Architecture Social Responsibility: A local community in Senegal welcomed a free access to drinking water

All images by Balouo Salo Humanitarian Organization

Architecture social responsibility can come in any form as far as it’s purposeful. Getting involved in community projects like general cleaning, sustainable development, local educational programs like building schools, women and children development programs, local healthcare projects etc. are indications that architecture education isn’t made for you to thrive in the built environment alone but to also be active in solution based ideas in leadership. Over time, architectural social responsibility has been exercised in different forms in the continent of Africa. However, it cannot be over exercised as Africa continues in the pace of development.

A local community in Senegal welcomed another kind of architectural social responsibility in the form of sustainable drinking water development. Developed by The Balouo Salo Humanitarian organization, ‘Talicourtou’s Well for Drinkable Water’, a communal, 18m (59 ft) deep well with a solar extraction system, osmosis filter and UV sterilization to eliminate 99% of viruses and bacteria has been completed. Finished with reinforced concrete cylinders and set under a protective stone shed in Senegal, the project’s main objective is to provide potable water to a community of about 2,500 people in the villages of Talicourtou, Sare Sambel, Dourdjounne, Medina Diallo, and Nioro.

Developed in the concept of sustainable and natural architecture that gives room for training and involvement of the community and the local Balouo Salo construction team. The design intent is focused on offering an easily identifiable and recognizable protected well. Using local, cost effective materials which are mainly dry-stacked stones recovered from the village quarry as the design gives the structure a very high stability and strength against weather factors, following the gabion technology, which is a dry stone construction technique that extends the longevity of the well and the structure itself. 

The deep well stores cleaner and less polluted water was exclusively designed by the team at Balouo Salo Humanitarian organization to harvest water in form of recovery in shade, with a technical room that houses the filters and solar system, facilitating and monitoring maintenance. The achieved well has an 18m (59 ft) deep pit, while excavation is protected from erosion and from collapses through reinforced concrete cylinders. The pit fills with water as a result of the water pressure from the underground aquifer that is recharged seasonally depending on the rainfall recycling process. This well is unique following its deeper depth that set its exception from other normal conventional wells in the area, resulting in cleaner, less polluted water with fewer fixed residues. 

Amenities includes inbuilt pit of a 24V submersible pump powered by solar system through a small photovoltaic station, equipped with 250W solar panels and batteries to store and reuse solar energy. This is monitored by a control station and a solar controller and inverter. The water extracted by the pump is sent to a phased filtration system: an initial filtration takes place through a pre-filter with membranes that removes sediment and dust, the water then passes through an Inox pipe with a UV lamp that sterilizes the water and eliminates bacteria, which is the same system normally performed to disinfect surgical instruments. 

For the purpose of raising awareness and knowledge about environmental issues and the phenomena that cause groundwater contamination, the project was implemented with the direct participation of the local community. Moreover, the execution of proper water resource management practices tackles the risk of desertification in the area as children under 5 years of age, elderly over 60, and pregnant women are most at risk for contracting diseases and infections from drinking contaminated water, which can bring short- and long-term harm at an estimated 70-80%. This estimated percentage will be reduced below 20%, thus making it possible to reduce the risk of infant mortality and malnutrition, increase life expectancy, and avoid the weakening of mothers. 

Using modern methodologies, the Well was constructed to enable access to enough water even in dry seasons when many traditional wells become empty. The implementation of the project will allow free access to potable, filtered and purified water to a large community of more than five villages, improving health conditions and reducing cases of infant mortality due to giarda cholera and diarrhoea, a consequence of contaminated water in other wells. Henceforth, the villages will have all-year-round free access to water even in the dry season–reducing distances for procurement of drinking water.