Mozambique is suffering from a large amount of poverty; 44% of its people don’t have access to a basic water supply and 71% of its people don’t have access to basic sanitation. Those in Mozambique’s rural areas are the communities most negatively affected by the water crisis.
Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli: sustainable water supply for Matutuine.
Mozambique – Matutuine district
The Matutuine community, in the south of Mozambique (Bella Vista Administrative Post), there are 650 families including children attending Hidane Primary School, who are facing a water problem in their everyday life, currently drinking unsafe and unhealthy water. In this area, the water demand of the population depends on natural water sources (such as ponds and rivers) that are often not healthy and secure.
Generally, as traditionally women or kids are in charge of providing water for their families, they have to walk miles to reach the water. As a result, most of them lose the chance of education. Daily challenges and time allocation to source drinking water kill the chance of many people to have any other activity (e.g. time with the family, generating income, leisure time) and business in Cassane.
Fortunately, the part of the world that lacks access to drinkable water resources is the one that receives most solar energy. Therefore, to address this issue, Viva con Agua, together with its partner Grino, will provide a sustainable and affordable solution, a solar-based battery-free desalination system. The Photo-Voltaic Reverse Osmosis (PVRO) is a proper solution for the water crisis in remote areas and the most reliable technology for desalination.
The water will be provided for free for the school and part of the produced water will be sold by a responsible person at an affordable price to the local community. The project not only will have a positive impact on health but also children will have more time for school and will receive multiple health and sustainability teaching supported via educational materials.
Expected outputs:
- Safe and clean drinking water for 3.000 people (2.000 direct and 1.000 indirect) in this community
- A system independent of other energy and water resources
- Access to free water for 500 students, and an affordable price for 1.500 people to buy clean water
- Save crucial time usually spent to find water (for students and adults)
Status October 2022:
- Engagement with the Matutuíne District managers to discuss the location, water sales strategy and suitable water price
- A water analysis was performed and due to its high salinity, the RO system was re-designed
- Drilling of two boreholes pump completed and construction of the RO room completed
- Desalinization system in operation, providing water for free to the students and for a small fee to the community
- System dispatched to Mozambique to be installed
- Execution rate: 100%
