Bamboo has many uses in our homes, such as for poles, gutters, furniture and mats. Yet not many farmers cultivate it and usually it just grows wild. Bamboo can also be used to make excellent low-cost water pipes.

Biosand filters purify dirty water so that it becomes safe to drink. They are very useful, both in rural and urban areas which lack safe piped water. Calgary University, Canada, developed an innovative low-cost design using concrete.

by Richard Franceys Millennium Development Goal 7, target 10, seeks to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015. Community-driven initiatives could make an important contribution towards achieving this goal in urban areas.

By Richard Franceys. We tend to expect that water schemes to make cleaner water more easily available will be welcomed by all. But all too often they may not work out as planned.  There are many things to consider before introducing changes to water supplies which may have remained little changed for generations. Collecting water may provide many women with a meeting place. In societies where it is the younger women who collect the water, the water hole may even be the main centre for ...

Clean water supplies are much more important than food immediately after a disaster. Consider your community’s present sources of water. Then…

by Daniel Schotanus. There are several ways to design and build hand-dug wells. In many societies there are local experts with knowledge and expertise developed through years of experience. In the Borana area of Ethiopia, for example, traditional hand-dug wells have been reported with depths of over 100 metres.

In the book of Proverbs we read: “a good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children”. In these days of global de-forestation, trees and forests may be a truly precious inheritance to leave for our children and grand-children.

Moringa is a small tree with many valuable properties. It grows fast and it continues to grow if cut back. The leaves can be cooked as a green…

Water tanks store rainwater from roofs. Tanks made of ferro-cement are fairly cheap, simple to make and easy to repair.

Fair shares with plastic pipes  by Rus Alit. While I was working in Indonesia in the village of Sarinbuana with rural water supplies, a neighbouring village came up with their own interesting idea.

by Dr Richard Carter. Many people walk long distances to obtain water that is often contaminated. However, there may be clean underground water within 30–40 metres, below their communities. This ground water has great potential to save time, reduce inconvenience and improve health.  

by Daniel Schotanus.

by Paul Dean. Providing a clean water supply and encouraging people to build latrines should surely be enough to ensure good health. In the past people have certainly believed this to be true. However, an evaluation of a water and sanitation programme by the Ministry of Health in Botswana (UNICEF), though it brought many positive benefits, included these interesting results…

by Paul Dean. Many water and sanitation projects focus on making more water available to people and encouraging good personal hygiene practices. The quantity of water used for bathing, cleaning and other household tasks may prove more important for good health than its quality. However, the quality of drinking water is very important.

Dowsing or water divining, can mean different things to different people. To the scientific community it is superstitious nonsense; to many farmers in Britain and elsewhere it is a useful method of finding good water for their livestock; to many it is something of a mystery. Finally, some Christians believe it to be dangerous and linked with satanic powers. However, due to its widespread use in many parts of the world it is a phenomenon worthy of investigation.

The Haunted Well Mengo Hospital, near Kampala, have recently identified three wells in nearby villages, that they would like to ‘protect’. These are 15 feet or so in diameter and look like stagnant ponds, although they are fed by underwater springs. They provide the only source of water for many local people, but are constantly being polluted by animals and humans.

A collection of ideas on storing and using it.. Moulds for water jars The water department in the Diocese of Kigezi, Uganda uses specially shaped wooden moulds which fit together to form the shape of a small water jar. Clay is used to smooth any gaps before plastering over the moulds with layers of cement. Once the mortar has set firm (within a day) the moulds can be removed through the lid of the jar. The Department has about ten similar sets of moulds which can be reused over and ...

1. The 3 pot system This is a very simple system for providing cleaner water. It will not provide pure water, but some of the diseases will be removed.

by Abdou Yaba Diop. Drought and lack of water have always been frequent in rural Africa. At the beginning of the 1980s governments and NGOs built various facilities – such as dams, wells and piped water systems – to try to overcome this problem. However, several years on, many of them are no longer working, often because of bad management.

by Geoff Folkard and John Sutherland. River water taken for household use can be full of suspended matter, particularly in the rainy season. The water carries silt particles, solids, bacteria and other micro-organisms (some of which can carry disease). It is very important to remove as much as possible of this material before people use the water. Large water treatment centres do this by adding chemical coagulants to the water. These cause the particles to stick together (coagulate) and ...

Greetings from the Kingdom of Swaziland. I’d like to share a few comments on the ferro-cement tank in Footsteps 30. Since 1994 I have been involved with a tank-building programme with local churches and several hundred have been constructed, both in Swaziland and South Africa. We have a good teaching video available in Zulu.

Information in Footsteps has helped people build ferro-cement tanks for rainwater. However, many people need to know how they can avoid mosquitoes breeding in these tanks. Here are some practical steps I have developed to make a dome shaped cover…

There is a high incidence of burns in East Africa due to the need to cook on charcoal fires and use kerosene for lighting. Knowledge of first aid for…

Jean-Pierre, Toussaint, Patrice and Raphael supervise a group of health workers in Rafai, Central Africa Republic. Their task is to teach how to avoid some diseases. One of the commonest diseases in the area is diarrhoea. To make the teaching more effective, a ‘diarrhoea doll’ is used! Toussaint tells us how it works... 

by Richard Franceys. We all know that water is a wonderful gift. It falls as rain and collects in streams and rivers or under the ground. From there we can take it for drinking, for cooking, for bathing and for washing pots and pans and clothes.

The Saradidi Rural Health Project is found in Western Kenya, near the shores of Lake Victoria. It was begun almost ten years ago. It has strong links with the 61 villages within the project area, nearly all of which now have their own health worker and an agricultural worker. From the beginning, the community has been fully involved in deciding the priorities of the project.

by Dan Schellenberg with Simon Batchelor. The word guide is used for people sent out to find the way for the village; such as the way to information, a grazing area or water in times of drought. It refers to those who are gifted at seeing the way forward. These people have no official status, are humble and respected for their willingness to put effort into finding answers to problems.

Obtaining safe drinking water is a struggle for many people. The microbes that spread diarrhoea are often found in dirty water. Water becomes dirty…

Household water supplies are a problem for many people. In urban areas people may need to pay a lot for water. People in rural areas may have to walk…

There are many different sources of water that can be improved and managed. Safe and accessible water supplies make a huge difference to people’s…

Most people can probably think of wells in their area that were built, worked well for several years and then were no longer used when the pump…

The World Health Organisation has estimated that 80% of all sickness and disease in the world is caused through lack of clean water and poor sanitation.

by Rachel Blackman. It is important to use good methods for collecting, transporting and storing drinking water. There is a high risk of water becoming contaminated between the water source and the home. This is because it may become exposed to harmful bacteria or germs, either when it is transferred between different containers or when different people come into contact with it.

by Richard Franceys. Good access to water supplies is a growing problem around the world. Where do people living in the slums and shanties of the world’s growing cities get their water? How do they find good sanitation for safe excreta disposal?

Many people wonder why they have to pay for water, a product which is available naturally. Though there seems to be plenty of water on this earth, less than one percent is available in a form that is suitable for human consumption. Water must be transported, stored, and distributed to the consumer. These activities need financial and human resources.