Kamwenge District

Local Government

BIGULI SUB COUNTY GETS THREE NEW

WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SYSTEMS

A joyous moment as the technical team turns on the water at Rwebishahi Water Supply and Sanitation System

ump operator John Batuma opened the tap. Water

gushed out. White. Bright. Reflecting the sunrays.
Those who were standing in its way literally took
off for their lives.
Hidden in their flight was great joy. The joy of
accomplishment. the knowledge that safe water was
now in easy reach. Piped water had come to Rwebishahi
community in Biguli sub county, Kamwenge district.
This was the scene early April as the partners promoting
the Everyone Forever Vision in Kamwenge District
made a final technical tour of the system ahead of its
official commissioning on 27 April 2016.

Rwebishahi water supply and sanitation system is one of

the four that have so far been constructed in Biguli Sub
county, with financial support from Water For People.
The others are: Malere-Nyakabungo-Butanda and
Busingye-Buhumuriro, also to be commissioned today
27th April 2016 by Eng. Aaron Kabirizi, the Director of
Directorate of Water Development in the Ministry of
Water and Environment.
The fourth system is Biguli-Kirinda which was
commissioned in June 2015, covering a 7km distance
and serving 7000 people.
Water For People has since 2012 been working with

MWE Engineer David Batenganya checks the resorvior readings at Rwebishahi, and later visits a kiosk at Malere
Kamwenge District Local Government to improve Water
Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Services. The primary
focus has been on ensuring that everyone in the district
has access to safe water, forever. This means that every
household, every clinic and every school has a reliable
and sustainable supply of safe water.
Interventions started in Biguli Sub County, with
assessment in five target villages including: Biguli (1353
people), Kirinda (1084 people), Busingye (907 people),
Buhumuriro (878 people) and Rwebishahi (1378 people)
and Malere Primary School with 1600 pupils.
High yields, good quality
The assessments identified sites for drilling of production
wells in each of these communities. The yields obtained
varied between 2500 litres per hour and 6,000 litres per
hour. The borehole depths ranged between 67 and 76
metres. Water Quality tests were also carried out by the
Central Laboratory of National Water and Sewerage
Corporation indicated that the water contained in
the aquifers being tapped are of very good quality
commensurate with the national standards for potable
water.
The piped water supply and sanitation systems were
designed and constructed. Community members were
sensitized about the cost of accessing water from the
system and the importance of contributing financial
resources towards the maintenance of the scheme.
Soon enough, connections were being effected and
people were now accessing safe water at an affordable
fee. As at March 31st 2016, 13 tap stands and 3 kiosks
had been set up on the three new systems. All the
systems are managed by parish Water Supply and
Sanitation Boards, which have in turn hired private
scheme operators.
With a total storage capacity of 6550 metres, the
three systems can serve a domestic population of up
to 7,129 and an institutional population of 4,140. They

are all powered by three-phase electrical diesel-driven

generator sets of prime power 15kVA which powers the
electrical submersible pump. They cover a distance of
8.6km.
In terms of funding and other resources, Water for
People invested UGX1.2 Billion; Ministry of Water
and Environment and the Kamwenge District Local
Government provided technical and supervisory
support; Biguli Sub County provided manpower for
supervision and land acquisition, while the residents
provided the land for the sytems.
Engineers satisfied
Speaking during the technical monitoring of the three
systems, Peter Opwonya the team lead of Technical
Support Unit Six (TSU6) expressed his satisfaction with
the project.
From the final inspection we have had today, this project
and system is ready for commissioning. We are happy
that the contractor has handled most of the snags we
identified at the previous site meetings, Opwonya said.
The emphasis now should be on the private operator
and the board, working closely with the sub-county to
sensitise people and ensure there are systems and
structures to maintain and operate sustainably.
As a sector, we are now shifting from the point water
sources, for example shallow wells, springs, boreholes,
and moving to piped systems. If we have such systems
in Biguli and they are well managed, we should be able
to move in the right direction.
New business, new challenges
Gloria Laadi, treasurer of the Busingye-RwebishahiBuhumiriro water supply and sanitation board, agreed
they are on the right track, are learning important
lessons in maintaining the systems and improving
peoples lives.

Ministiry of Water,
Principal Engineer David Bateganya (left) and
Sub Country chief
Ronald Mugume
(right) make sure
Hope Atuhaires
water metre readings are working
well. Atuhaire is
one of the first
tapstand operators
in Rwebishahi.

Previsously we were taking water from the swamp, or

buying unsafe water from the vendor. It was bad and
unhealthy, Laadi recalls the situation before the piped
system was constructed by Water for People. The price
of water has since reduced from Sh500 to sh200 in her
area. In other areas it is as low as sh100.
Laadi admits that some challenges have emerged,
especially with Operation and Maintenance, as cases of
faulty taps have increased. Most of the money collected
from users is spent on fuel to pump the water. Also with
the onset of the rainy season, people harvest rainwater
for domestic use which reduces the amount of money
collected by the board.
But on a positive note, from the funds raised, the water
board has been able to open an account in Post Bank.
Here the money collected is safely kept and there is
increased transparency and accountability.
Operators optimistic
Maintenance, fuel and rains are common issues of
concern when you talk to users. Hope Atuhire operates
one of the tapstands on the Rwebishahi system. She
also operates an eatery in the area.
While she says water has improved her earnings and
reputation, she also bemoans the coming of the rains
which have halved her earnings. She says residents
also need to adjust to the price increase from sh100 to
sh200.
Malere scheme operator Peter Tumwesiga calls for
more support in this early stage, to ensure viability of the
water project. He specifically says there are challenges
relating with water meter reading which leads to losses.
LC3 chairman impressed
Simeon Komaho, Chairperson LC3 Biguli Sub county,
says all difficulties are part of the initial stages of such
projects, and says the impact on the community is huge.

