duran bottle of Ethanol and flamed before each use. About one millilitre of Methanol was poured into the vacuum cup of the filtration apparatus and then flamed. Once most of the Methanol had burnt, the filtration head, with the filtration funnel in the loose position, was placed over it. This operation was repeated before each filtration and at the end of each day.

5.4.3 Dilution, filtration, incubation and reading 5.4.3.1 Material used Each day a HDPE (with PP screw cap) 500 ml sampling bottle of distilled water to be used for the dilution was prepared. The distilled water was provided by the Bolgatanga hospital’s laboratory. The filtration apparatus was the one of the Delagua kit, provided, as all the bacteriological testing material, by the laboratory of Loughborough University’s civil engineering department. The following table 5.2 presents the material used by the author for the filtration and incubation. 5.4.3.2 Description of the technique Dilution and filtration: After a first set of two samples, in which three sample volumes of 1ml, 10ml and 100ml were tested, two volumes of 1ml and 10 ml, were subsequently used for all the fieldwork. The levels of contamination were high and 100ml filtrations would 60

not have given comparable results, mixing everything in a global Too Numerous To Count (TNTC) result. Some sterilised distilled water was poured into the funnel of the filtration Unit. After gently shaking the sample to homogenise it, a sterile syringe was carefully used to take the appropriate amount of water sample, 1 ml or 10 ml, and pour it into the funnel. Table 5-2: Dilution, filtration, incubation and reading material Materiel Quantity Delagua incubator 1 Battery charger 1 Pair tweezers 2 Hand lens 1 Lubricating grease enough Bottle duran 100 ml for methanol 1 Pipettes plastic for methanol 20 Bottle duran 100 ml for ethanol 1 Syringes 10ml sterile for dilution 17 Syringes 1ml sterile for dilution 19 Grid membranes filters 200 Pad 100 Pad dispenser 1 Filtration unit 1 Aluminium Petri dishes 30 Water proof marker 2 Sampling information sheet 60 Pens 10 Distilled water enough After sampling, usually in the morning, the samples were brought back to the guest house and kept in the ice box until the time of filtration. Following the recommendation of the WHO (1997:53) the samples were filtered within 4 to 6 hours maximum after sampling. The Petri dishes were sterilised as described before. The media was taken out of the fridge. The Petri dishes were labelled on the bottom with the name of the communities, the quantity of sample filtered and the date of sampling. Then the pads were dispensed to the Petri dishes using the pad dispenser. The media bottle was opened carefully and with a 2.5 ml sterile syringe the media was poured onto the pad. The first sample of the day was then taken out of the ice box and dried with a napkin. The filtration apparatus was opened and put in filtration position on the working table. The plastic collar was put in position ‘free’. Once t he tweezers kept in the 100ml Duran bottle full of ethanol were taken out and flamed, a sterile membrane was carefully removed from the packet and, held by the edges with the tweezers, transferred to the filtration apparatus. 61

One hand was holding the filtration funnel while the other carefully placed the sterile membrane, grid side facing upward, onto the bronze disc filter support. The plastic funnel was then immediately replaced upon the membrane. The tweezers were put back into the Duran bottle and the plastic collar of the filtration unit screwed down. Around 50ml of dilution water was then poured into the funnel. The sampling bottle was then gently shaken and the cap unscrewed. A sterile syringe was taken out of its packet and carefully, while one hand was taking off the cap of the sampling bottle, the other put the syringe into the bottle. The syringe was filled by suction and emptied slowly into the dilution water in the funnel. The filtration unit was shaken to mix the sample and the dilution water. The vacuum pump was connected to the filtration apparatus and operated until all the water had been filtered. The pump was removed, the plastic collar unscrewed. Taking the tweezers in one hand and flaming them, the author lifted the funnel with the other hand and delicately took the membrane out of the filtration unit with the tweezers holding only the edge of the membrane. The funnel was put back in place and the Petri dish labelled with the name of the sample was carefully opened with one hand and the lid held, avoiding contact with anything. The membrane was put onto the impregnated pad, ‘rolled’ onto it to avoid the presence of air between the pad and the membrane. The lid of the Petri dish was immediately replaced. The tweezers were put back in the Duran bottle and the filtration apparatus emptied dried and sterilised again. The time of filtration and the dilution were written down on the sampling form. After 10 to 15 minutes the filtration of the second sample started. After the filtration of all the samples, one hundred millimetres of water of the blank bottle and one hundred millimetres of the dilution water were also filtered with the same technique. The only difference was that the water was poured directly from the bottle instead of being taken with a syringe. Incubation and reading: The filtered samples were then left four hours, after the first filtration, at ambient temperature before being put in the incubator. The incubator was put on after the last filtration. The samples were incubated 18 hours at 44 degrees Celsius. At the end of the incubation time, the samples were taken out of the incubator and the yellow colonies were counted twice for each sample. The two counts were written down and then the mean accepted as the presumptive count of Thermotolerant coliform. The count was then calculated for 100 ml and written down on the sampling form. On each 62

sampling form was also written the count of the blank and of the dilution of the day, and some occasional remarks. 5.4.3.3 Potential or noticed problems and errors The incubator temperature was checked on site. The author asked a local workshop to make a wooden lid identical to the one of the incubator but with the hole in the middle to introduce the thermometer, as shown on figure 5-2. The checking took place on Monday July the 5th, following the instruction given in the direction of use of the Oxfam Delagua kit (RCPHE 2004:46). After removing all the contents of the kit, the incubator was filled with enough water to immerse completely the bulb of the thermometer. Once the thermometer was tightly fitted into the hole of the lid, the lid was put back in place. The incubator was put on and the temperature checked after half an hour, every 5 minutes for one hour. The temperature quickly stabilised on 44 degrees Celsius.

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Figure 5-3: Delagua wooden lid and original Source: Author

The author did not check the autoclave before packing. He put inside the universal bottles with the media and the sterile syringe. When he unpacked in the guest house of Bolgatanga all the syringe packets were wet and three media bottles had to be discarded because some drops of water had entered them. Each bottle was carefully checked without opening it and all the bottles where the media powder was still dry were kept. The syringes in their closed packets were spread on one of the beds and dried. Considering that the packets were airtight the author assumed that they were also watertight, and used them. The discovery happened two days after the arrival in Bolgatanga on Sunday July the 4th and the syringes were not used before Friday July the 9th. The author often encountered condensation drops of methanol inside the funnel and on the bronze disc filter support. They were wiped using the sterile membranes held by the sterilised tweezers. The eight first samples, Sokabisi 1, Azynsum 1, Afania 1, Adunia 1, Asason 1, Muslim 1, Piose Talua 1, Piose Aduntra 1 were diluted with sterilised tap water and the blank was also tap water. The author then found distilled water and all the other blanks and dilution water were subsequently made with that. Twice, the author forgot to put the incubator on just after the last filtration. The first time the incubator was put on half an hour before incubation. This should not have made a big change as during the checking the temperature reached 44 degrees in half an hour or so. The samples concerned were Pelungu Nairi 1 and Baandaborg 1.

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The second time the incubator was put on as the samples were put in. The samples were therefore left in the incubator for eighteen hours and a half in total. The samples concerned were Afania 2, Adunia 2, Asason 2, Muslim 2, Piose Talua 2, Piose Aduntra 2.

5.4.4 Disposal of the used membranes After the incubation and the reading, the used Petri dishes, membranes and pads were sterilised in the autoclave. The used Petri dishes were placed in the autoclave and sterilised with the technique described above. After sterilisation they were emptied in a trash bin. Tissues impregnated with acetone were then used to get rid of the labelling.

5.5 SANITARY INSPECTIONS 5.5.1 Description of the method used There were several purposes to the sanitary inspections, based on the ones shown in WHO (1997), ARGOSS (2001) and Howard (2002). First it was to help in the interpretation of the results of the bacteriological analysis. The sanitary inspection helped to identify the sources of pollution and the pathways. As a consequence, the sanitary inspection should ideally help the communities and Rural Aid to improve water supplies facilities. The author made two different sanitary inspection forms, one for the rope pumps and one for the Nira pumps. The forms were prepared in Bolgatanga, after visiting one pump of each model. The author did the drawings accompanying and supporting the questions. The artistic capacity of the author being quite limited, the goat drinking has been taken from WHO (1997). Those drawings are meant to help people using the form to understand and visualise the potential sources and pathways of pollution. Each question has been identified with its number on the drawing. The sanitary inspection forms were filled in before each sample. All the wells were built to the same design. The only difference was the pump. Therefore, the sanitary inspection forms are almost identical for all the wells. They contain twelve questions common to the two pumps and two specific questions. The last two questions concern pathways specific to the pumps. The two sanitary inspection forms are presented in appendix 5.2. 65

