Changes

For small communities of up to about 1,000 inhabitants, properly constructed hand-dug wells – which provide a safe water supply all year round, equipped with simple but reliable and easily maintainable direct action handpumps – are a good option. If wells cannot be dug by hand because water tables are too deep or for other reasons, boreholes may have to be drilled. In such cases good quality boreholes equipped with reliable and robust handpumps, which can be easily maintained, are the most cost-effective community choice. The number of users per pump should be 200 to 300.

The investment cost per capita is lower for communities of between 1,000 and 5,000 inhabitants if small piped systems with pumps powered by electricity from the grid or diesel engines are installed instead of handpumps. Only one or two high-yield wells will be required. In the size range of 1,000 to 2,000 inhabitants, piped systems with solar pumps are attractive, especially if the pumping lifts are low. Contrary to grid or diesel-powered systems, solar pump systems have no energy costs, but their application can be limited due to the high cost of photovoltaic panels – thus the number of panels needed is a determining cost factor.