By Watipaso Mzungu For millions of Malawians in rural areas, the nearest water source is often a borehole or shallow well. But access alone is not enough. Without knowing what is in that water, communities remain exposed to cholera, diarrhea and other waterborne diseases that claim lives every year. That gap is what a new […]
By Watipaso Mzungu
For millions of Malawians in rural areas, the nearest water source is often a borehole or shallow well. But access alone is not enough. Without knowing what is in that water, communities remain exposed to cholera, diarrhea and other waterborne diseases that claim lives every year.
That gap is what a new portable water quality testing labs seek to close. With financial support from Charity Water, Self Help Africa (SHA) has been procuring portable water testing labs, which are being distributed to district councils as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen water, sanitation and hygiene services in the district.
Speaking at the handover of the equipment to Dowa District Council,
District Commissioner (DC) James Jones Kanyangalazi, said the donation comes at a critical time when waterborne diseases continue to burden rural communities.
“Most of our communities suffer from waterborne diseases because they don’t have tested water sources. Now, for us to verify or to know that, for example, a cholera outbreak has come from this area, we need to go to the area, test water bodies, and find out the quality,” said Kanyangalazi.
He explained that with the portable lab, the council can now confirm within hours whether water from a newly drilled borehole is potable and safe for drinking.
“No water source will be provided to the community without testing. Anything that will be provided to the community is of good quality, safe for drinking and good for purpose,” Kanyangalazi added.
Dowa has made strides in water provision, with the DC noting the district is now at about 78 to 80 percent coverage for clean and safe drinking water. However, he admitted coverage drops to as low as 50 percent in some areas.
At national level, government says Malawi is on track to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 of universal access to safe and clean water by 2030.
This is according to Peter Chipeta, who is the Deputy Director responsible for Water Supply in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development.
Chipeta said urban areas rely on water boards while rural communities depend on boreholes and piped water supply schemes.
“We have several programs which are looking at trading centres. We want to make sure that the trading centre in a district must look as urban as possible. They must have at least safe drinking water from the tap,” he said.
He added that there is a policy shift to install dedicated solar-powered piped systems on boreholes so that people no longer have to walk long distances to fetch water.
“But another concern has been lack of capacity by the ministry and councils to test water that people, especially those living in rural communities, are drinking,” Chipeta acknowledged, adding that the portable lab donated to Doea will allow the district to identify contamination quickly without waiting for samples to be sent to the Central Water Quality Lab in Lilongwe.
“For example, if there are any cases of diarrhea, the district will be able to check what are the sources of the contaminants in water or in advance, and make necessary remedial measures even before headquarters comes into play,” he said.
The ministry will work with the council to train and backstop dedicated staff who will manage the lab. Results will also be shared with the national lab for verification.
“This will help to identify possible sources of contaminations within the council and identify possible solutions to these contaminants,” Chipeta said.
In his remarks, SHA Deputy Country Director, Smorden Tomoka, said the organization has been working with Dowa and Thyolo District Councils since 2011 to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
“Through our ongoing interactions with the district council, we did observe that there was a gap in terms of the water testing kit, and we thought we need to come in and support to address the gap,” Tomoka said.
The donation is part of SHA’s system-strengthening approach, which goes beyond drilling boreholes to include rehabilitation, sanitation support, behavior change, and now water quality monitoring.
In Dowa alone, SHA is operating in seven Traditional Authorities and is reaching over 300,000 people through water points it has constructed or rehabilitated. The district’s total population is estimated at 900,000.
Tomoka said the organization has a multi-year plan to reach everyone everywhere and hopes to scale the water quality testing model to other districts with donor support.
Health experts say contaminated water is a leading cause of child mortality in Malawi. Cholera outbreaks in recent years have been traced to unsafe water sources, especially during the rainy season.