5.5.2 Potential or noticed problems and errors The author had some difficulties concerning the interpretation of what was seen on site. For example, should a drainage likely to be faulty within two metres in radius around the well, but dry at the time of inspection receive a ‘yes’ answer or a ‘no’ answer? Sanitary inspection forms were given to each district manager and left in some communities when there was a demand as illustrated in box 5.2. The allotted time for the field work was too short for the author to distribute and explain widely the purpose and uses of sanitary inspection form. Box 5-2: The human factor On the last day of sampling in Katiu area, the author was about to leave Afania, When a young woman carrying her child and speaking English asked him in English: “So what are the results of your analysis ? Is our water good ?”. In an attempt to be honest without alarming the community the author replied : “Well ! your water is of better quality than the one of the rivers and the ponds !”. “So what can we do to improve our water quality ?”. That was a perfect opportunity to explain what a sanitary inspection is ! The author thus showed the form and explained it, question after question, always referring to the drawings. The young woman was translating to the other members of the community, mainly women, who were around. She was showing the drawings and seemed to perfectly understand this tool and how to use it. After recommending that they should talk about it with Simon Kaba, the district manager, the author left the place, proud and happy. A seed was planted. The author went across the road to the next community, Katiu Muslim. The chairman of the water and sanitation committee was there. After the sampling, the author thought that this was a good opportunity to plant another seed. The explanation of the sanitary inspection form started. The chairman was politely listening, smiling, acquiescing sometimes. Then as soon as the explanation was finished, finally a question arose : “Do you have the photo of me you took last time?”!!! Never ever give up !!!! This field work which has not been without any difficulties, aimed to gather useful data for a comparison of the two types of pump. Three types of data were collected using three different methods. The purpose of the first set of data, collected through interview of the communities, was to document the context of implementation of the pumps. The sanitary inspections were an evaluation of the potential risks related to the way of 66

implementing those pumps. Finally the water quality analysis intended to assess the impact of the implementation of those pumps on water quality. The results of these three assessments are presented in the following chapter.

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6

PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS The present study was conducted in Upper East Region, Ghana and aims to compare

the respective impacts of the Nira AF85 and the Ghanaian Rope pump on microbiological water quality. Twenty pumps, ten of each type, have been selected among the ones installed by Rural Aid (18 pumps) and United Cross Culture (2 rope pumps), two local NGOs. The Nira pumps were installed by Rural Aid staff whereas the rope pumps were installed by the people from Jenamise enterprise, the workshop manufacturing the rope pumps. All the wells have been dug by the communities and then lined and protected following the same design by Rural Aid staff. The data presented here have been collected through interviews with the communities, sanitary inspections, water analysis and consultation of Rural Aid archives during a field trip, between June 29th 2004 and August 1st 2004. 6.1 INTERVIEWS OF THE COMMUNITIES 6.1.1 the wells All the wells chosen within the scope of the present study were hand dug shallow wells. After siting by Rural Aid, the wells have been dug by the communities themselves during the dry season. Only the well of Pelungu Nairi, in Bolgatanga district (the “Nairi” is the traditional leader of the area) was dug by members of another community under contract. The digging by the community is part of the contribution that is supposed to guarantee that the villagers are involved in the project, thus enabling the sustainability of the water supply scheme. The depth of the wells does not vary significantly between the pumps as shown in table 6.1. Table 6-1: Depth characteristics of the wells studied Minimum depth

Maximum depth

Mean depth

Median depth

(in metres)

(in meters)

(in metres)

(in metres)

Nira AF85

8.2

11.2

9.36

9.05

Rope pump

6.1

12.1

9.26

8.6

All wells

6.1

12.1

9.31

9

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In most cases the communities were able to reach the water without any external intervention. Only three communities needed the use of a compressor to get through hard rocks: Afania and Asason in the Kasena-Nankana district and Aguridone in Bolgatanga district. In these three cases the compressor was provided and operated by Rural Aid. It was not possible to have precise and reliable information about the soil profile for each well. The interviews with the communities gave some information, as they, themselves, dug the well. This information could then be compared to the soil profiles observed for each zone by Nassir Adugbire, the hydrogeologist of Rural Aid. In Bolgatanga district, even if the upper layers were various in qualification and in number, the communities answered that the wells ended in a layer of loose rocks, or gravel in the case of Baandaborg. Nassir Adugbire (2004) gives two different soil profiles for the district. One for Bolgatanga central communities, Atoobisi-Asogrobisi, Atiabisi Yikene, Aguridone, Azinsum, Asapombisi, Aniabisi, Asulgum Asaka, Sokabisi, where after a layer of top soil, occurs a layer of slightly fresh sandstone which is likely to be the shallow aquifer where the wells ends. Then there is a layer of clay, one of slightly fresh granite, and finally the bed rock of fresh granidiorite. For the communities of Pelungu, Pelungu Nairi and Baandaborg, the first layers are very similar, where after the top soil, a layer of slightly fresh dirty sandstone is also likely to be the water-bearing layer. Then clay, and a highly weathered mudstone cover a weathered Bongo granite. For the district of Kasena-Nankana, there are two zones and the answers vary in function of the zone. The Katiu zone’s communities, Afania, Adunia, Muslim and Asason, answered that their wells ended in big stone or loose rock. The soil profile given by Nassir Adugbire (2004) presents, after the topsoil, a layer of Slightly fresh dirty sandstone which is likely to be the water-bearing layer of big stone or loose rocks described by the communities. Then a layer of fresh dirty clay and a layer of Shale cover the bed rock of slightly fresh granodiorite. The Yitonia communities, Piose Talua and Aduntra, answered that their wells ended in clay for Aduntra and in what as been translate as “Honeycomb” for Piose Talua. The soil profile from Nassir Adugbire (2004) gives, after the top soil, a layer of weathered sandstone and then a layer of shale covering a bed rock of slightly fresh diorite. It is 69

difficult in this case to relate the information from the communities to the information from the geologist of Rural Aid. The communities of Bawku west reported that the wells ended in a mix of clay with sand and gravel. The soil profile given by Nassir Adugbire (2004) describes after the top soil, a layer of slightly fresh dirty sandstone which when mixed with the following layer of clay could be the water-bearing zone described by the communities. Then a slightly fresh mudstone covers a layer of interbedded sandstone and Bongo granite. After digging, the wells were lined by casing from bottom to top by the Rural Aid technicians. The community supplies the sand and gravels and Rural Aid provides the cement and the technical skills. Some wells needed to be deepened because they did not provide enough water during the dry season. Rural Aid provided each community with four spare concrete rings of smaller diameter to enable the community to complete the lining in case of deepening. Some wells were deepened without the use of the spare concrete rings. As a result two wells are not lined from bottom to top: Yitonia Piose Talua, in Kasena-Nankana district and Sokabisi, in Bolgatanga district. A third one to mention: Aguridone, in Bolgatanga district, has not been lined to the bottom because it ends in rocks. The depth of the water level has not been recorded for all the wells. The wells were almost all covered and sealed and the author was not equipped to measure the water level of the wells where the hatch was not sealed. Some measures have been made by estimation looking through the manhole inside the well. The depths vary from 0.5 metres to 5.5 metres. All the wells have been cleaned at least once since their construction. The time since the last cleaning varied from 1 months to 96 months for all the wells. The cleaning took place in most of the cases just before the installation of the pump. Some have been done while the pump was last repaired. Chlorination has been made for half of the wells, 5 fitted with Nira pumps and 5 fitted with rope pumps. The chlorination was made on 3 occasions to kill insects present in the water. In 5 cases this was made after the installation of the pump, the lining of the well or 70

the cleaning of the well. No reason was given for the 2 other chlorinations. The most recent chlorination took place in April 2004, 3 months before the present study.

6.1.2 the pumps 6.1.2.1 Age of pumps The pumps chosen for the study are of various ages. It should be noted that the Nira pumps are significantly older than the rope pumps as shown in table 6.2. At the time of the study, in July 2004, the youngest Nira AF85 were installed in the dry season 2002. On the other hand, the installation of rope pumps by Rural Aid really started in October 2003 when the NGO hired Isaac Chege. Two older rope pumps installed in March 2003 under the responsibility of United Cross Culture, were added to the sample. The date of construction of the apron was usually engraved in the concrete indicating the date of construction of the well, of the lining and of the head cover. For the pump the age was sometimes also engraved either on the pump, for the rope pump, or on the head cover for one Nira. But the main source of information was Rural Aid staff for the Nira pump they installed and Isaac Chege’s archives for the date of installation of the rope pumps by Jenamise enterprise. Table 6-2: Age characteristics of the pumps Minimum age

Maximum age

Mean age

Median age

(in months)

(in months)

(in months)

(in months)

Nira AF85

20

132

64.4

66

Rope pump

1

16

6.9

6

6.1.2.2 Repairs With regard to the repairs occurring on the pumps, as with all the information for this section, the data were collected through interviews with the communities, with translation by the Zonal Based Facilitator of the area or the District manager. They include the replacement of broken parts of the pump and heavy maintenance operations such as the cleaning of a blocked bottom valve for the Nira pumps. The dates and periods mentioned are only estimations, the precision often being not more than “during the last dry season”.

