Water for Households

Cameroon is endowed with abundant water resources. From Lake Chad in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south, it has numerous rivers, lakes and springs. In fact, Cameroon has Africa's largest hydro-electric potential after the DRC. But in most parts of the country, there is little safe drinking water. That leads people to unsafe water from wells and streams, a typical example of the Northern Part of the Country. Taps often dry up for months and people have to depend on water from wells built dangerously close to latrines and in some cases very shallow. Others drink water sold on the streets – without knowing where it came from.

Water-related diseases like cholera and typhoid are endemic and each time the tap is turned on, the water is brown in some areas especially in cities and urban centres. Unlike the well watered Southern Region, the semi-arid less watered Northern lowlands are mostly dependent on groundwater. Streams do exist here but their flow is not permanent, given this Region’s prolonged dry season, especially in the Yaéres floodplains in the Chad basin. Ecologically, the north is the most fragile zone in Cameroon, with a Sahelian climate and vegetation in the Far North Province (R Hassan, 2006). According to a report presented by WHO/UNICEF in 2008; While Cameroon is not yet on track to meet the targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water and sanitation; it has made notable progress since 19901.

PIPE BORNE WATER IN SOA, YAOUNDE – CAMEROON

Water being carried from a tap at a Mini-Cité in Soa, Yaounde

During the cholera outbreak of January 2012 in Cameroon, the minister of health confirmed pipe borne water as safe for drinking, and a ban was placed on some sachet water which did not meet certain criteria were suspected of being vectors for the transmission of the cholera causing bacterium (Vibrio cholera).

In Soa, an outskirt of Yaounde (The Political Capital of Cameroon) where the University of Yaounde II is located with an estimated population of aver 60 000 including students, workers, and parents; the pipe borne water is controlled by the National Water Cooperation body (CamWater).

Below are images of the water carried directly from the tap into clean containers. This water is used for cooking, bathing, washing of dishes, and other house hold choices. Most students and inhabitants of Soa use this water for drinking. 

CONSTRUCTION OF BOREHOLE TO IMPROVE HOUSEHOLD AND COMMUNITY WATER ACCESS & MANAGEMENT

Underground water in Africa is a major source for drinking water and irrigation; it can provide a reliable and readably available water supply.

Simple (Handp Pomp) Borehole in Yaounde, Cameroon

Groundwater is more reliable and advantageous over surface water supplies because it responds more slowly to variability in climate conditions, including drought, and it is generally of better quality than surface water.

The construction and maintenance of water points, especially boreholes, demonstrate how important it is to make water accessible to largely resource households and poor communities in a more reliable and sustainable way.

Borehole water is a source, which provides a reliable supply of water for communities in semi-arid areas. The main advantage of this source of water is that when other sources of water - such as rivers or springs dry up, usually soon after the rainy season; borehole water remains the only reliable and safer source in rural areas. But without proper management, boreholes do not prove to be sustainable sources, as people's ability to conserve and properly manage water resources largely determines the lifespan of such a water source.

Electric Pomp Borehole System

For this reasons, most individuals and communities have adopted the construction of boreholes as a sustainable and more efficient source of water. These boreholes vary in category from the simple “hand-pomp” through the electric pomp to the solar powered Ground WaterPumping systems which are less common in the less developed and developing countries like Cameroon. However, the hand-pomp and electricity powered Ground Water Pumping systems are common in most localities of Yaounde, Soa, and in other regions of Cameroon. The objective is to make good water quality more accessible to households and enhance their ability to cope with water shortages and also present health related problems such as cholera, dysentery and other water-borne diseases.

Water resources, in particular conventional rural water supply systems/sources are among the first to be impacted by climate variability. Accessibility to portable water by households in some part of Cameroon is a course for concern given that the population relies mainly on springs, wells and boreholes for the supply of potable water in rural areas.

Partners of CECOSDA:

GWP

MINEPDED CAMEROON

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