Water and Sanitation Health (WASH)

Hoveraid have successfully installed wells and pumps in many different villages at their request. Our projects enable the local people to help themselves, by assisting them in creating clean drinking water sources for their villages. Once a village has approached HoverAid asking for clean drinking water, HoverAid ask that the village collectively choose a communal site for the well/bore hole and dig down to find water. Once this has been achieved HoverAid then assist local workers, teaching them how to safely line the well/bore hole to keep the water as pure as possible. HoverAid work to sustainably introduce the most appropriate way to provide clean drinking water. We then provide the most suitable pump for the village, and teach the community how to maintain, install and fix the pump should it fail. The Canzee pump is unique: it does not require maintenance even with intensive use. There are no parts that require adjustment, lubrication or special attention. In addition, production of spare parts and repairs may be performed by the villagers themselves. We ask that villagers contribute a token amount for the parts of the pump (normally totalling around 0.05% of the actual cost) to show their value of the item. This money is then used as a fund for spare parts in the future. One pump can typically serve around 300, providing clean drinking water for drinking, food preparation and hand washing.

The parts of the pump cost £1,515, and the education, installation and transport of parts costs a further £1,322. The cost of one pump, fully installed is £2,837.

Bio-Sand-Filters

HoverAid use Bio-Sand-Filters (BSF) to filter water at a home level. BSF’s use both biological and physical filtration methods, ensuring the water is cleaned to a very high level. BSF’s typically reduce water turbidity (cloudiness)to <1.0NTU, which means you can drink it! BSF’s have success rates of over 95% and can eliminate coliform bacteria completely, which whilst usually not the bacteria responsible for contamination, they are a good indicator of other organisms being present which do. The sand filters are also easy to maintain, durable, cost effective and being owned on a house level removes ownership issues. The Bio-Sand-Filter is an excellent way of allowing clean drinking water into a home, enabling water to be used when it is needed, and not being contaminated after collection.

We sell BSF at heavily subsidised rates to communities to encourage a value placed on the item, ensuring that those owning the BSF do not take them for granted. To aid this further, the BSF is now part of a micro-enterprise plan.

Bio-Sand-Filters are so effective because of their simplicity. See the diagram to the left to see how each element of a bio-sand-filter works together to create a simple but efficient water filter.

Education on the importance of clean drinking water, how to

maintain and use a BSF and other essential information is done in our Community Health Program (CHP).

The Sand Filter is made up of multiple levels of sand, separated into layers. Larger sand particles are at the bottom, with fine sand at the top. The outlet pipe is higher than the top layer of sand to control the flow and ensure water is not drained from the filter. The Bio layer or “Smutchdeck” is in between the diffuser and the top most layer of sand. This encourages growth of larger bacteria within the one area, which is designed to eat the smaller bacteria which pass through. The water which leaves the filter has been cleaned to a high standard.

HoverAid have successfully installed 15 water pumps in the Beroroha and Ankavandra regions in Madagascar. Our projects enable the local people to help themselves, by assisting them in creating clean drinking water sources for their villages. Once a village has approached HoverAid asking for clean drinking water, HoverAid ask that the village collectively choose a communal site for the well/bore hole and dig down to find water. Once this has been achieved HoverAid then assist local workers, teaching them how to safely line the well/bore hole to keep the water as pure as possible. HoverAid work to sustainably introduce the most appropriate way to provide clean drinking water. We then provide the most suitable pump for the village, and teach the community how to maintain, install and fix the pump should it fail.

The Canzee pump is unique: it does not require maintenance even with intensive use. There are no parts that require adjustment, lubrication or special attention. In addition production of spare parts and repairs may be performed by the villagers themselves. In addition, villagers also contribute a token amount for the parts of the pump (normally totalling around 0.05% of the actual cost) to show their value of the item. This money is then used as a fund for spare parts in the future. One pump can typically serve around 300, providing clean drinking water for drinking, food preparation and hand washing.

The parts of the pump cost £1,515, and the education, installation and transport of parts costs a further £1,322. The cost of one pump, fully installed is £2,837.