Tanzania: 3 Villages to Benefit From Water Project.
Babati — Three villages in Babati District, Manyara Region, will finally be relieved of water scarcity under a multi-billion shilling water supply projects to be implemented by the district council.
These are Malangi village where some Sh649 million has been budgeted, Imbilili (Sh487 million) and Haraa in which some Sh594 million will be spent to supply water to the villagers.
This was announced here by the chairman of the council Mohamed Kibiki who said contractors for the three projects have been picked and that they would ensure they are implemented without any delay.
"We will revoke any contract if we are not satisfied with the implementation," he said, adding that civil works have to start immediately because the funds have been allocated.
According to him, all the three projects are expected to be completed in the next six months, relieving the villagers of water scarcity at the height of the dry season later in the year.
Elias Bura from Malangi village said it would be a great relief to be supplied with the precious liquid because they had been subjected to empty promises by the district administrators for many years.

Corps’ drought plan threatens promised supply of water.
1 / 2 COLEHARBOR, N.D. — Steve Knorr is absolutely sure he’ll get 24 inches of water on his crops this year.
He has millions invested, each dollar a reason to be concerned about an emerging plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that could imperil his access to canal water during an extreme drought, just when he needs it most.
The problem the corps hopes to forestall is what could happen when Lake Sakakawea drops extremely low in a drought while Lake Audubon remains at its standard operating pool.
All that pressure on one side of the embankment unanswered from the other side could lead to embankment failure, says Matt Nelson, an engineer from the corps’ water control section.
Nelson said the low water did allow the corps to observe the performance of 13 relief wells — installed at the time of construction on the Lake Sakakawea side in the 1950s precisely to relieve that unequal water pressure.
If the embankment is performing well under that severe loading, we could go to a higher number or it could go the other way," Nelson said.
"Here we are 70 years later, and we’re just learning that the relief wells don’t work.
Kip Kovar, Garrison Diversion Unit engineer, says the standard summer elevation of 1,847 feet in Lake Audubon is required to maintain flow through the canal headworks and push the water down the canal.
This way, water managers can plan.

Addressing a seminar on improved water, sanitation and hygiene in Sindh, organised by USAID’s supported community mobilization for water governance, health and hygiene (CMHH) project implemented by HANDS, Herbol, he said that USAID was installing water supply system in Jacobabad and the project was nearing completion.
She further said that clean drinking water was essential for good health.
On this occasion, several members of the Sindh Assembly signed a declaration to establish a ‘Water Caucus’ in the Assembly in order to ensure an allied approach to tackle water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) challenges in Sindh.
Members of Sindh Assembly, including Deputy Speaker Shahla Raza, Nusrat Saher Abbasi, Haji Shafi Jamote, Arif Mohsin Bhatti, Dr Mohammad Rafique Banbhan, Faqeerdad Khoso, Dr Khatu Mal Jeewan, Ghazala Siyal, Jam Madad Ali, Pir Mujeebul Haq, Engineer Pesu Mal Ukrani, Sorth Thebo signed the declaration.
MPA Jam Madad Ali said that municipalities in Sindh were not properly maintaining water supply systems, hence there was a need to look after these systems after installation.
“No water supply system across cities and towns of Sindh is providing clean drinking water.
There is a dire need to install contamination free water supply systems besides sanitation,” he added.
“Therefore, it is need of the hour that those laws should be implemented,” he said, and added that sewage was discharged into Dadu Canal, which posed hazards to the health of people.
Chief Executive of HANDS Dr Shaikh Tanveer Ahmed said in his speech that WASH Caucus will coordinate and communicate with major WASH organisations both in the public and private sectors outside the Sindh Assembly to extend support for the implementation of WASH-related policies and programmes.
Sindh is facing water scarcity and there is dire need to provide clean drinking water to people in Sindh through better water supply.

Today, major cities around the world use reverse osmosis or multi-stage evaporation to provide fresh water to hundreds of millions of people.
First, desalination still requires a lot of energy — three to four kilowatt-hours of electricity to make 1,000 liters of freshwater using reverse osmosis.
The energy needed for desalination has been falling for decades as engineers have drastically improved the systems.
In fact, renewable energy can easily power reverse osmosis.
When communities face droughts and growing populations, could seawater treatments prove to be sustainable methods to deliver an essential water supply to those who need it?
Does the desalination brine make the ocean saltier?
The fresh water produced also eventually returns to the sea, so that the amounts of water and salt in the ocean are, overall, unchanged.
Desalination plants are also drought resistant.
Major coastal cities are continuing to grow rapidly.
Current and future desalination technologies can safely and sustainably make the oceans part of the solution to the world’s rising need for fresh water.

Residents in Upper Allen Township should boil their water until further notice after E. coli bacteria was found in the water supply this week.
Suez Water announced the boil order Friday and officials said customers in the Center Square Water System were being notified about the problem through phone messages.
Residents in affected areas should not drink the water or use it for food preparation without boiling it first.
E coli bacteria can make people sick and pose additional risks for the young, old and people with weakened immune systems.
A sample collected Tuesday at a water sample station tested positive for E. coli and additional samples collected Thursday showed a "total coliform positive sample."
Tests at residential customer locations "showed no total coliform or E. coli," according to the Suez announcement.
"We are also conducting a thorough investigation to determine the source of the contamination and will implement corrective action," the statement said.
An announcement on the Suez website said bacterial contamination can occur when increased runoff enters the drinking water source.
It can also happen due to a break in the distribution pipes or a failure in the water treatment process.
The Center Square Water System includes the following streets: Atland Drive Bauman Court Beilman Court Brunswick Avenue Buckingham Avenue Cocklin Court Cope Drive, North Cope Drive, South Derbyshire Avenue Emily Drive Fenwick Avenue Fleming Drive Foribunda Lane Glime Drive Granada Lane Grandia Floria Drive Grantham Road Gregor Court Hawthorne Avenue Herman Drive Kower Court Kower Drive Lancelot Avenue Lobach Drive Merrimac Avenue Norfolk Court Paul Circle Rosegarden Blvd., East Rosegarden Blvd., North Rosegarden Blvd., South Rosegarden Blvd., West Sheffield Ave Shoff Court Stumpstown Road West Lisburn Road Wakefield Avenue White Dawn Lane

