A pay-per-fetch system that uses a digital tag is helping communities in rural Uganda access water and save maintenance costs of boreholes. In the slums in the capital Kampala, a solar-powered jerrycan improves water sanitation.
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00:00The tag turns the tap on. It gets inserted into the reader at this communal well in central
00:08Uganda and the water flows.
00:17It works like a mobile phone service. Can you make a phone call without credit on your
00:23phone? No, we have gotten used to it.
00:29Water engineer Serena Abdul-Salam came up with the idea.
00:34You carry the tag that is issued to you, you bring it to the water source, you insert it
00:38in a specific area, then if there is credit, there is an internal valve, it will open,
00:44then it will allow you to start fetching.
00:46Villagers load their tag with mobile money via cell phone, getting up to 3,000 litres
00:52of clean water for the equivalent of about one US dollar. The community agrees on the
00:57cost, which is supplemented with donations from the non-profit organisation Sunda to
01:03maintain the wells. And there is an important psychological effect.
01:08The fact that people always thought water was free, they abused water usage. You find
01:14a person, he needs only one jerry can per se, but he doesn't care if that jerry can
01:20falls and the water spills out. But whenever they realise there is monetary value attached
01:28to that jerry can, they could care more than earlier before, to protect, you don't just
01:36allow the jerry can to topple off.
01:40Sunda's co-founder also uses the digital technology solution to monitor the state of
01:45the wells. He receives data in real time that shows if repairs are necessary, allows him
01:51to advise local authorities and monitor misuse. The International Institute for Environment
01:57and Development says that more than 360 million dollars are wasted on poorly maintained wells
02:04in Africa. The paper fetch system also ensures fairness and transparency.
02:11From the government setting, every household, no matter how big the family is, you have
02:19to pay 2,000 shillings. So even if you are alone, you have to pay every month 2,000,
02:28which was not good for those small families. Not fair at all. So people are complaining.
02:36That's why some people could pay, others couldn't pay. But when we put the system, now everyone
02:42is fair paying.
02:45Another initiative supports urban families. In many of the capital Kampala's poorer areas,
02:51people rely on wells like this one. But the water is often contaminated with fecal matter.
02:58Susan Nakabugo now uses a special jerry can to disinfect the water for her six children.
03:04For about four to six hours in the sun, the ultraviolet rays and the high temperatures
03:10kill the germs in the water without it having to be boiled.
03:21It was difficult for me to afford charcoal for cooking and boiling water every day. Sometimes
03:28my children would get sick from drinking unsafe water, contracting diseases like typhoid and
03:35diarrhea. But getting this jerry can has been a relief. I purify all our drinking water
03:50with it.
03:53Ian Calvin Waiswa donated the jerry can. He co-founded Student Support and Philanthropy
03:59Program, a non-profit organization that encourages students to get involved in their communities.
04:06He obtained 1,000 canisters from a Swedish company, some donated, some financed by his
04:12organization. According to UN Water, more than half of Uganda's 45 million inhabitants
04:19have no access to safe water supply. Waiswa has a plan for what happens on days when the
04:25sun doesn't shine. Then he encourages people to boil their water with fuels made with alternatives
04:32to wood. Susan Nakabugo uses briquettes made of organic waste in a stove donated by Student
04:39Support.
04:41We are encouraging households that in the time that the sun is not existing, can you
04:46use these briquettes and if possible we are able to provide the fuel-saving stoves for
04:54you to be able to at least cut the consumption of charcoal by a great percentage in the absence
05:01of the sun. So this is a holistic solution that we are trying to promote that in the
05:08end still promotes, without compromising the issue of sanitizing the water, still promotes
05:14the sanitizing of water but also protects the environment.
05:19These initiatives in rural and urban Uganda are bringing the country closer to its goal
05:25of clean water for all by 2030.