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The number of repairs for all the pumps varies from 0 to 30, 30 being an outlier as presented in table 6.3. The outlier of 30 repairs concerned the Nira pump of Yitonia Piose Talua community. The number 30 is computed from the answer of the committee members who said that since the installation of the pump in 1999, they were cleaning the bottom valve 6 times a year. Table 6-3: Number of repairs by type of pump Minimum

Maximum

Mean number

Mean number

Total number

number of

number of

of repairs per

of repairs per

of repairs

repairs

repairs per

pump

pump

mentioned

per pump

pump

(with the outlier)

(without the outlier)

Nira AF85

0

4

4.6

2

46

or 30 (outlier) Rope pump

0

2

0.6

0.6

6

All pumps

0

30

2.6

1.16

52

The main repair mentioned for the Nira pumps is the maintenance of the bottom valve which occurred with 5 pumps out of 10 and represent 9 out of the 16 other repairs reported on the Nira pumps. The cleaning of the bottom valve is necessary because of blockages due to the sand and mud moved by the flow of water at the bottom of the well. The valve is cleaned and greased with engine oil then put back in place. Two pumps, those of Yitonia Piose Aduntra in Kasena-Nankana and Pelungu Nairi in Bolgatanga, had their risers and handles replaced once because they were bent. The other repairs made on the Nira pumps concern the replacement or welding of the nuts and bolts holding the platform on which people stand to pump. Three pumps, those of Yitonia Piose Aduntra and Afania in Kasena-Nankana district, and Gundago in Bawku west (Zebilla) were fixed for this problem. For each pump the committee took care of the repair, taking the base plate to a mechanic in the nearest town to weld the bolts on the plate. In Gundago, after a first repair, as the bolts broke again, the platform has been replaced by a stone! – see figure 6.1.

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Figure 6-1: Gundago Nira pump without the platform, Bawku West District Source: author Another pump worthy of mention is that of Lanaga, located in Bawku west district as well, which is surprisingly still providing water to the community. A stone props up the platform because some of the bolts are broken, the sleeve bearing is broken, the shaft is weathered as shown in figure 6.2, the pump moves side to side when operated and some small parts of the plunger come up in the pumped water! The community is currently gathering money to weld the bolts, 30 000 cedis (US$ 3.5), and the members of the committee say they cannot afford the replacement of the shaft. Rural Aid had previously trained two members of the community to maintain the pumps: one man and two women. But the man left for Kumasi and the women do not have the tools to maintain the pump. Finally the pump in Atoobisi-Asogrobisi, Bolgatanga district is said not to have had any repair; which regarding the age of the pump, 8 years, seems doubtful. The pump is the one providing water to the community of Anaba the ZBF for the zone and the well has been cleaned several times, lastly in may 2004. The questions were maybe not understood and the cleaning of the valve not considered as a repair. This bias and misunderstanding

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might have occurred for other pumps. Hence people might not always remember all the repairs or maintenance that occurred for the pumps.

Figure 6-2: Lanaga Nira pump, worn out handle sleeve and broken sleeve bearing, Bawku west district. Source: author The rope pumps for their part were repaired 6 times in total. Two of the repairs mentioned were due to a bad installation. The riser pipe of the pump in Natinga, Bawku west district was not glued properly and thus was moving while operating. The pump in Aniabisi, Bolgatanga district needed some tightening of the nuts holding the pump on the well head cover. The community of Gandare in Bawku west district broke the riser pipe. Something inside the well blocked the rope and as they forced it, the pipe broke. Finally the last type of repair mentioned, is the replacement of the rope: two pumps out of ten and three repairs out of the six repairs reported for the rope pumps. This happens twice in Asulgum Asaka, Bolgatanga district and once in the Muslim community in Kasena-Nankana. This is probably due to a bad manufacture of the guiding box at the bottom of the riser pipe. Some cement might have been left around the bottle guiding the 74

rope leading to an early wear of the rope. It is worth noting that the community of Aniabisi, Bolgatanga district, whose pump was installed on the same day as the neighbouring one of Asulgum Asaka, has never had to change the rope since the installation in March 2003. All the repairs mentioned were conducted by the workers of Jenamise ent., though some area mechanics should be trained in the near future to take care of the pumps. For both types of pumps, the time between the breakdown and the repair varies from 1 day to 2 weeks with no significant differences between the rope pumps and the Nira pumps and no significant geographical differences neither. 6.1.2.3 capital costs and maintenance costs The capital costs cannot really be taken into account in any comparison for the pump installed by Rural Aid because the communities did not pay realistic costs. The participation of the communities varied from labour only to labour and 150 000 cedis (US$ 17). The costs were assumed by Rural Aid or United Cross Culture or in the case of Asapombisi, Bolgatanga district, by the Standard Chartered Bank, a Ghanaian bank. The maintenance costs are difficult to establish. Even though it has been possible to meet some members of the water and sanitation committees for all the pumps, as it was the farming season, some key members such as the treasurer were not necessarily there to answer the questions. Other biases might come from the age of the pump. The rope pumps are too young, less than one year, to have a real idea of the actual maintenance costs. However it has been possible to make some computation using the information given by the community adapted from the price list for Nira parts found in Nampusuor and Mathisen (2000:22). For the Niras, the results have been obtained by adding all the costs of maintenance for each pump, divided by the mean age of the pump in months multiplied by 12 to obtain the maintenance costs per annum. The results give maintenance costs of around 873 000 cedis ($US 98) per annum for the Nira pumps. As most of the rope pumps, 8 out of 10, are younger than one year it has not been possible to use the same computation. The more common maintenance expenses is the buying of oil to ease the operation of the handle. The prices given by the community vary from 5 000 ($US 0.6) to 35 000 cedis ($US 4) for the oil, even though the quantity of oil bought at this price is not clear. The communities owning the oldest rope pump, Aniabisi and Asulgum Asaka both in Bolgatanga, answered that they were spending 20 000 and 21 75

000 cedi (US$ 2.3) per year respectively for the oil. The other expenses occurring for the rope pumps selected for the present study were the price of the rope, 50 000 cedis ($US 5.6) and the price of the guiding block 60 000 cedis (US$ 6.7). These repairs, as mentioned in the previous section, are due to a poor manufacture of the guiding block whereas a rope fitted on a properly made guiding block can last at least one year and a half as in Aniabisi, Bolgatanga district. Capital costs and operation and maintenance costs for 1036 Nira pumps in the Upper Regions of Ghana have been calculated by Nampusuor and Mathisen (2000:21), over a period of six years from 1996 to 2000 inclusive. The results of that study comparing Afridevs and Nira pumps give a capital cost of US$ 700 for a Nira on a 12 metres well with maintenance costs around US$ 89 per annum including the replacement of the pump after 15 years without any discount rate. On the other hand the capital cost of a Ghanaian rope pump made by Jenamise Enterprise is around 1 500 000 cedis (US$ 168) but there is no actual study about the maintenance costs. One study led by the WSP (2001) in Nicaragua gives maintenance costs of around $US 5 per annum for the rope pump. 6.1.3

uses of water and perception of the pump

The answers in this section, as those of the previous sections must be taken cautiously. With regard to the number of users for example, the answers of the communities were always fiercely disputed among those members present and were often given in number of households rather than in number of people. Often the children were omitted in a first answer. Sometimes gigantic estimations, “one thousand!”, were given by some members of the community which were soon corrected by the laughing others. Finally some realistic estimations were obtained for all the pumps. The average number of users for all the pumps is 196, 213 for the Nira pumps and 180 for the rope pumps. 6.1.3.1 Water Consumption It has been possible, following a suggestion of Isaac Chege, to compute an estimated consumption for each community. The women present were asked how many basins they were fetching each day for their household and how many people were living in this household. The basins contain between 35 and 40 litres. The question was also not an easy one to answer. Often the children were forgotten in a first estimation of the size of the household. The other bias is that the women were not mentioning other people of the 76

household fetching water such as the daughter-in-law or the girls. The women fetching the greater quantities of water were the ones living just near the pump.

Box 6-1: Men also use the pumps! The main users as in any part of the world are the women and the children, but it should also be mentioned that, regardless of the type of pump, men are also regular users in most communities. They use the pumps to fetch water to wash themselves and to give water to the animals, mainly in the dry season. Men also fetch water when they are single! They fetch water on market day when the women are away. They finally also fetch water for building purposes as the traditional houses are mainly made of wood and mud. Only one community, Atiabisi Yikene, in Bolgatanga District, has answered that men never use the pump because they were fetching the water for washing and for their animals from the canal instead. The mean number of litres per person per day varies from 32 litres for the lowest to 37 litres for the highest estimation of the size of the basin. There is no difference between the two types of pumps. In two cases the woman was fetching water in relation to a commercial activity. In Azinsum, Bolgatanga district, the woman was running a little restaurant and was fetching 10 basins (350 to 400 litres) a day on a rope pump to cook and wash the dishes. In Yitonia Piose Talua the wife of the chief was making Pito, the traditional beer and thus was fetching 20 basins (700 to 800 litres) a day on a Nira pump! 6.1.3.2 If they were given the choice! The answers concerning the satisfaction of the users were diverse. Most of the people are only acquainted with the type of pump they are using and are satisfied with it. In Pelungu Nairi, Bolgatanga district, the chief mentioned that since the installation of the Nira there was no longer any guinea worm in the area.