We got the Water for People programe in 2012, we

then had 23% water coverage and were one of the
water stressed sub-counties in Kamwenge. But now we
have 53% safe water coverage, he said.
Water borne diseases have been greatly reduced and
people have more time to concentrate on improving
their income without worrying about water.
The majority of the people have not yet accessed water,
but we are optimistic, as this project is still going on.
Out of 40 villages, a scheme was commission for two
villages last year, now we are adding six more villages.
We still have a challenge with the vulnerable and the
elderly. They might not have enough money to pay as
they fetch, they will fail, and go back to the ponds.
My appeal to government is that Biguli sub county be
considered in the rural electrification project to help cut
costs of buying fuel to pump water.
Hosts are most pleased
Jackson Mugarura has a broad smile. There is a reason.
The headmaser of Malere Primary School will not only
host the function to launch the water systems in Biguli,
but is already one of the main beneficiaries as a user.
Oh. You cannot believe the happiness we, the students
and parents have, he said.
Our children now spend less time going to look for
water, and we worry less about their hygiene and water
diseases as we have safe water flowing day and night.
Water For
aiming for 100% coverage and
sustainability
WASH SECTOR Business Development Consultant
George Mugenyi says their target is to make sure the
social service which is water is flowing sustainably,
so that we do not need any development partner or
government to always come in and pay for the services.
The community should be able to raise demand and
pay for the water and ensure the private orperators can
service the operations.

P. O Box 1420 Kampala - Uganda / Tel +256 414 223247 /www.waterforpeople.org

Reinforced concrete tank of 30,000

litres
2,100 m
4 tapstands and one kiosk
Financed capital investment of up to
UGX 350,000,000
Provision of supervisory support
Provision of manpower for
supervision and land acquisition
Provision of land for construction

3,000 litres per hour, 61m deep

production well
The source is powered by a three
phase electrical diesel driven
generator set of Prime power 15kVA
that powers an electrical submersible
pump
500m
30,000 litres, Reinforced Concrete
Tank
2,300m
4 tap stands and one kiosk
Financed capital investment of up to
UGX 350,000,000
Provision of supervisory support
Provision of manpower for
supervision and land acquisition
Provision of land for construction

2 production boreholes with a yield

of 2500 litres per hour that are 67 m
and 60m deep respectively
Each of the sources is powered by
three phase electrical diesel driven
generator set of Prime power 13kVA
and 15kVA respectively that are
power electrical submersible pumps
2,300m and 2,150m
Elevated steel cylindrical tank with a
capacity of 30,000 litres
4,200m

The source is powered by a three

phase electrical diesel driven
generator set of Prime power 15kVA
that powers and electrical
submersible pump
1,600m

Production well that yields 5000 liters

per hour and is 67m deep

Biguli Parish Water supply and

Sanitation Board
Batuma John
Tel: 0754853620/0775822155

Biguli Parish Water Supply and

Sanitation Board
Batuma John
Tel: 0754853620/0775822155

Malere Parish Water Supply and

Sanitation Board
Tumwesiga Peter
Tel: 0777425975/0705795080

841 Domestic Population

323 Institutional Population
1,325 Domestic Population
509 Institutional Population

1,216 Domestic Population

680 Institutional population
1,916 Domestic Population
1,071 Institutional Population

2,467 Domestic Population

1,600 Institutional population
3,888 Domestic population
2,560 Institutional population

Length of distribution for supplying

beneficiaries
Number of metered outlets as at end 5 tapstands and one kiosk
of March 2016
SOURCE OF FUNDS AND APPRECIATION
Water for People
Financed capital investment of up to
UGX 500,000,000
Ministry of Water and Environment
Provision of supervisory support
and Kamwenge District Local
Government
Biguli Sub County Local Government
Provision of manpower for
supervision and land acquisition
Residents
Provision of land for construction

Length of transmission (pipeline from

each of the sources to the tank
Nature and capacity of tank

Source of energy

SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
Source

Capacity of systems in 20 years

(2016-2036)
MANAGEMENT
Name of Water Supply and Sanitation
Board
Name of Scheme Operator

NAME OF SYSTEM
Villages served
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Size of current population served

FACTS ABOUT THREE WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SYSTEMS

LOCATED IN KAMWENGE DISTRICT, KIBALE COUNTY, BIGULI SUB COUNTY, BIGULI PARISH
Malere-Nyakabungo-Butanda
Busingye-Buhumuriro
Rwebishahi
Malere, Nyakabungo, Butanda
Busingye and Buhumuriro
Rwebishahi