An innovative solution to tackling Nigeria's water crisis

Amidst water scarcity and increased waterborne diseases, community members are using sand dams, an innovative water management system, to conserve rainwater for daily use. Sand dams offer extended water storage capabilities, lasting up to a year, ensuring community members have consistent access to clean water for farming, cooking and general hygiene. There are currently six sand dams in the community serving 600 households.

Architect Kalpana Ramesh and the Rainwater Project, supported by Telangana's government, are restoring centuries-old abandoned stepwells as functional water sources by removing decades of accumulated garbage, rebuilding stone structures, and installing rainwater-harvesting systems. Since the first restoration was completed in December 2022, the well has consistently maintained a water depth of nine meters, even during the summer, providing clean water for the first time in 40 years. To date, 25 stepwells have been restored across Telangana.

The community-run Water Consumer Association in Adamawa manages and maintains a solar-powered borehole system installed in 2022 by Mercy Corps and WaterAid. Trained volunteers handle operations, repairs, and hygiene promotion while charging households each month for maintenance costs. Four years after installation, the system continues serving approximately 200 households with clean water. Community members also report less fear of disease from contaminated river sources.

In a village facing water scarcity, generous locals with funds to spare are installing boreholes in their homes with pumps outside for other residents in the village to access clean, safe water.

The Conditional Cash Transfer program provides a monthly stipend to low-income individuals. The program was implemented in six local government areas and benefits over 48,000 people. Thanks to the funds from the program, several local women were able to pool their stipends together to repair their area’s only borehole to ensure locals have access to clean water.

The Water Access Rwanda project created a source of clean drinking water by establishing a network of pipelines and solar-powered pumps that help deliver purified drinking water to homes. Not only has the project provided a way for people to access clean water, but it has also provided jobs for over 60 people.

Community members, in collaboration with the non-profit Save the Children and the United States Agency for International Development, installed a solar-powered borehole earlier this year, making clean water more accessible to the village. Community members regularly clean the water taps and perform system maintenance to ensure the water supply isn’t disrupted, as the solar-powered solution has become their primary source of clean water.

The Durumi camp for internally displaced persons was suffering from unsanitary, unsafe water conditions until the Rotary Club and Nigerian Institution of Water Engineers installed water tanks to provide clean, easily accessible water to the community. In addition, the groups also hosted educational sessions about personal hygiene to help prevent the spread of bacteria and waterborne diseases.

By focusing on preventing water pollution at the source, fixing leaks in the system, and public education, Paris cleaned up its water network and decreased water use by 10% over the last ten years.

The Network of Water Rights Initiative (NWRI) works with local organizations to improve access to safe water through education and awareness campaigns aimed at enlightening people about the health risks of contaminated water. NWRI has led water clean-up efforts, helped locals establish security measures to prevent people from dumping waste in water and even helped get a water bill signed into law that would improve water supply and sanitation services across the state.