One in nine people around the world do not have access to clean water close to home, and 60% of the world’s population live in areas of water stress, where the water supply cannot or will not continue to meet demand. 

Eritrea is a small coastal country in northeast Africa, in which only 19% of the population has access to clean water close to home. Others must travel many miles to find water or rely on unsafe surface water sources such as rivers or open wells. This lack of clean water and sanitation has profound health impacts and is the second biggest driver of death and disability in the country. Years of persistent drought conditions in the region have further restricted access to water resources, compounding the problem and putting strains on local communities.

This Zoba Debub Community Boreholes project will provide long-term access to safe and clean drinking water to hundreds of households within the Zoba Debub district in Eritrea, using borehole technology.

Boreholes are used to access safe, clean water from underground. Holes as deep as 100m are drilled into the ground, and drilling pipes are installed. A hand pump is then fitted, meaning that water can be pumped out by hand.

Many existing boreholes in Eritrea have fallen into disrepair because maintenance programmes have been poorly managed or proven too expensive, leaving people without access to clean water. This project works to identify broken-down boreholes, renovate them, and supply a maintenance programme to ensure that clean, safe water is delivered.

Zoba Debub is a largely rural district in which many local people typically use wood fuel on inefficient stone fires to purify their drinking, cleaning, and washing water. This process results in the release of greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of wood. By providing safe water, this project ensures that households consume less firewood during the process of water purification and therefore reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion process.