WORLD GEOLOGISTS: Providing Water Supply to needy areas around the World
Project location: El Salvador, Honduras, Mali, Salvador
Project start date: February 2002 -
Project end date: This project covers various years
Project number: 2001-06
Beneficiary: Geologos del Mundo
Mali
Project Description
Public water supply using underground water for the Communities of Madalaya and adjacent villages (North West of Mali) - Africa
The project funded by the Nando Peretti Foundation included the following goals:
1 - Establish the detailed hydro geological context of the Madalaya region with recommendations which will be used for future works in the area or similar projects in other areas.
2 - Ensure the fresh water supply to the population of Madalaya and the surrounding villages: Tifé, Bougountinti, Mansadji, Diafan, Yahinane, Tamratinti, Bdiandiana, Gao and Diba.
3 - Establish a sanitary perimeter around each exploited borehole.
4 - Instruct local people to maintain the borehole pump and distribution system to get the best advantage of fresh water availability. ADVM will contribute to this objective and will keep the equipment running after the departure of the Project experts. GSF will collaborate with the local people, ensuring the training of one Malian technician to maintain the whole water supply system.
5 - Ensure the sustainability of the system. AN ADVM local representative per village will guarantee the sustainability of the water supply through the financing by villagers of the needed spare parts for the pump and the technical equipment. This will be mandatory in spite of the extreme poverty of the villagers of the Madalaya region.
GSF is an emanation of World Geologist (WG) which has already acquired an experience of more than five years in the development of cooperation projects, mainly in three fields of work: hydrogeology, geological hazards and training and education.
The projects developed have been mainly financed by AECI (International Co-operation Spanish Agency), by ECGO (Humanitarian Aid Office, European Commission); we have signed the Framework Partnership Agreement with this European organisation, by NPF (The Nando Peretti Foundation) and other private financial supporters and institutions such as the Barcelona Provincial Council, the Barcelona Township, the Catalonian Fund for development and La Caixa Bank. These projects have been carried out by our ONG alone or in co-operation with other NGO's.
The technical Manager of the Madalaya Project was Antoine Bouvier who has a 30 years experience in water prospecting in desert countries and in Mali.
The experts who have created GSF, particularly Carlo Enrico Bravi and Antoine Bouvier have been consulted by ADVM in Paris, an association which gathers the Malian expatriates from the Madalaya region. Helped by Giuseppe Devecchi, an Italian specialist working at the Media and communication level, they stressed their need for fresh water since nearly 8 000 persons rely on one positive drill hole and several shallow wells yielding less than 20% of the basic daily needs (30 litres per person). Moreover there is no protection around the wells to prevent an eventual pollution from the surface by human and animal detritus.
ADVM has issued a brochure with photos explaining the benefits of water in terms of health improvement (school and dispensary), and economic development through a vegetable growing scheme.
Village water supply
The Madalaya village belongs to the administrative region of Bafoulabé, the Tomora municipality, within the western part of Mali. After the raining season lasting between June and October with an average total pluviometry reaching 750 mm, shallow aquifers are drying up quickly and there is no water in the wells at the end of January. This lack of water affects Madalaya but also all the surrounding villages (about ten) and prevent any local economic development.
The water project aims at providing enough water for the whole population of the area numbering about 8000 persons. The expected yield per drill hole, taking in account the geological conditions will be comprised between 1 and 5 cubic meters per hour.
Madalaya hydrogeological and socio-economic data
According to the data provided by the Hydraulic Documentation Centre in Bamako (DNH, SIGMA Base 2), the information available to-day about Madalaya is as follows:
- economic and social: the present population number reaches 1360 and is expected to be 1570 by the year 2015; adding the inhabitants of surrounding villages plus the shepherds (nomads) wandering around a total population of 8000 persons is concerned by the water Project.
- available water: a global yield of 40 m3 per day is supplied by 10 traditional wells and only two drill holes with a weak output (FN2, 0.3 m3/h and FP2, 1 m3/h); the wells are shallow, less than 20 m deep while the drill hole depths are ranging between 43 and 80 m. Drill holes were performed by the Canadian Cooperation 12 years ago.
- lithological: the Madalaya region corresponds to a plateau made of eruptive rocks (dolerite mainly) which is more or less impervious and produce green clays if weathered. Water is found only when dolerite is accompanied with fractured schist under a lens or chip form. The hydro geological conditions are therefore unfavourable (fractured localised aquifers) for getting a large water output. 1m3/h to a few m3/h yield per drill hole is targeted.
The tasks which will be carried out to get water according to the objectives will be the following:
A1- Co-ordination with the local authorities; GSF will collaborate with ADVM and all the people of the 10 villages concerned by the Project. Cooperation with municipal authorities and the Service de l'Hydraulique shall be efficient as well.
A2- Reconnaissance survey of the zone using aerial photos;
A3- Installing a field office with a permanent Resident (technical and administrative supervision) in Madalaya;
A4- Compilation of all the available existing data (maps, drilling, geophysics);
A5- Hydro geological assessment, water wells and drill holes inventory:
A6- Geophysical survey using SEV (vertical electrical soundings and/or resistivity profiles) and magnetic readings (pinpointing contact between the dolerite and the schist) to locate productive aquifers;
A7- Drilling borehole at selected sites where favourable results from the geophysical survey and hydro geological research have been obtained;
A8- Pump tests and chemical and organic analysis of the water found in the positive boreholes;
A9- Construction of the exploitation water boreholes in the area selected;
A10- Pump test of the exploitation boreholes;
A11- Protection and development of the surroundings works to protect the exploited aquifer;
A12-Training of local people to maintain the future boreholes and to use the water properly; this is done with the ADVM collaboration and might lead to the construction of a water tank, depending on the water yield;
A13- Control and monitoring of the borehole exploitation;
A14- Final installation of the pump and water distribution which will be handled by ADVM with the GSF collaboration;
A15- Official receipt of the drill holes by ADVM and local authorities.
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