Location: Kigumba Sub County, Masindi District

Population: Approximately 670

Pump Installed: September 20, 2009

Donors: Thomas Skea, Alexis & Messiane Caze, Ron and Bev Nordmann, Christopher Jarboe, Mitch Pineault, Margaret Ross, Tanya & Paul Preisser, Andrew Pfeffer, Ben Deever, Bradlee VanBrunt, James Park, Jeffrey Chianakas, Judith Kristeller, Rose Marie Phillips, Andrea Kaplan

Located in a very rural and underserved area of Masindi District, Kifuruta lacks many of the basic facilities to prevent numerous diseases from affecting its inhabitants. More than 25 miles from Masindi Town, Kifuruta is home to over 500 people all of whom currently rely on a single open water source (pictured below) for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing clothes. The average time of one trip spent collecting water is 47 minutes. Parents will often send their children to fetch water for the entire family which creates problems with school attendance, especially for girls. On top of all of this, the well itself is unreliable; villagers from Kifuruta report that the water level drops significantly during the dry season. The use of this water for drinking is the main cause of water-related illnesses like dysentery and diarrhea. Additionally, because the water is open and stagnant it also creates an environment where malaria and yellow fever-transmitting mosquitoes thrive.

Busoga Trust America will not only be providing Kifuruta with a reliable source for safe water, but will also carry out sanitation and hygiene sensitizations. Only 2% of the population uses a proper pit latrine for defecation and 96% do not have adequate hand washing facilities leaving the majority of Kifuruta’s residents vulnerable to easy routes of infection. The combination of clean water and improved sanitation and hygiene practices that BTA promotes significantly reduces the disease burden suffered by the community.

Well Data

Depth:  22 ft

Water Column:  12 ft

Recharge Rate:  5 ft/hr

The water column is the height of the water within the well or the distance between the water table and the bottom of the well.  The recharge rate is a measurement of how quickly the well refills after water is removed.

Water Quality Data Before and After Busoga Trust Intervention

Fecal Coliforms (E. coli) per 100 ML

Old Source: 500

BTA Well: 8

Percent Change: -98%

E. coli is a fecal bacteria which causes diarrhea, violent stomach cramps, and fever. It can be transmitted through contaminated food or water. US EPA water standardsrequire Ecoli and similar bacteria be completely absent from 95% of the water samples taken from a system.

Turbidity/NTU

Old Source: 58

BTA Well: 0

Percent Change: -100%

Turbidity is a measure of water clarity; it is an indicator of how much solid mass (silt, sand, clay, algae) and potentially disease-causing organisms a water source contains. Turbidity is measured in Nephelometric Turbidity Units.  In the United States, the allowable standard is 1 NTU; Uganda strives for a turbidity level of less than 15 NTU.

First Users of the New Pump in Kifuruta III

View Pictures of Kifuruta III