Deep well construction - Gouye-Ndiogou, Senegal

The project managers from “Help for Africa – Water for Senegal e.V.” have been able to locate very dry and water-needy areas in the Diourbel region around Dakar. In this region, 27 villages with approx. 15,000 residents can be found. Many village residents have had to leave their villages in the last years because of the lack of water. The younger generation is moving because they no longer see any real prospects – the villages are slowly but surely “bleeding out”.

To actively work to reverse the water shortage, TOOLS FOR LIFE and “Help for Africa – Water for Senegal e.V.” decided on and implemented a deep well construction. With special drilling units, a depth of approx. 120 meters was drilled. Using a diesel power generator the water was transported to an approx. 25-meter high water tower and there, with the help of a pressure booster system, pumped into the supply pipelines from where it was then distributed to the villages.

The background to the project

The water situation in the Senegalese villages is, in some cases, dramatic. To retrieve water, women and children must often walk kilometres day and night so that they can provide water for their large families (8-10 people). The first deep wells were financed and built from “Help for Africa – Water for Senegal e.V.” in 1993. These were dug per hand by the local well builders – often a very difficult job since during the rainy season (approx. July until September) the wells cannot be built in the traditional way. Since then, the association has been working together with a company that can construct the wells with modern devices. So far 65 wells for approx. 50,000 village residents have been built, whereby the villages have participated financially with a sum of money for the construction of “their well”. This creates a sense of responsibility which guarantees that the wells are considered by the village residents as their property and are therefore properly cared for and maintained.