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The Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Arusha, Tanzania Rotary Clubs are jointly sponsoring a rainwater harvesting project for the Primary and Secondary schools for the village of Lolkisale, Tanzania. Because the need for drinking water for the primary and secondary schools in the Lolkisale is currently extreme in the dry season and the lack of water for the schools leads to their periodic closure, the Arusha Rotary Club proposed a rainwater harvesting project with the following priorities.
a. The first priority for installation of a rainwater harvesting system is at the Secondary School, located approximately two (2) Km from the existing drinking water source. The Secondary School currently has approximately 420 students. Most of the students live at the secondary school during the school year. The proposal is to install gutters and plastic water storage containers at all buildings at the Lolkisale Secondary School. The project will provide onsite storage of water supplies without hauling the water the two kilometers from the existing distribution system during the rainy season. The project will also provide additional water supplies during the dry season so that the school can remain open for a greater portion of a full nine-month school year. This water source will also reduce the demand on the community's water supply. There are a total of six buildings and one existing 10,000 L concrete collection vessel. A totally of seven (7) new 10,000 L plastic tanks would be installed complete with gutters resulting in four (4) buildings with one (1) storage vessel each and two (2) buildings with two (2) storage vessels. The resulting storage will provide 80,000 L of water from rain harvesting and will provide a small, but marginally adequate daily supply of five (5) L of water per student for an additional 38 days.
b. The village has a relatively large warehouse used to store crops and supplies that currently has a 10,000 L storage tank and gutters on one side of the roof. The second priority is to replace the existing faulty concrete structure and poorly designed gutter system with a new tank and to install an additional tank on the other side of the roof. This project would provide 20,000 L of harvested rainwater reducing the demand on the existing spring-water storage and prolonging its availability during the dry season.
c. The third priority is the installation of seven (7) 10,000 L rainwater harvesting tanks and gutters at the Primary School. The Primary school is located approximately 0.5 Km from the existing spring-water supply source and currently provides schooling for approximately 600 students in grades first through eighth. The students in the primary school are present only through the school day so their water requirements are somewhat less than at the Secondary School. The additional storage of 70,000 L of harvested rain-water would provide an onsite supply of drinking water further reducing the demand on the existing spring-water supply. This supply would provide approximately 2.5 L of drinking water per student for an additional 46 school days.
d. Each storage vessel will be covered with a shed (banda) to protect the plastic tanks from sunlight and extending their useful life. The plastic tanks, tank stands and gutter supplies will be trucked to the village from Arusha. The contractor (Fundi) and other supervisory personnel will also travel to the village from Arusha. Most of the labor will be hired locally from within the village. The bandas will be built with local materials by village residents at no cost.
e. The harvested water will be treated with chemicals (chlorine) to maintain water quality and filtered through charcoal filters made from local materials. Security will be provided so that the water supplies are safe from theft.
The project will cost $60,000 USD.
The project will be constructed in late 2014 or early 2015, depending on the completion of fundraising.
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