77

The programme launched by Rural Aid years ago planned to fit every hand dug well with a Nira pump. Money has been collected from many communities, but as the amount collected was purely symbolic, to ensure the involvement of the communities, Rural Aid was finally not able to afford the cost of all the Nira pumps promised. The programme of implementation of Rope pumps started to allow Rural Aid to fit 4 times more pumps with the same amount of money. But as a result some communities who were expecting a Nira pump got a rope pump instead. In Asulgum Asaka, Bolgatanga district, for example, the people mentioned that they were expecting a Nira, which might also partly explain the poor maintenance of the pump. In Natinga, Bawku West district, the people would have preferred a Nira, because a rope pump needs some oil to facilitate the rotation of the handle. The community is actually collecting money to pay for a borehole. They have already collected 800,000 cedis ($US 90) out of the 2,000,000 ($US 225) they will have to pay! In Atiabisi Yikene, Bolgatanga district, as the author was asking if the people were satisfied with their rope pump, an old man answered that as “we” (Rural Aid) had given them the pump it would have been very impolite of them to say that it was not good! In Azinsum, Bolgatanga district, the well is fitted with a rope pump. The lady owning the restaurant who was previously mentioned and an old man running a little shop nearby along the road between Bolgatanga and Navrongo were living in Atoobisi-Asogrobisi where the well is fitted with a Nira. As such they were users of the two types of pump and find the Nira easier to operate than the rope pump. The two wells have similar depths of around 9 metres but the one in Azinsum is on a higher ground than the one in AtoobisiAsogrobisi. As a result the water table is likely to be higher in the latter, easing the pumping. Other ladies present at the time of the interview replied that with the Nira one has to climb on the well head cover and then on the plate whereas with the rope pump one does not have to climb at all. In Afania, Kasena-Nankana district, the well is fitted with a Nira. The people use the neighbouring rope pumps in Adunia or in the Muslim community when their well dries up. They say that the Rope pump is easier to operate but that the Nira is stronger.

78

Near Afania and the Muslim community, on the Katiu market there is an Afridev fitted on a borehole of depth unrecorded for the present study; the people of the muslim community used this when their rope was broken. In the Muslim community the people mentioned that the users of the Afridev come to use the rope pump each time their pump breaks down, 3 or 4 times a year as they say. In Afania the committee commented that the users of the Afridev come to use the Nira pump, notably in the dry season, because it is easier to operate. The Nira and the rope pump are perceived as an advance by the communities compared to the river or the rope and bucket they were using before. One frequent complaint is that the wells often dry out at the end of the dry season; this does not really depend on the pump but was one of the most frequent answers when the community were asked if they were satisfied with their pump. The main demand was for the construction of more wells. 6.2 SANITARY INSPECTIONS The sanitary inspection forms were formatted on site after visit were made to several pumps of both types. The two sanitary inspection forms contain fourteen questions each. Sanitary inspections were conducted for each sample, but their utilisation was sometimes problematic and some questions arose. 6.2.1 Corrections There are three types of variations, presented in tables 6.4 and 6.5, between the sanitary inspections of different samples from the same well. The first variations concern the question number 2: “Is the nearest latrine uphill of the well?” and occurs for 7 pumps. The author had to conduct some of the inspections without any guide or translator. Thus some information about the latrines was not always available, leading to some negative responses. In this case the sanitary inspections have been corrected. Each well, for which at least one sanitary inspection form mentions a latrine uphill, have been attributed a ‘yes’ answer to question 2 for the three inspection forms. The second variation concerns the questions describing the quality of the construction of the well. The questions involved are the questions 11: “A re there cracks in the wellhead

79

cover?” occurring for 3 pumps; and 12: “Is the hatch not or badly sealed?” occurring for 3 other pumps. Table 6-4: Variations of the answers to some key questions and corrections for Rope pumps

Q2: latrine uphill? Q4: drainage faulty?

Natinga

Gandare

Muslim

yes 2, 3 1, 3

yes 1, 2

yes

no 1

no 3

Adunia

no

yes

Aniabisi

no

yes

no

2

1, 3

2

Q8: spilt water on apron? Q10: stagnant water on head cover? Q11: cracks in head cover ? Q12: hatch not or badly sealed? Q13: pipes not or badly sealed?

1, 2 1, 2

Asulgum Asaka yes no 2 1, 3 1, 3 2

Atiabisi

Aguridone

Azinsum

yes

no

yes

yes

no

1

2, 3

2

1, 3 3

3

no

1, 2

3

1, 2

3

1, 2

3 2 1

1, 3

2, 3 1, 3

2

3

1, 2 1, 3

2

1, 3

2

1, 2

3

The three sanitary inspections for Baandaborg are identical. corrections Drainage questions Construction questions

Table 6-5: Variations of the answers to some key questions and corrections for Nira pumps Gundago yes

no

Q2: latrine uphill? Q4: drainage faulty? Q8: spilt water on apron? Q10: stagnant water on head cover? Q11: cracks in head cover ? Q12: hatch not or badly sealed? Q14: gasket not or badly placed?

Lanaga yes 2, 3

no 1

Piose Aduntra Yes no 2, 3 1

Piose Talua yes no

Asason yes

no

Sokabisi yes

no

Atoobisi Asogrobisi yes no 2 1, 3 1

1, 2 1, 2 2

3

1, 3

2

2, 3

1

2

1, 3

Asapombisi yes

no

1, 3

2

Pelungu Nairi yes no 1 2, 3

2, 3

3

1, 2

1, 3

1 3 2, 3

3

2, 3

1, 2 1

The three sanitary inspections for Afania are identical. corrections Drainage questions Construction questions

There are also some questions specific to one type of pump. For the rope pump it is the question 13: “Are the two pipes not or badly sealed in the concrete cover?” for variation in the answers occur for 5 pumps. 80

For the Nira pump it is the question 14: “Are the two base gaskets damaged or badly placed?” for which variation in the answers occur for only one pump. It is difficult to explain why these variations occur. The situations were ambiguous and the faults not obvious thus leading to two types of answers for the same construction. In this case, the sanitary inspections have been corrected according to the following rule. No correction is done, if a ‘yes’ answer is only given in the last or the two last samples. It is considered that a deterioration might have occurred during the period of sampling. If the fault is only mentioned in one or two of the first two samples, as no repairs were made between the samples, it is assumed that the variation comes from an erroneous observation, and the answer occurring twice is applied to the three samples. The last variations concern the questions dealing with the presence of stagnant water at different points of the design. The questions are: 4: “Is the drainage faulty allowing stagnant water within two metres of the well?”; 8: “Does spilt water collect in the apron area?” and 10: “Is there stagnant water on the wellhead cover?”. These variations occur on 14 pumps. These variations lead to some questions. How to interpret what is actually seen? Should a sanitary inspection point out the actual presence of water at the time of sampling or the possible presence of water at a moment before the sampling ? The water seen at the time of sampling might have no influence on the quality of the sample. Reversely the quality of the sample might have been affected by some infiltrated water which was not visible at the time of sampling. Those questions arose during the fieldwork and the attitude of the author varied over time. The answer to the questions for the first set of samples were straight forward: the actual presence of water lead to a ‘yes’ answer and its absence to a ‘no’ answer. After noticing that water around the pump at Afania (Katiu, Kasena Nankana district) had disappeared but that traces of its former presence were still obvious, it was also assigned a ‘yes’ answer to the question 4 each time that there were obvious traces of former presence of stagnant water. In order to force attention on what was actually seen, each sanitary inspection was conducted without the assistance of the ones conducted previously on the same well. This led to some negative answers to the question 4, where no obvious trace of former presence of water was seen.

81

Considering that the sanitary inspection deals with risks, each well where a faulty drainage had been noticed at least once, receives a corrected ‘yes’ answer to question 4 for the three samples. The ‘yes’ answers to question 8 sometimes notice the presence of small amounts of water that might have evaporated before seeping through cracks in the apron to the well. Thus small pools might not be a risk for the supply, but it is difficult to know precisely which quantity starts to be a risk. Concerning question 10, even small pools might be of great risk because they are located just above the water. The action of the pump might suck down some water along the side of the rising main pipe of the Nira pump. The wells equipped with a rope pump are less at risk as the pipes are sealed into the concrete cover. However, as for question 4, as the sanitary inspections deal mainly with risks it was decided to correct the answers to questions 8 and 10. Each well, for which at least one inspection answers ‘yes’ to these questions, will receive ‘yes’ answers to questions 8 and 10 for the three samples. The results of the sanitary inspections before and after the correction are presented in tables 6.6 and 6.7.

