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UNICEF reported in 2016 that 8% of all children’s deaths were due to diarrhea, mostly due to contaminated water, poor sanitation, and poor hygiene practices.

Sustainable development of safe water sources is necessary to stop the world’s youngest and most vulnerable from dying from avoidable diseases.

Access to safe water sources not only reduces death rates, but it’s vital for communities to thrive physically, mentally, economically, socially, and spiritually.

Many water projects start with the best of intentions but fail. But, statistics show that 30–50% of water, sanitation, and hygiene projects fail within two to five years. Why? And how can we do better?

Water Well Drilling in Developing Countries

In 2023, the United Nations World Water Development report revealed that 26% of people worldwide still lack safe drinking water, and 46% lack basic sanitation.

A common water availability solution for rural communities is a drilled borehole with a hand pump, also known as a water well. A water well accesses groundwater through aquifers. Deep water sources are less likely to become contaminated than shallow water sources or those on the surface.

According to UNICEF, over 25 years, 2.6 billion people gained access to improved water availability and sanitation, mainly through drilled water wells. But how many are still up and running?

In 2022, Forbes reported that 60% of water wells on the continent of Africa failed because of poor maintenance and a lack of access to quality replacement parts.

What that means is that just because someone builds a well, a community will not suddenly have access to water. We must provide communities with the sustainable water well development they deserve and start addressing the global water crisis in long-lasting ways.

Reasons Why Water Wells Fail

According to estimations, over 1 billion dollars in water well investments were lost between 1989 and 2009. At Healing Waters, we work hard to ensure supporters’ donations go to the most experienced engineers and maintenance management.

Construction

Water well development can run into a number of construction issues, including well depth, hand pump depth, and the placement and quality of materials. Any one of these can cause a water well to become nonfunctional quickly.

As seasons change, groundwater depth fluctuates. Sometimes, inexperienced engineers drill too shallow to save money, which leads to communities struggling to pump enough water during the dry season when the water table drops.

Low-quality and poor construction materials can lead to failure. Many projects lack the financial resources and access to quality construction materials to build long-lasting wells.

Maintenance & Operations

Water wells take on wear and require regular maintenance. Local communities must have access to upkeep training, a supply chain of parts, and emergency repair services, also known as Operations and Maintenance (O&M).

The most well-built and highest-quality wells will fail if routine maintenance isn’t done or if parts aren’t regularly replaced.

It’s up to the communities to locate a trained mechanic, spare parts, and have the money to pay for the service. Most communities don’t have the financial means for spare parts, much less to hire a professional hundreds of miles from the well site.

Water Siting

Water siting is when water engineers assess and decide on a location for a water source. The process requires experts to study the area’s geology, water table depth, and topography.

Water siting must also consider the distance from the site and potential contaminants like garbage dumps or grazing livestock. Wells drilled too close to animal and human waste are at incredibly high risk for contamination.

Another pollution risk is the chemical weathering of geology. This makes water unsafe to drink. Even if the water is safe, the geology will make it taste bad and have an unpleasant smell.

Engineers can’t build wells in areas lacking groundwater, which further limits accessibility.

High-quality siting is vital to a water project’s success because most issues cannot be fixed after construction. It must be right the first time to prevent future problems and failure.

Environment

Disposable sanitary products add to an already alarming amount of global waste. The average woman throws away around 150 kilograms, or 330 pounds, of non-biodegradable waste each year.

Giving women access to sustainable, quality products and safe disposal methods contributes to a healthier environment.

How Does Healing Waters Help the Water Crisis?

Poor construction, maintenance, and siting are all reasons wells fail. When a well fails, a community loses access to safe water and must go back to retrieving it long instances and chancing that it is contaminated.

All three reasons why water wells fail are unavoidable. At Healing Waters, we ensure that the right expert water engineers are on the job and an adequate supply chain is set up so that water flows 365 days a year.

Healing Waters International (HWI) engineers design innovative, long-lasting water treatment systems that are affordable for impoverished communities. We don’t just build hand pumps and leave. Healing Waters trains community leaders in sustaining safe water for years to come, along with health and hygiene programs.

Our purification technology provides reliable, safe water for entire communities. Each one is designed and implemented to fit individual communities.

Systems can be configured to use whatever power is available for a community, including solar, grid, and just gravity.

HWI separation membrane technology removes bacteria, viruses, parasites, and other harmful substances that make drinking water unsafe and eliminates the risk of human error. Healing Waters International field offices maintain local supply projects to make replacement parts easily affordable and accessible.

In some areas, solar energy is better for providing a reliable and sustainable clean water source. Solar power is inexpensive to install and maintain and more sustainable because it uses energy rather than fuel.

Regardless of the technology, water well development projects need the support of compassionate partners so that we can monitor them through in-person visits and help troubleshoot major issues as they happen.

With your help, HWI can produce safe and clean water and support entire communities by training young women to keep themselves and their families safe, healthy, and happy.

By donating today, you are helping us continue our work to ensure that water wells remain in working condition to provide clean water and sanitation for communities around the world.

We’re on a mission to end the global water crisis. We build holistic clean water solutions and spread God’s love in at-risk communities around the world, empowering people not just to survive, but to thrive – physically, socially and spiritually.

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