Safe water for Uganda with myclimate and HELIOZ
 

The Swiss foundation myclimate sets itself the target to shape the future through sustainable consulting services, education and climate protection projects. myclimate is a renowned reseller of carbon credits in the DACH area. In 2019 they managed more than 100 projects in 30 countries. Since 2019 HELIOZ and myclimate are cooperating to implement a Gold Standard climate project in Uganda.

This project provides access to safe water for around 50,000 people in rural communities in Eastern Uganda as many people still depend on open and unsafe water sources like lakes and rivers often leading to diseases like diarrhea, typhoid or cholera.

As in other rural regions in Uganda, access to safe drinking water is a huge issue in Eastern Uganda. Waterborne diseases are a continuous problem for the people. The project is working in Buhemba Sub-County, Namayingo District, where currently approximately 40% of people don’t have access to safe water. Most of them depend on Lake Victoria for their daily supply of drinking water. The average income in this region is less than 1 USD per day, hence buying clean water or water disinfection technologies are rarely an option for the people in Buhemba. 

The project comes at a very crucial moment where so many cases of waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid and worms are extremely common among our people including children.

“To manage the microbiological contamination of water, families fall back on the available resources and practices: boiling the water with firewood on inefficient three stone fires. For this, people have to cut down trees for timber/charcoal or collect branches in nearby forests or on their own land, further contributing to local deforestation and a drop in forest coverage. However, due to financial reasons many people do not treat their water at all, hence being even more exposed to serious diseases as cholera, typhoid or worms.” Auma Patricia, Women Association Leader of Babiri-​Bandu Women Development Association in Bukewa East Village

The project sets out to provide 10,000 households in up to 100 villages in Buhemba Sub-County with WADI devices and regular trainings on water use as well as proper hygiene and sanitation practices. By this, the project will reach around 50,000 people. In a previous pilot project in Uganda, families reported that the WADI device is a very easy-to-use solution. As in most households, women are responsible for the collection of firewood and providing their families with water, the project solution will especially benefit women by saving time and money. The reduced consumption of firewood will also lift the burden on nearby forests and will save CO₂ emissions as boiling on the open three stone fires is prevented. Through the project, the families will be supplied with the necessary resources to disinfect up to 20 litres of water per day.