82

Table 6-6: Results of the sanitary inspections before the corrections Community Atiabisi Aguridone Azimsun Aniabisi A. Asaka Baandaborg Natinga Gandare Adunia Muslim Sokabisi Atoobisi A. Asapombisi Pel. Nairi Gundago Lanaga Asason Afania P. Talua P. Aduntra

District Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. B.W. B.W KNK KNK Bolga Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. B.W B.W KNK KNK KNK KNK

Type Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira

Yes No variations

Table 6-7: Results of the sanitary inspections after the corrections Community Atiabisi Aguridone Azimsun Aniabisi A. Asaka Baandaborg Natinga Gandare Adunia Muslim Sokabisi Atoobisi A. Asapombisi Pel. Nairi Gundago Lanaga Asason Afania P. Talua P. Aduntra

District Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. B.W. B.W KNK KNK Bolga Bolga. Bolga. Bolga. B.W B.W KNK KNK KNK KNK

Type Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Rope Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira Nira

Yes No variations

83

A sanitary inspection is an obvious tool for monitoring a water supply and evaluating the risk threatening it. It helps in following the evolution, improvement or deterioration, of a source of water and might give answers to the likely causes of a measured contamination. But its link to a particular sample are not very clear. 6.2.2 Scores and answers The scores of the sanitary inspections vary from 7 to 11 on 14. The sanitary risk scores of the present study seem to be poorly related with the presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts. Some questions always have the same answer whatever the type of pump. This is mainly due to the fact that all the wells have been constructed and protected by Rural Aid. For example there is never a latrine within 10 metres of the well (question 1) and the apron is never less than 1 metre in radius around the well (question 6), thus leading to ‘no’ answers for all the pumps. A relative cultural and agricultural homogeneity also leads to identical answers for all the wells. The communities always grow crops within ten metres of the wells (question 3) and never use a fence to protect the wells (question 7). Some questions differ from one well to another. Among them some were of particular interest. These questions were analysed in relation to the thermotolerant coliform counts. The results are presented in the following table 6.8. The presence or the absence of a latrine uphill of the well (question 2) does not seem to have any influence on the contamination of the water. It is worth mentioning that the latrines were, for the most of them, described as very recent and not all were used regularly. Table 6-8: Mean thermotolerant coliform counts in cfu/100 ml for some answers of the sanitary inspections. Yes

No

Q2: Is there a latrine uphill of the well ?

2739

2746

Q4: Is the drainage faulty allowing stagnant water within 2

2136

3486

Q12: Is the hatch not or badly sealed?

3059

2647

Q13(Rope): Are the two pipes not or badly sealed in the

3539

1922

3631

2360

metres of the well?

concrete cover? Q14(Nira): Are the two base gaskets damaged or badly placed?

84

The proper seal of the hatch (question 12) and of the two pipes (question rope 13) and the presence of correctly placed gaskets (Question Nira 14) seem to have a certain influence. Even though the means are still high regardless of the answer, the ‘yes’ answer gives higher counts than the ‘no’ answer. On the contrary, the question of the drainage gives paradoxical results, where good drainage favours the contamination of the well. This question as discussed, in section 6.2.1, was of particular concern during the study. The corrections operated, even though they are logical, seem to be inappropriate. 6.3 WATER ANALYSIS The purpose of the water analysis was to establish what were the respective influences of the Ghanaian rope pump and the Nira pump on microbiological water quality. Three samples were analysed for each well. 6.3.1 physical parameters 6.3.1.1 temperature The temperatures of the water of all the wells were varying from 30 ˜'™"š.›(›˜œŸž ^¡j¢£ ¡Ž¤ The mean temperature of the water from the Nira pump was 30.8 ˜ œHž ¡¢£I¡¦¥!§I¢ 7žH™7§Nž temperature of the water from the rope pump was 31.5 ˜ œŸžg ¡¢£¡0¤ This might happen because the rope pumps allows more air to flow inside the well causing greater temperature exchange. The distribution of the temperature per pump is shown in figure 6.3.

85

Figure 6-3: Temperature of water from Rope and Nira pump. 18 16

frequencies

14 12 10

nira rope

8 6 4 2 0

30

31

32

33

temperature

6.3.1.2 turbidity The turbidity varies from less than 5 to 100 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Unit). There is an important variation between the districts as shown in figure 6.4. The district of Bolgatanga has a mean turbidity of less than 5 NTU (2.17) with a maximum value of 20 NTU and a minimum of less than 5. The district of Kasena-Nankana, in the west of the region, has a mean turbidity of 19.45 NTU, with a maximum value of 50 NTU and a minimum of less than 5. The district of Bawku west has a mean turbidity of 70.83 NTU with a maximum value of 100 NTU and a minimum value of 5 NTU. The turbidity varies also between the two types of pumps. The mean turbidity for the Nira is 29 NTU with a median value of 15 NTU whereas the mean turbidity for the rope pump is 13.17 NTU with a median value of less than 5 NTU. This difference occurs for each district. One of the explanations for these differences between the two types of pumps is that the Nira causes more movement in the water of the well than the rope, thus increasing the turbidity of the water by the pump stirring up the particles settled at the bottom of the well. The continuous movement of the rope is less likely to perturb the particles in the well. 86

Figure 6-4: Mean turbidity by pump and by district 100 90

Mean Turbidity

80 70 60

nira rope

50 40 30 20 10 0

Bolgatanga

Kasena-Nankana

Bawku west

Districts

6.3.1.3 pH The pH is lower in Bawku west district, varying from 6.2 to 6.6, than in the two other districts. In Bolgatanga district the pH varies from 6.6 to 7 and in Kasena-Nankana district from 6.4 to 7. This is likely to be linked to the nature of the different soils in the three districts. 6.3.1.4 Colour The colour of the water was mainly “clear” in Bolgatanga district with 26 observations out of 30. The colour of the water was mainly “yellow” in Kasena -Nankana district recorded in 13 observations out of 18. Finally the colour of the water in Bawku west varied between white and yellow, respectively 6 and 5 observations out of 12. These results are shown in table 6.9. These differences are most likely related to differences in the nature of the soils, described in section 6.1.1 for the three districts.

87

Table 6-9: Variations in water colour by district colour

Districts

Clear

White

Yellow

Green

Bolgatanga

26

1

2

1

Kasena-Nankana

4

1

13

6

5

8

20

Bawku west Total

30

Brown

Total 30 18

1

1

12

1

60

6.3.2 presumptive counts of thermotolerant coliforms The data were entered in Excel and SPSS. The data were then analysed by covariance using the thermotolerant coliform counts as the dependent variable. The independent variables considered were: type of pump, location (district, zone), physical parameters of the water (temperature, pH, colour, turbidity), depth of the wells, time period since the last rain, age of the pumps, time period since the last cleaning of the well and number of users. The thermotolerant coliform counts vary from 0 cfu/100ml to numbers that were too numerous to count (TNTC). These were given the default value of 15 000 cfu/100ml chosen because it was above the highest count directly recorded. The presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts are presented in the table 6.9. 6.3.2.1 Blank Bottles contamination Some results of the filtration of the blank bottles used to control transport condition indicated the presence of thermotolerant coliform. The samples related to those contaminated blanks are Afania 1, Asason 1, Yitonia Aduntra 1, Yitonia Piose 1, Adunia 1 and Muslim 1. The results of the blank bottle for this set of samples is Too Numerous To Count (TNTC). This set of samples might have to be discarded as the results were obtained using only 1ml of the sample and would have been TNTC if 100ml were filtered as for the blank bottle. But this contamination might also have occurred, as suggested by Ince (2004), because of a contaminated Petri dish or while pouring the water into the filtration unit, if the outside of the blank bottle was contaminated. The second set of samples concerned is Aniabisi 2, Asulgum Asaka 2, Pelungu Nairi 2, and Baandaborg 2. The blank bottle plate shows 36 colonies. The last set of samples concerned Aniabisi 3, Asulgum Asaka 3, Pelungu Nairi 3, and Baandaborg 3. It was during this last sampling that the cool box fell from the motorbike as related in box 5.1. The blank bottle filtration showed one colony. 88

In these two last sets of samples there are some blank results: Aniabisi 2 and Baandaborg 3. There is a chance that contamination occurs during the filtration, while pouring the water from the blank bottle to the filtration unit rather than a problem concerning all the samples of the set. Therefore these results can be used. These corrections however do not change the general trend of the present set of data. With or without the discarded samples, there is no significant correlation between the presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts and the independent variables. It has been decided to discard the six first samples mentioned above to conduct further statistical analysis shown in the following chapter (section 7.2). 6.3.2.2 Presentation of the results As shown in table 6.10, the mean thermotolerant coliform count is higher for the Nira pumps than for the rope pumps. Furthermore the standard deviations are higher for the Nira pumps than for the rope pumps, which might indicate that the Nira pumps are more prone to contamination than the Rope pumps. The distribution of the two sets of data seems to be non-normal as presented in figure 6.5 and 6.6. Non normal distributions are often encountered in water data analysis (Helsel and Hirsch 1992:118). Further tests for normality are presented in the following chapter (section 7.2). In order to test the actual differences between the two sets of data it was decided to conduct a Wilcoxon’s rank -sum test, and as a first step the distributions of log median value of the thermotolerant coliform counts for the Nira Pumps and for the Rope pumps had to be tested for normality using the Probability Plots Correlation Coefficient test.

89

Table 6-10: Thermotolerant coliform counts means in cfu/100 ml and standard deviation by community and by type of pump Mean by type community wells

of

district

sample

sample

sample

1

2

3

pump

mean

st. dev.

mean by

type of

type of

pump

pump

(without ‘discarded’)

Asapombisi

Nira

Bolga

100

200

0

100

100

Atoobisi Asogrobisi

Nira

Bolga

15000

0

10

5337

9235

Pelungu Nairi

Nira

Bolga

570

985

15000

5852

8791

Sokabisi

Nira

Bolga

3600

1200

0

1600

1833

Afania

Nira

K.N.

