G
ellabo village lies in one of the
remotest pockets of southern
Ethiopia, in rural Konso, 600 kil-
ometres from the capital, Addis Ababa.
The village has long suffered from a
shortage of clean, safe water.
Flow from the nearby spring is too
small to supply the surrounding com-
munities and the erratic rainfall affects
the availability and quality of other
surface water sources. Heavy rainfall
from March to May o-en causes flood-
ing, contaminating the ponds and
streams used for drinking water, and
water becomes scarce during the long
dry season that follows.
The impact of the situation on
health is dire. Before WaterAid started
working in the area, the open water
sources used by the village were
shared with cattle, and bacterial and
diarrhoeal diseases were common. Ill-
nesses caused by dirty drinking water
and a lack of sanitation are the biggest
killers of children worldwide, and in
Ethiopia more than 33,000 children
die from diarrhoea every year before
they reach their fi-h birthday.
Previous attempts to bring clean
water to the area were unsuccessful;
there is no electricity to run borehole
pumps and refuelling and maintain-
ing diesel-powered generators
proved too expensive. However,
investing in a water supply system
based on solar power and gravity
flow provided a sustainable and
cost-effective solution to the water
Project focus
Behailu Shiferaw
Voices from the field officer
Wateraid ethiopia
Water is pumped 120m uphill to a small reservoir
A brighter future
Using solar power
to tackle the water
crisis in Ethiopia
24 | august 2014 | WWt | www.wwtonline.co.uk
● 44.5 million people in ethiopia don't have access
to safe drinking water
● renewable energy is an ideal solution in remote
areas with no mains electricity
● training local community ensures long-term viability
