Lifewater Systems Monitoring and Maintenance Programme
An essential part of our Lifewater Programme is the monitoring and maintenance of the Lifewater Systems that have been so generously donated by our sponsors, WaterWorks and The Aall Foundation.
In this activity, every home, school and clinic that has a donated Lifewater System is visited by our team, who check the condition of the system for cleanliness and having a proper stand, make any simple repairs that are required to keep it functioning and provide help to the users if required.
The ceramic filters that we use will usually last for 2-3 years if cleaned and maintained properly. However, in addition to the regular maintenance and monitoring programme, we also carry our periodical refurbishment of the systems, replacing the filters and overhauling the systems to bring them back to ‘good as new’ condition.
This programme has produced excellent results with industry-leading statistics for longevity and use of the Lifewater Systems. For example, of the 750 systems donated by The Aall Foundation in 2015 & 2016, over 700 of them were found to be working in a clean condition with good stands, in January and February this year
For the last few years both the monitoring and refurbishment programmes have been generously sponsored by both The Aall Foundation and WaterWorks, maximising the benefit of the Lifewater Project to the recipients.
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- Rwandan AYA Team
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- Kyaka refugees registering for the distribution of life-saving Lifewater systems
How do we do it?
We have a small team of contracted Ugandans who oversee the whole project in Africa, with support from the Transformed International Board in the UK. They have been trained to a high level so that all the day to day activities are run by them, including running Lifewater distributions when Lifewater Systems are donated to a new area. We target areas where there are Africa Youth Award (AYA) groups and the participants in the Award are trained in the monitoring and maintenance procedures as part of the ‘Practical Skills’ section of the Award programme.
Monitoring and maintenance is carried out 2-3 times per year and is done by the local AYA participants, with guidance from the Ugandan Lifewater team. As well as giving the AYA teams practical experience, a small financial gift is given to the AYA members for each household (or school or health centre) visited.
We also have a team based in the Kyaka II Refugee camp where we have donated Lifewater Systems, so that help is available on-site in their particularly challenging situation.
The Reconditioning/refurbishing programmes are supervised by our Ugandan Lifewater team, which provides further training to the local AYA teams.
The stats!
Systems donated 2015-2023 across Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda:
6358 (mainly households, but includes 50 schools and 17 health centres)
Systems visited in Jan/Feb 2023 monitoring programme:
6001 (94.4% ) in many of the other cases, the recipients may have moved, particularly in the Refugee Camp situations.
Systems found to be in good working order:
5630 (93.8%) with 5015 (85.1%) of the systems visited found to have good stands.
Systems not in use:
271 (4.5%) The recipients are encouraged to make use of the systems and any minor repairs (like missing tubes or broken taps) are carried out to make the systems usable again.
The Results for the beneficiaries
Here are some testimonies gathered from the beneficiaries by our teams during January and February this year while they were carrying out the monitoring:
Katoma Ngangi
Mr. HA confirmed that truly Lifewater is pure and safe water because since he benefitted, he is now healthy from then.
Katoma Kiringa
Mrs. T J says that she packs her Lifewater everywhere she goes especially when she is working in her fields.
Katoma Kasisa
Mr. A F said that typhoid has been a great challenge in his home but since he benefitted from Lifewater his family is very OK.
Katoma Ahamuyaga
Mrs. K P is so thankful for the gift of Lifewater in her family because waterborne diseases that were great challenges are no longer affecting them.
Rukooki 1
Some recipients that have benefitted from reconditioned systems are so grateful for the opportunity to drink safe water for some years to come.
Buhuhira Kuruhe
The Chairman LC1 is also joining the AYA team for the smooth running of the Lifewater project in his area.
Rukooki 2
M. one of the beneficiaries has created a source of income by using the filtered water and refrigerating it at his shop for his customers. He has many who buy juice from him because they are sure he uses safe and clean water
Katoma Kaburara
Mr H D said “I am happy for Lifewater; I am proud of it. Who am I to be a beneficiary”.
Kyaka II Refugee Settlement
S F and her family were extremely happy and enjoying Lifewater as they really appreciated the reduced burden of fuel expenses in boiling water.
So a HUGE 'THANK YOU' to our generous sponsors - WaterWorks and The Aall Foundation
Find out how you can sponsor Lifewater and help people in impoverished rural areas of Africa gain access to the basic human requirement – clean drinking water! Click here