8300

2450

395

3715

4102

Asason

Nira

K.N.

14200

0

0

4733

8198

Yitonia Aduntra

Nira

K.N.

1100

4750

120

1990

2440

Yitonia Piose

Nira

K.N.

3900

4400

570

2957

2082

Gundago

Nira

B.W.

1200

200

60

487

622

Lanaga

Nira

B.W.

11000

1750

455

4402

5751

Aguridone

Rope

Bolga

15000

100

245

5448

9138

Aniabisi

Rope

Bolga

585

0

1025

537

514

Asulgum Asaka

Rope

Bolga

1100

405

490

665

379

Atiabisi Yikene

Rope

Bolga

15000

0

20

5340

9232

Azinsum

Rope

Bolga

82

120

70

91

26

Baandaborg

Rope

Bolga

475

985

0

487

493

Adunia

Rope

K.N.

800

1150

110

687

529

Muslim

Rope

K.N.

15000

14350

605

10318

8452

Gandare

Rope

B.W.

2250

0

1680

1310

1170

Natinga

Rope

B.W.

400

0

155

185

202

3117

2474

2507

2015

Blank bottle contaminated (TNTC) Blank bottle contaminated (36 and 1)

90

Figure 6-5: Presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts distribution for Nira AF85

number of samples

14

12

10

8

Nira AF85 6

4

2

050 0 50 110 00 10 01 -1 50 0 15 01 -2 00 0 20 01 -2 50 0 25 01 -3 00 0 30 01 -3 50 0 35 01 -4 00 0 40 01 -4 50 0 45 01 -5 00 0 50 01 -5 50 55 0 01 -1 50 00

0

counts in cfu/100ml

Figure 6-6: Presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts distribution for Rope pumps

number of samples

18 16 14 12 10

rope pump

8 6 4 2 0

0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 50 50 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 10 01 1 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 50 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55

counts in cfu/100 ml

91

7

ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS The Nira AF85 pump and the rope pump have been compared following several

parameters. This comparison makes sense because the selected pumps are located in a relatively small and homogeneous region, the Upper East Region, Ghana. The pump were fitted on wells built by Rural Aid technicians always following the same design and the social and institutional environments were also identical. The results presented in the preceeding chapter will be analysed further in this section. 7.1 SANITARY INSPECTIONS The sanitary inspections conducted for each sample led to three results for every pump. The results for the same pump vary frequently. These differences are partly due to the climatic conditions. Some sanitary inspections have been conducted either while raining or sometimes, after rain, leading thus to the presence of water around the well and to higher sanitary scores. Others were conducted after all the rain water had been evaporated or infiltrated, giving lower scores to the inspections. Corrections, presented in section 6.2, have been made but their results are not satisfactory. Two remarks can be made. Firstly, it requires some experience to conduct sanitary inspections properly. It is not straightforward, for example, to determine what size of crack in the apron is likely to allow water to get back into the well. Though it is a useful monitoring tool, its proper use by people from the community or caretakers dealing with only one, or a few pumps, is not certain. There is a risk of ‘false positives’ leading to unnecessary repairs and expenses, and of ‘false negatives’ threatening the quality of the supply. Secondly, there is also some concern on the interpretation of what is seen and how to relate the answer and the score of a sanitary inspection to the results of a sample. The main difficulty which has been encountered has to do with the stagnant water around the well. Should a ‘yes’ answer note the actual or the likely presence of stagnant water even after infiltration and evaporation? In the first case, the stagnant water seen might not have contaminated the well: the score will be high and the presumptive count might be low. In the second case, the score will be lower but the presumptive count might be higher.

92

The sanitary inspections were thus limited in their relevance and their results are of little use in the scope of the present study. 7.2 WATER ANALYSIS The main element of comparison used in the present study is the presumptive thermotolerant coliform count. It aims to establish the respective impacts of the two types of pumps on the microbiological water quality. The results presented in section 6.3.2 seem to indicate that surprisingly the Nira pumps have a worse impact on the water quality than the rope pumps, as the mean count of thermotolerant coliform and the standard deviation are higher for the Nira AF85 than for the Rope pumps. The difference observed on the sample analysed in the present study might however not be true for the entire population of Nira and rope pumps in Upper East Region. To confirm the trend showed by the first analysis of the results, it has been decided to conduct a statistical test to compare the two populations of pumps using the results of the samples. To decide on which test to use, it is first necessary to characterise the distribution of the data (Helsel and Hirsch 1992). In order to statistically compare the two types of pump the log median value of the counts was used as an outcome measure for each pump as currently applied in the water resources field (Howard et al 2003b), (Gorter et al 1995), (Helsel and Hirsch 1992). The distribution of the log median values for each type of pump, computed with the exclusion of the 6 discarded values (cf. section 6.3.2), was tested for normality using the probability plot correlation coefficient (PPCC) test. The test was conducted as outline in Helsel and Hirsch (1992:113). The null hypothesis H0 being that the data are normally distributed, the rejection of H0 signifying that it is doubtful. The probability plots are shown in figures 7-2 and 7-3. For the log median of the Nira pumps, the test shows that the distribution is non normal at the 0.5% significance level (r = 0.811, p0.25) (Shier 2004).

93

Figure 7-1: Probability plot for the rope pump log median counts

medians of the counts' natural log

12.00

8.00

4.00

0.00 -2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

1.5

2

normal quantiles

Figure 7-2: Probability plot for the Nira AF85 log median counts

medians of the counts' natural log

12.00

8.00

4.00

0.00 -2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

-4.00

-8.00

normal quantiles As one set of data is not distributed following a normal distribution, the comparison between the two sets of data was conducted using a non-parametric test, the Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test because of its strength in comparison (Helsel and Hirsch 1992:118); the null hypothesis being “The presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts for the rope pumps and for the Nira pumps are similar” and the alternate hypothesis being “the presumptive

94

thermotolerant coliform counts for the rope pump and for the Nira pump are significantly different.”. The test was conducted using the median of the log coliform counts as outcome measure for each individual pump. The values of the two sets of data are ranked from 1 to 20 independently of the set they belong to. As outlined in Armitage and Berry (1987:412), T1 is the sum of the ranks of the log medians of the rope pumps. T2 is the sum of the ranks of the log medians for the Nira pumps. The smallest value that T1 can take for two sets of 10 data, when all the ranks of T1 are smaller than the ones of T2, is: T1 =

1 n1 (n1 + 1) = 55 2

Where n1 = 10 the number of values in the rope pumps set of data. The highest value of T1, when all the ranks of T1 are greater than the ones of T2 is: 1 T1 = n1n2 + n1 (n1 + 1) = 155 2 Where n1 = n2 = 10 the number of value in each set of data. The null expectation of T1, when there is no differences between the two set of data, is: T1 =

1 n1 (n1 + n2 + 1) =105 2

In the present case T1 = 99. The test calculate the probability of observing a value of T1 = 99 or more extreme given that the expected p-value under the null hypothesis is p = 0.05. For the null hypothesis to be accepted the result of the test should give a p-value higher than p = 0.05 (Shier 2004). In the present case, the p-value given by the test was p = 0.65; indicating that there was no evidence for a difference between the pumps. The final result of the statistical analysis is that there is no difference between the two types of pumps in term of microbiological water quality. The comparison needs therefore to include other parameters.

95

7.3 OVERALL COMPARISON The Ghanaian rope pumps installed in Upper East Region, Ghana by Rural Aid, have, in the worst case scenario, the same impact on the water quality as the Nira AF85 installed by the same NGO in the same Region. Some comparison tools between the two sets of data, as shown in table 6.10 based on overall mean values by pump, even seem to indicate that the Nira AF85 have a greater negative impact on water quality than the rope pumps. Further statistical analysis showed that the two types of pumps do not differ in terms of impact on the microbiological quality. It is possible to conduct a ranking comparison between the two types of pumps including several parameters of importance discussed in the present study. The ranks are computed as follow : Rank1 is the rank given to the type of pump with the best value for a given parameter. Rank 1 = 1 Rank2 is the rank given to the type of pump with the worst value for the same parameter. rank 2 = 1 +

X −Y Z

Where: X = the value of the parameter for the rope pumps Y = the value of the same parameter for the Nira AF85 Z = the highest value of the two The ranks are then summed and the results for the two types of pump can be compared on this basis. The values given for each parameter are presented and discussed in other parts of the present study and are based on a roughly equal number of users for the two types of pumps. The following parameters are included in the comparison:

¨

Impact on microbiological water quality

¨

Impact on turbidity

¨

Capital costs

¨

Maintenance costs

¨

¨

Flow rate Maximum pumping head

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Table 7.1 presents the results of this ranking comparison. There are two columns for each type of pump, the column on the left gives the value of the parameter for the type of pump, the column on the right gives the rank attributed to it for this parameter. The rows are filled with the different parameters and indicate where the information can be found in the present study. Table 7-1: Ranking comparison between Nira AF85 and rope pumps Ghanaian rope pump

