Three hundred million people in sub-Saharan Africa currently do not have access to clean water, said experts at a conference in London last week. Furthermore, Africa will not meet the UN millennium development goal of reducing by half the number of people without access to clean water until 2050.
The conference, organised by the International Association of Hydrogeologists, brought together more than 100 experts on water from Europe and Africa, donors such as the World Bank, and non-government organisations, including Unicef and WaterAid, to discuss the link between access to clean water and poverty in Africa.
Participants agreed that reliable access to clean water was crucial in reducing poverty in Africa, as it would contribute significantly to all of the development goals, which will be discussed at the G8 summit in Scotland this week.
Access to clean water contributes directly to goals concerning health—such as reducing child mortality, maternal health, and deaths from AIDS—by reducing the spread of water related illnesses. For example, Othneil Habilla from Unicef Nigeria, told the conference that over the past 15 years access to clean water has reduced by 98% the incidence of Guinea worm (a parasitic infection in which worms can grow up to a metre long in the human intestinal tract before erupting through the skin).
Access to clean water also helps to promote equality of the sexes (because collecting surface water is perceived as women’s work and can take up to six hours a day) and in achieving universal education (children often miss school because they have to collect water).
Experts emphasised that ground water, found in rock cavities beneath the earth’s surface, is the only realistic option for increasing the supply of water in rural areas in many African countries. It is naturally protected from bacterial contamination and is often a reliable source during drought. Alternatives, such as surface water from rivers and ponds, are often contaminated and unreliable.
However, there are many technical and financial challenges to finding and providing ground water. "Blind" drilling (whereby water engineers drill anywhere they think best without investigating first) is responsible for some of the high cost associated with supplying ground water. It also means that rural ground water supplies sometimes dry up after a few years, as the size of the source has not been properly researched. In addition, natural contamination with fluoride and arsenic means that all ground water sources should be adequately tested, which often involves complex laboratory or field tests.
Alan MacDonald, senior hydrogeologist at the British Geological Survey, said, "The success of any water project depends on the water’s quality and sustainability. So it is vital to know where to locate ground water, what its quality is, and how much of it there is."
Segun Adelana, a professor at Cape Town University and vice president of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, said, "If you can’t measure water, you can’t manage it. How can we provide sub-Saharan Africa with clean water without basic information?" He advocated better training of African water experts, updating existing information on ground water, and ensuring that any new information is shared between all experts.
