Nguri Village Project

The villagers are so excited and upon receiving funding, are prepared to organize the provision of community labor and local materials to build the reservoir, dig and lay pipe-lines and monitor the catchment and reservoir post-construction. The water from the hill shall flow by gravity through pipelines to stand taps in the village. Ernest currently has no means of transportation, so providing him with a motorbike so that he can quickly reach the site will encourage him to perform the maintenance activities that are necessary to the catchment’s sustainability. This will also enable him to travel to other parts of the village and to other villages to teach other people how they can protect water catchments and carry out sustainable landscaping/environmental conservation projects in their own communities. 

The main goal of the Nguri community water project is divided into four phases; to harness and construct the spring water catchment, construct an inspection/filtration chambers, a water reservoir of 20000 L, digging/ laying of pipelines over a distance of 4km and construction of 5 stand taps in the village. This will allow the village to have quick and easy access to sufficient, clean water right at their door steps.  

The spring catchment is the structure that harnesses the water at the point where it is drained from underground. This cylindrical structure will be three meters deep. The outside will be built with cement and stones, and then the inside will be filled with gravel of different size gradients. The water will be piped into a 1 square meter lidded inspection chamber made of cement and stones. The water will then be piped into a storage tank of 20 meter cubed dimension (20.000 litres). The tank will be constructed out of cement and stone. The tank will have a lid so that people can have access to the inside of the tank to wash it and inspect it every two months. A pressure pipe of 63 inch will be used to channel the water from the inspection chamber into the reservoir. The same pressure pipe of 63 inch will be used to channel the water from the reservoir along the 4 km while smaller pipes of 32 inches will be connected to the stand taps. Water collected in excess of the reservoir capacity will be diverted to the downstream eco-system. 

Water catchment protection is a vital and integral part of this project; without it, the groundwater could easily become contaminated and/or depleted, rendering the construction of a catchment/reservoir useless. The first step is to build a wooden fence strung with barbed wire that encompasses a circular area of 50 meters radius around the catchment site. The purpose of this fence is to keep out human and domestic animal intruders who could pollute, defecate on, or otherwise damage the catchment area. In conjunction with the wooden fence, a live fence (a fence created from densely planted trees) will be planted alongside the wooden fence to support it. As the wooden fence decays, the live fence will strengthen it and replace it over time.

In order to protect the catchment from contamination and erosion, the surrounding land must also be properly landscaped with plants that purify the aquifer without depleting it, and that prevent soil erosion and runoff. Carefully selected trees and shrubs will be planted to prevent erosion and runoff while simultaneously conserving water in the catchment. For example, Vertiva grass will be planted for erosion control because the roots grow deep (three meters) but conserve water. Calandria, Acacia, and Leucaena will all be planted in the water catchment because they attract bees for apiculture. Many of these plants will provide, fruits, and medicinal plants and above all conserve biodiversity.  

Finally, a signpost will be placed at the roadside of the village. This signpost will include the name of the site, project donors /partners, and water slogans such as “Water is Life,” “Water: Two billion people in dire need of it every day,” and “Let’s plant more trees to protect spring water catchments for future generations.”

LOCAL SPONSORS:

• Local masons will donate their time to build the reservoir tank and catchment supervised by a lead engineer who shall be hired from the city.

• Pipes and all plumbing accessories shall be purchased from Bamenda by Farmer Tantoh- the project manager

• Young people will carry stones that will be used to construct the tank and they will mix concrete, carry the wood for the fence from the road to the site

• Wood and stones and cement will be carried by truck to the roadside, then carried by head to the catchment site about 1 hour hike.

• Women, youths, and men will provide manual labor to dig around the catchment for the construction of the reservoir, dig pipe lines and also to build the fence

• Technical expertise provided by Farmer Tantoh- project manager and specialist on water conservation in Cameroon.