Nira pump AF85

Parameters of the comparison

Data

Rank

Data

Impact on microbiological

Mean

1

Mean

water quality

presumptive

presumptive

Section 6.3.2 and 7.2

thermotolerant

thermotolerant

Similarity of the two types of

coliform count =

coliform count

pumps (Wilcoxon’s rank -sum

2015 cfu/100ml

2474 cfu/100ml

Rank

1.2

test) Impact on turbidity

Mean turbidity =

Section 6.3.1.2

13 NTU

Capital costs

Around 150 US$

1

Around 700 US$

1.8

Maintenance costs

Around 5

1

Around 89

1.9

Section 4.2.3.2 and 6.1.2.3

US$/year

Flow rate

Up to 41

Section 4.2.3.2

litres/min for a 10

litres/min for a

metres head

10 metres head

1

Mean turbidity =

1.5

29 NTU

Section 4.2.3.2 and 6.1.2.3

Maximum pumping head of

40 metres

US$/year 1

1

Up to 28

12 metres

1.3

1.7

the standard model Section 4.2.3.2 Totals

6

9.4

The present ranking comparison gives a score of 6 to the Ghanaian rope pump against a score of 9.4 for the Nira AF85. The rope pump is performing better for each parameter included in this ranking comparison. These results should be corroborated with further data collection. A longer term comparison would give a better idea of the actual sustainability

97

of the rope pump. But so far the information gathered seems to indicate that the rope pump fulfils the criteria of sustainability better than the Nira pump. The analysis of the results shows that there is no significant difference between the two types of pumps in terms of their impact on microbiological water quality. The comparison has to be done on other parameters to decide which pump to implement. The comparison of the other parameters shows that the rope pump outperforms the Nira AF85 in all of them. Therefore, as far as standardization is concerned it seems appropriate to standardise a locally made handpump which is 4 times cheaper to buy, 20 times cheaper to maintain, gives twice the flow rate and has a pumping head 4 times higher than an already standardized handpump.

98

8

CONCLUSION The present study conducted a comparison between the Ghanaian rope pump and the

Nira AF85, chosen because of its paired presence with the rope pump in Upper East Region, Ghana. The comparison included several parameters but focused mainly on their respective impacts on microbiological water quality. 8.1 AIM AND OBJECTIVES One of the aims and objectives of the present study was to assess whether the rope pump has a greater negative impact on water quality than other handpumps. Within the scope of the present study this objective has been fulfilled: the results indicate that among the pumps selected, the Ghanaian rope pumps have no more negative impacts on water quality than the Nira AF85. The other aim was to conduct a broader comparison including issues related to sustainability. The results obtained through interviews of the communities and sanitary inspections are interesting but their relevance for the comparison is limited as the rope pumps are newer than the Nira in the area of study. 8.2 LITERATURE REVIEW The literature review showed that few studies have been conducted about handpumps and microbiological water quality, thus leaving a gap where the present study finds its place. One study worth mentioning is the study conducted by Gorter et al (1995) comparing the microbiological water quality between open hand dug wells, hand dug wells with windlass and hand dug wells fitted with a rope pump. The other findings of the literature review helped to decide which faecal indicator to choose to conduct the microbiological water quality comparison. Thermotolerant coliforms were selected, as an acceptable alternative to Escherichia coli, which is still the more widely used bacteriological indicator. The literature review provided information on how and why to conduct sanitary inspections and their importance in the characterisation and evaluation of a water supply scheme. 99

Finally, the literature review gave the background information concerning the pumps and the area of study. 8.3 AREA OF STUDY The area of study has been selected because the two types of pumps are found in Upper East Region, Ghana. The area is relatively homogeneous in terms of geology, population, cultural and agricultural habits, even though some differences can be found in the soil profiles and the tribes and languages. Furthermore, all the wells selected for the present study have been designed and built by Rural Aid’s staff, and were all supposed to receive Nira AF85. The selection of the Ghanaian rope pump to replace the Nira was made by the NGO mainly on financial grounds. The region, characterised by a semi arid climate with one rainy season and a savannah vegetation, is relatively densely populated. Some areas had endemic guinea worm problems and therefore, ground water is the preferred option for the rural areas in all the districts. The choice of a sustainable handpump is thus of particular importance. The present study tried to evaluate a cheap technology which could be an interesting option for water supply in the area. 8.4 FIELD WORK METHODOLOGY In order to estimate the value of the Ghanaian rope pump as a reliable water lifting device the collection of data conducted in the present study is of importance. The interviews with the communities gave useful information concerning the soil profile, the acceptance of the pump and the uses of water. The sanitary inspections were an valuable exercise but showed limitations. Their use in the present study, however raised interesting questions about their ease of use, their significance and therefore the relevance of their use at a community level. The strategy adopted by the author in his answering might have led to many false positives. The scores do not differ significantly from one type of pump to another, which is mainly due to an homogeneity in the design of the wells and in the agricultural habits of the population. The sanitary inspections accompany water quality analysis. Different physical parameters: temperature, pH, turbidity, colour were measured on site for each sample. The 100

samples taken at the outlet of the pumps were then chilled and transported in an ice box to an improvised field laboratory in an hotel room where they were analysed following the membrane filtration technique conducted with the material of an Oxfam-Delagua kit.

8.5 FINDINGS FROM DATA ANALYSIS For all the pumps except one, Pelungu Nairi, the communities themselves dug the wells and were able to give some indication about the soil profiles, which were found to be consistent with some more scientifically conducted observations obtained from Nassir Adugbire hydrogeologist working with Rural Aid. The communities were generally satisfied with the pump fitted on their well whatever the type of pump. Some complaints arose about the shortage of water during the dry season and at least one community was gathering money to drill a borehole which would be more reliable than a hand dug well. But in Katiu, Kasena-Nankana district, the communities were able to compare their pumps, Nira and Rope, with the Afridev fitted on a borehole in the market place. This pump is reported to have three or four breakdowns a year and is perceived, by the communities of the zone, to be less reliable than the two types of pumps selected for the present study. The major finding of the sanitary inspections is that their use is not straight forward. Two main difficulties were encountered. The first one was concerning the evaluation of the state of a well. Answers to questions such as: What size of cracks should be considered at risk? What amount of water on the well head cover should be considered to be a risk? will always be estimated ones and depend partly on the subjectivity and experience of the person conducting the inspection. The other difficulty related to this one was in answering questions concerning drainage, as the actual presence of stagnant water might not be related to the level of contamination registered at that time. Conversely water might have contaminated the supply but no trace of it is visible at the time of inspection. It is therefore difficult to accurately relate a sanitary inspection with the results of the microbiological water analysis for the same sample.

101

Finally, the results of the analysis of the water gave several interesting findings. Firstly, the turbidity of the water from the rope pumps is lower than the turbidity of the water from the Nira pumps. This is most certainly due to the respective movement of the pumps. The Nira works with a piston moving up and down and ‘sucking’ the water creating turbulence thereby stirring up the matter at the bottom of the well. The rope pump functions mostly on a continuous flow which tends to stir up less particles. But the most important finding of the present study is that there is not much difference between the two types of pumps in terms of the impact on the microbiological water quality. The results of the analysis show that the mean presumptive thermotolerant coliform counts of the rope pumps are lower than the ones of the Nira pumps. However, further statistical analysis showed that the means of the two populations of pumps are most certainly similar. Therefore the comparison between the two types of pumps must take place following other parameters. 8.6 FINAL CONCLUSION As presented at the end of the preceeding chapter, an overall comparison between the two types of pump is significantly favouring the rope pumps. This technology is cheaper than the Nira AF85 in capital cost and also in maintenance costs. The pumping head is dramatically higher for the rope pump than for the Nira along with the flow rate. These financial and technical advantages are hence coupled with the fact that the rope pumps are manufactured locally. Therefore, thinking in terms of standardization, economical reliability, benefit for the users and sustainability, the rope pump should be actively promoted and, as a first step towards its broader dissemination, accepted as a standardised pump by the Ghanaian government.

102

8.7 RECOMMENDATIONS 8.7.1 Further study The present study has the merit of comparison of two types of pumps in term of their respective influence on microbiological water quality, which has seldom been done but its scope and the time allotted were limited. Further study should be conducted following different directions. The allotted time did not allow the inclusion of open hand dug wells which could have served as a control group. Secondly the time allotted for the research should be extended. Ideally several years of sampling and analysis would give more reliable information, notably concerning sustainability. At least as a first step a study over a 12 months period with monthly sampling on a selection of hand dug wells, rope pumps and Nira pumps could be conducted. Other information of importance to be integrated in a broader study would be the amount of rainfall in each zone selected within the scope of the study. The study should also collect precise data on the soil profiles and the water levels. The uses of water could be compared in communities before and after the installation of a pump to look for an increase in consumption and for an evolution of hygiene practice in parallel to the increasing availability of water. Furthermore, organisational and institutional levels should be more thoroughly investigated. Of interest would be the actual functioning of the water and sanitation committees and the maintenance network. The sanitary inspections could be improved and tested further, notably regarding their use as a monitoring tool that can be used by the communities for the maintenance of their water supplies. 8.7.2 Other recommendations The rope pumps are new in Upper East Region, and the maintenance network is not optimally organised. Rural Aid should integrate in its priorities the training of people at the

103

community level, in conjunction with Jenamise enterprise, for the maintenance of the rope pumps as has been done for the Nira pumps. The actual system relies only on the workers of Jenamise enterprise, even though the communities conduct the basic maintenance consisting of oiling the handle of the pump. The maintenance system should be thought of and organised at the lowest appropriate level. The rope pump only needs basic technical skills for repair and in an area like Upper East Region where the bicycle is a common mode of transport and technology, area mechanics could easily handle any kind of repairs on the rope pumps. At the manufacture level, the standardization could help the setting of quality control. Of particular importance, the guide box should always be cleared of splatters of waste concrete around the bottle as they will decrease the life span of the rope by wearing it away. Finally for the moment only one borehole in Bolgatanga, located at the police station, is fitted with a rope pump. Within the scope of promoting the rope pump, the fitting of more boreholes to demonstrate its efficiency and reliability at greater depths could be an important step towards its acceptance by the Ghanaian government as a standardized pump. It is hoped that this research will contribute to and help the change in water pumping technology.

