Our water, sanitation and hygiene solutions take into account a community's local water availability, geography, infrastructure, economic conditions and culture. Solutions are identified which will best serve the community's specific needs.

 

Hand-Dug Wells
Wells are dug by hand, to reach the water stored in the aquifer below, at a depth of no more than 15 meters. Hand-dug wells, or shallow wells, are the most common way of extracting water in rural areas of the developing world. 

Drilled Wells
Machinery is used to drill down into the aquifer to extract water stored many meters below the earth's surface, and a pump is fitted for the community to bring this water up through the well.

Rainwater Harvesting
Rain falls and is directed into a sanitary water tank, usually by guttering. Find out more about how rainwater harvesting tanks work here. Rock catchment systems operate in the same way, on a larger scale, with the rainfall that flows from a steep rock face directed and collected.

Sand Dams
A dam is built across a river, and during the rainy season water flows, bringing with it sand which collects behind the dam. Water is then stored in the sand which acts as a natural filtration. The water can then be extracted through a well and handpump at the side of the river.

Water Distribution Systems
Work by distributing water to locations through a system of pipes. Gravity Fed Water Systems use the pull of gravity to direct the flow of water to a sanitary storage tank. Piped Water Systems work by distributing piped water to a series of taps in a community. 

BioSand Filters
Biosand filters remove pathogens and other contaminants which are harmful to human health from water using layers of sand, covered with a biofilm. 

Spring Protections
A system is built to capture water from a naturally occurring spring source, and the clean water is stored.

Latrines
Covered shelters with a pit below provide privacy and safety for toilet users.

Household latrines
Vary from a simple pit latrine - a hole in the ground with a covered shelter - to a flushing toilet, depending on the country.

Communal latrine blocks
These are gender sensitive and feature washrooms. Where possible consideration is made for people with disabilities. School latrine blocks are essentially the same, are gender sensitive and feature washrooms for girls. Teachers have separate latrines.  

Urinals
Function effectively to prevent latrine pits filling up too quickly. Urinals are necessary when there is a high volume of children in a school or community using a latrine. 

Drainage training
Community training in the construction of soak pits and proper drainage channels. Village drainage is often left to nature and this causes contamination of water sources.

Waste management training
Communities are trained in recycling, rubbish disposal, keeping the village clean, and the hygienic and safe disposal of human waste.

Hygiene training
Communities are trained in the importance of hygienic practices, to prevent diseases and contamination of clean water sources. As part of our projects we support a variety of hygiene training and practices including: handwashing & tippy tap construction, personal hygiene, menstrual hygiene management, environmental and domestic hygiene, understanding of the safe water chain from collection to consumption, food hygiene, soap making, disease awareness.