WorldWater Corporation co-operates with the Tanzania Ministry of Water on solar water project

“The initial phase pilot project set to begin in early 1999 will demonstrate both the environmental and economic sustainability of WorldWater’s solar pumping systems,” said WorldWater Vice President Thomas Leyden. “Villagers pay a user’s fee for water delivered which provides for full cost recovery. The self-financing mechanism developed for this program will assist the Tanzanian government in reaching over 14.6 million people (more than 52% of the population) who do not have access to clean drinking water,” Mr. Leyden explained.

After successful completion of the pilot project, the second phase would increase drinking water supplies to over 100 villages for a cost of over $3 million. The third phase, if instituted, would provide nation-wide coverage estimated by WorldWater to total more than $30 million.

E&Co, the Rockefeller Foundation-supported energy investment group, is working with WorldWater to finance the initial phase of $420,000, which investment the 15 pilot villages will pay down over 5 years.

Prof. Idris A. Mtulia, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Water, who signed the MOU on December 18, states, “The President and Government of Tanzania have established water development projects in rural areas as a high national priority. We have now bought and installed solar pumps from WorldWater that have worked very reliably and have been well received by the users. Based on this experience, we believe these solar pumps will be more cost-effective and reliable, making them much more practical in rural areas, as well as environmentally sound.”

The usual method of remote water supply is diesel-powered pumping. This has proven impractical for several reasons — the difficulty and expense of getting fuel to the sites, the availability and high cost of diesel fuel, and the lack of reliable maintenance and spare parts. At any given moment it is estimated by officials that at least one-third of diesel pumps are out of commission.