The water pumping installations used for public water pumps are designed and build for low maintenance and endurance. The use is extremely intense, from early morning till the sun goes down in the evening the entire community is pumping and carrying water. Pumps need maintenance and repair when they start failing: a pump chain losing grip, a broken pump arm, a water lock which starts leaking, … The deep water bore holes (40m to 60m deep) give the best quality of clean water, but the many water pipes connected with iron rods break more frequently. Stainless steel pipes is the only, but expensive option.
Maintaining the precious water sources is at least as important as creating new ones. An important part of the Sikiliza Leo Water budget is reserved to work together with the Tororo District Water Office (DWO) to maintain access to clean water for the communities in the Sikiliza Leo project region. Last year a small team (Wim and Piet Noben on their Boxer motorbike), made an inventory of all water sources with defects in the Sikiliza Leo project region. Early this month we made a priority list of repairs, together with the DWO engineer Leo Adongo Owora. Today the works have started: the water pump at Mulanda Primary School has been repaired, the new stainless steel pipes for deep well in Atangala village have been installed and Siwa, Abwelli, Lwala, Mwello, and Wichama will follow in the next two weeks. The communities and the Water User Committees (WUCs) are participating in controlling the materials, in the repairs, and in the handover of the responsibility of the newly repaired water source for their village.
