The bad news
- 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe water (roughly one out of every six people in the world).
- 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera) caused by unclean water and poor sanitiation: 90% are children under 5, mostly in developing countries.
- 2.6 billion people in the world do not have proper drains or toilets (roughly two out of every five people in the world).
That is why Samaritan's Purse provides safe drinking water to thousands world wide!
The good news
Samaritan's Purse Turn on the Tap programme includes:
BioSand Water Filter programme
BioSand Water Filters may be useful in situations where a family has access to surface water (e.g. a lake, pond, river, etc), but this water is not safe for drinking. The BSF can be used to help remove particles and microbes from the water and make it safer to drink.
> Our programmes in Mozambique , Liberia and Niger are currently making use of BioSand Water Filters.
> Click here to read about our current BioSand Water Filter projects.
Borehole rehabilitation
Our current programme in Mozambique is repairing existing boreholes which are non-functioning or poorly functioning. They were originally drilled in the 1990s by a different charity, but have fallen into disrepair because local communities lacked technical and financial management training to maintain them. Our programme is both repairing these boreholes and training the local community leaders in maintenance and financial management so that they can look after the boreholes themselves in the future.
New boreholes are very expensive to drill due to the equipment required – we are not currently drilling any new ones because currently, other, cheaper solutions are available in the communities where we are working (e.g. repairing existing water facilities, providing hand dugs wells, protecting springs, etc). However, we wouldn't necessarily rule out drilling new boreholes in the future if this proved to be the most effective solution in a particular situation.
> Click here to read about our borehole rehablitiaton programme in Mozambique.
Hand dug wells
These are dug by people with spades, rather than with drilling equipment. Hand dug wells may be used when the water table is sufficiently high for this to be practical, and where the water is safe from contamination (far enough away from latrines, waste sites, etc). The wells are lined with concrete and fitted with a hand pump to protect the water from contamination and make it easy to access, and local people are trained to maintain the wells themselves.
> Our programmes in Ethiopia and Sudan are currently providing Hand Dug Wells.
Spring Protection
Springs are naturally-occurring places where water that has been filtered through soil and rock reappears from underground. Springs may be protected (‘capped') by building a concrete area around them and fencing them off (to protect them from animals, infants, etc), and where the flow rate of the spring is not sufficiently fast to provide a constant supply of water, a small ‘reservoir' can be built where water is collected ready to be accessed by tap by the local community.
> Our programme in Ethiopia is currently protecting springs.
>Click here to read about our Community-Based Potable Water Supply progamme in Ethiopia.
Latrines
Latrines help to improve hygiene and prevent disease from spreading. They must be carefully situated so that the waste underground does not contaminate the water supply.
> Our programmes in Liberia, Sudan and Mozambique are currently providing latrines.
> Click here to read about our Latrine Programme in Liberia.
Health and Hygiene education
Health & Hygiene Education is an element of all projects and involves training local educators to teach people about how to use water safely. This includes ways of obtaining and storing safe water, how to dispose of waste, and the importance of hand-washing and hygienic food handling.
> All programmes provide Health and Hygiene Education. ( Mozambique , Liberia , Niger , Ethiopia , Sudan ).
>Click here to read about our BioSand Filter Health and Sanitiation Programme in Mozambique.
When neccesary we will also provide:
Improving water supply and sanitation conditions
Emergency Water following disasters
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