104

9

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RCPHE (2004) Oxfam – Delagua: Portable water testing kit, Robens Centre for Public and Environmental Health, University of Surrey, UK Reynolds, J. (1992) Handpumps: Toward a Sustainable Technology – Research and Development During the Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. UNDP-World Bank, Water and Sanitation Program, Washington DC, USA. Roy, S. (1984) A One-Tier system: the Tilonia approach to Handpump maintenance, Waterlines, vol. 2, nº 3, pp. 13-16 Rural Aid (2004) (Upper east region based, Non Governmental Organisation) unpublished documents. Sandiford, P., Alberts, H., Orozco, JG and Gorter, A. (1993) The Nicaraguan rope pump. Waterlines, 11(3) :27-30 Saint John Baptist (2004) (Ivorian musician of reggae living in Bolgatanga) personal communication. Shier, R. (2004) (Statistician lecturer at Loughborough University) personal communication Skinner, B., (1996) Handpump Standardisation, in Reaching the unreached: challenges for the 21st century, proceedings of the 22nd WEDC conference, New Delhi, India, pp.208-211. Skinner, B. (2003) Handpumps in Water for low-income communities, unpublished lecture notes, Unpublished lecture notes, WEDC: Loughborough University, UK. Smith, A. H., Lingas, O.E. and Rahman, M. (2000) Contamination of drinking water by arsenic in Bangladesh: a public health emergency. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation 2000, 78(9)

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Sobsey, M. D. and Pfaender F. K. (2002) Evaluation of the H2S Method for Detection of Faecal Contamination of Drinking Water. World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland. Sugden, S. (2001) Assessing sustainability – The sustainability Snap Shot, in People and Systems for water, sanitation and health, proceedings of the 27th WEDC conference, Lusaka, Zambia, pp. 440-443. UNDSD (2004) Freshwater country profile – Ghana. United Nation Division for sustainable development website (30 August 2004) http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/ghana/waterghana04f.pdf UNU (2004) Map of the Upper East Region, Ghana, United Nation University website (14 September 2004) http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80964e/80964E0C.GIF Van Edig, A., Engel, S. and Laube, W. (2002) Ghana’s Water Institutions in the proc ess of reform: from the international to the local level, in Neuber, S., Scheumann, W., Van Edig, A. (eds.) (2002) Reforming institutions for sustainable water management, German Development Institute, reports and working papers 6/2002, Bonn, Germany. Van Hermet, R., Orozco, O. S., Haemhouts, J., Galiz O. A. (1992) The rope pump, The challenge of a popular technology, DAR-Region V, Juigalpa, Nicaragua. Wateraid (2004) Wateraid Ghana web page (30 August 2004) http://www.wateraid.org.uk/in_depth/country_programmes/ghana/about_us/archive/1514.a sp WELL (1998) DFID guidance manual on water supply and sanitation programmes, WELL, WEDC, Loughborough University, UK WHO (1996) Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality, Second Edition, Volume 2 : Health criteria and other supporting information. World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland.

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WHO (1997) Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality, Second Edition, Volume 3 : Surveillance and Control of Community Supplies. World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland. WSP (2001) The rope pump: Private Sector Technology Transfer From Nicaragua to Ghana – Developing Private Sector Supply Chains to Deliver Rural Water Technology, Water and Sanitation Program, Washington DC, USA.

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APPENDIX 1: SANITARY INSPECTION FORMS

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Rope pumps

1.

Is there a latrine within 10m of the well?

Y/N

2.

Is the nearest latrine uphill of the well?

Y/N

3. Is there any other source of pollution within 10m of the well? (e.g. animal breeding, cultivation, roads, industry, grave, dumping site)

Y/N

4.

Is the drainage faulty allowing stagnant water within 2m of the well?

Y/N

5.

Is the drainage channel cracked, broken, or need cleaning?

Y/N

6.

Is the apron less than 1m in radius around the top of the well?

Y/N

7.

Is the fence missing or faulty?

Y/N

8.

Does spilt water collect in the apron area?

Y/N

9.

Are there cracks in the apron?

Y/N

10. Is there stagnant water on the wellhead cover?

Y/N

11. Are there cracks in the wellhead cover?

Y/N

12. Is the hatch not, or badly, sealed?

Y/N

13. Are the two pipes not or badly sealed in the concrete cover?

Y/N

14. Is there water going back into the well through the down pipe?

Y/N 115

Nira pumps

1.

Is there a latrine within 10m of the well?

Y/N

2.

Is the nearest latrine uphill of the well?

Y/N

3. Is there any other source of pollution within 10m of the well? (e.g. animal breeding, cultivation, roads, industry, grave, dumping site)

Y/N

4.

Is the drainage faulty allowing stagnant water within 2m of the well?

Y/N

5.

Is the drainage channel cracked, broken, or need cleaning?

Y/N

6.

Is the apron less than 1m in radius around the top of the well?

Y/N

7.

Is the fence missing or faulty?

Y/N

8.

Does spilt water collect in the apron area?

Y/N

9.

Are there cracks in the apron?

Y/N

10. Is there stagnant water on the wellhead cover?

Y/N

11. Are there cracks in the wellhead cover?

Y/N

12. Is the hatch not, or badly sealed?

Y/N

13. Is the seal of the shaft loose?

Y/N

14. Are the two base gaskets damaged or badly placed?

Y/N

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APPENDIX 2: WELL IDENTITY AND INTERVIEW FORMS

117

Type of pump Rural aid number of the pump Community Tribe Language Date of construction of the apron Date of installation of the pump Constructor

RURAL AID (NORTHERN) GHANA

Visits 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Depth of the well Lined Depth of the water table Flow rate Water and sanitation committee main members Chairman Vice chairman Organiser Treasurer Secretary Observation/remarks

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The well Who dig the well?

Is the well chlorinated?

When was the well last cleaned or maintained?

Did the well collapsed?

Is the well lined from bottom to top?

What are the different layers of soil inside the well? Geological profile of the well?

Who build the cover? RURAL AID (NORTHERN) GHANA

119

The pump Who install the pump? RURAL AID (NORTHERN) GHANA drivers

How often the pump needs repairs?

When was the last repair of the pump?

What are the repairs occurring on the pump?

Is there a stock of spare parts?

How long does it take to repair the pump?

Who is repairing the pump?

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Cost and users How many people use the pump?

How many litres do people collect? How many bucket or jerrican?

What is the flow at the outlet?

When do the people fetch water?

How many times a day people fetch water?

How many people (approximate) already fetch water before the sample is taken?

Who fetch the water?

Are the people satisfied with the pump?

How much did the pump cost? In total? To the users?

What are the operation and maintenance costs?

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APPENDIX 3: SAMPLE INFORMATION FORM

122

Well identity

Type of pump District name Community name Source name Rural aid number of the pump Name of sampler

Sample

Date of sampling

Time of sampling

specification

Date of the last rain before sampling

Sample number

Sanitary risk score

Time of incubation

Time of filtration

Measured characteristics

Period of incubation

Colour

Temperature

Turbidity

pH

Free chlorine residual

Depth of the well

Presumptive number of

Depth of the water

thermotolerant coliform (per 100ml) Remarks/observations

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APPENDIX 4: THE GHANAIAN ROPE PUMP, SOME MANUFACTURING DETAILS

124

Figure 3: The wheel is made partly from old tyres Source: Chege (2004)

Figure 4: Guide box details Source: Chege (2004)

125

Figure 5: Complete guide box Source: Chege (2004)

Figure 6: Support of the wheel details Source: Chege (2004)

126

Figure 7: Moulds and moulded washers Source: Chege (2004)

Figure 8: washers on rope Source: Chege (2004)

127

Figure 9: Isaac Chege (on the motorbike) and two workers from Jenamise Enterprise ready for an installation Source: Chege (2004)

128

APPENDIX 5: NIRA AF85 AND ROPE PUMP FITTED ON HAND DUG WELLS

129

Figure 10: Child using the rope pump in Aniabisi, Bolgatanga district Source: Author

Figure 11: woman using a Nira AF85 in Asason. Kasena-Nankana district Source: Author

130