The water point committee

When a village gets its own borehole with pump, the inhabitants of the village have access to clean water and the women save hours every day. It’s therefore a catastrophe when the pump breaks. This is why water point committees play a key role in the Peter Wallenberg Wash Project. Each borehole appoints a water point commit- tee. It is made up of ten people, seven women and three men, who are responsible for taking care of the borehole. Three of them, two women and a man, are also trained to be water point mechanics so they can carry out preventive maintenance. The committee is a guarantor for the water point continuing to work even when the project is finished.

“When there’s a problem we often have to replace parts of the pump,” say the committee. “Every villager pays into the repair fund before problems arise.”

It isn’t difficult to obtain spare parts for the pump. The local office of the Department of Water Development has appointed an agent that lives not too far from the village, and he has parts in stock.

If the trained mechanics on the committee can’t fix the pump themselves, the villagers buy the parts they need and then contact the Water Department. They have specially trained second-line water point mechanics, each of whom has the responsibility for a greater number of villages.