Kati-Kati West is a rural community in the Bardege-Layibi sub-County of Gulu, Uganda. The local district water office had asked us to to consider the area. When we got there, we saw a community of 900 people walking to a water source 2km away.
Their only water source was what is known as a protected pipe. This is where someone located a natural spring and built a concrete basin with a pipe connected to the water.
Protected pipes have water constantly flowing out of them. People stand in the pooled water with their containers to collect water as it flows out of the pipe. While this is preferable to an unprotected source, a borehole well provides safer water.
The other problem the community were dealing with was overcrowding. With so many people sharing one pipe, the lines for water were long and time-consuming.
In November 2021, Drop in the Bucket drilled a borehole well for the community at Kati-Kati West. At 50 meters we installed an India Mk ii hand pump with a flow through rate of 2.7 cubic meters of water per hour. This was more than sufficient even with so many people using the well.