Twelve Years After Gangajal Project, Agra Still Waits for Clean Drinking Water.
The state water supply is so polluted that not a single household in the city can use it for drinking.
“The total water demand of the city is approximately 500 million litres per day (MLD) and the current water supply is 285 MLD supplied from Sikandra water works (120 MLD) and Jeevani Mandi water works (165 MLD).
Water supplied to Agra is not adequate but after the completion of Gangajal project the supply-demand gap will end,” Chandan Singh, general manager, Agra Jal Sansthan told The Wire.
The cost of this was estimated at Rs 355.68 crore, and the government signed an agreement with Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC) on December 2, 2005 for this.
In last 12 years, the cost of the project has shot up to Rs 2887.92 crore, and there is still no visible work on the ground.
The pipeline length has changed from 70 km to 13o km.
Current water quality in Agra The UP government has not bothered to take note of the infamous pollution levels of the Yamuna.
One of the sewage treatment plants at Agra’s prominent water works, Jeevani Mandi, is in a deplorable state, while others are outdated.
Saxena however said, “Water in Chambal is not enough to meet Agra’s demand even if it is close.

Several Sindh Assembly members representing various political parties signed a declaration on Friday to establish a ‘water caucus’ in the provincial legislature to ensure an allied approach to tackling water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) challenges in the province.
The declaration was signed at a seminar on improved water, sanitation and hygiene in Sindh.
Speaking on the occasion, minority MPA Eng.
Pesu Mal Ukrani said clean drinking water was the prime need of the people and the government had taken many initiatives to provide clean drinking water to them.
MPA Jam Madad Ali said municipalities in Sindh were not properly maintaining water supply systems; hence, there was need to look after these systems after their installation.
MPA Dr Mohammad Rafique Babhan said the people of Sindh had been deprived of clean drinking water, which was a matter of grave concern.
“No water supply system across cities and towns of Sindh is providing clean drinking water.
The discharge of sewage into the sea was destroying fish life and needed to be stopped, he said, stressing the need to filter sewage before discharging it into the sea.
Therefore, he said, it was the need of the hour that those laws should be implemented.
She said USAID was installing water supply systems in Jacobabad and the project was nearing completion.

The State Water Commission voted Thursday to activate a drought disaster program to help North Dakota ranchers get water to livestock in extremely dry parts of the state.
The program would provide $250,000 in state dollars to help fund water supply projects such as new wells or hookups to water pipelines to help livestock producers in areas with extreme drought.
Gov.
Burgum said he’s been meeting with leaders of state and federal agencies to address the severe drought conditions facing North Dakota, including taking steps toward establishing a joint information center to coordinate state resources.
“This is one important piece of a much broader statewide response that we’re working on,” Burgum said.
Drought conditions continue to worsen in North Dakota, with 8 percent of the state listed in extreme drought.
“A lot of cattle are being sold," said Water Commissioner George Nodland of Dickinson.
"It’s sad.” Under the drought disaster livestock water supply program, the state will fund up to half of a water supply project, such as rural water system connections, pipeline extensions, pasture taps, stock water tanks and other projects, for producers in the affected counties.
The maximum available is $3,500 per project, with each producer eligible for up to three projects.
More information, including a map of the counties included in the program, is expected to be available Friday and posted to the State Water Commission website, swc.nd.gov.

Hydrant vandalism disrupts Belfast water supplies.
Young people have been warned that vandalism of fire hydrants is not "harmless fun", with disruption being caused to water supplies over four days in north Belfast.
SDLP MLA Nichola Mallon has also urged NI Water to put a more robust system in place to prevent tampering with hydrants.
Ligoniel and New Lodge are among the areas that have been affected.
NI Water said some staff had come under threat as they tried to close hydrants.
"There have also been incidents where NI Water staff have come under threat from local youths when they try to close the hydrant down, having to return late into the night when the crowds have gone," NI Water said.
‘Unthinkable scenario’ "This is totally unacceptable behaviour toward staff who are trying their best to do their job and protect the water supply to customers.
"The whole community needs to help us put a stop to this behaviour before the unthinkable scenario occurs where a fire breaks out and there is no water for the NI Fire & Rescue Service to deal with the fire."
Ms Mallon said the disruption began on Sunday.
"Some young people might think this is harmless fun, it is not, it is causing serious disruption to people’s lives.

Solar-powered water pumps are fostering peace by creating a steady supply of water in Sudan.
A report by Greenpeace finds that using sewage water to cool coal-based power plants in India will not resolve recent conflicts over the energy source.
The study concludes that utilizing wastewater would not resolve conflicts over water use between utilities, farmers, and urban communities.
India Today By The Numbers 750,000 Number of children at risk of losing access to water as fighting increases in eastern Ukraine.
The water supply of 400,000 people, including 104,000 children, was cut off last week after shelling damaged two filtration systems linked to the South Donbass Water pipeline.
UNICEF 58,000 Number of families who have been displaced from Marawi City amid fighting between Islamic State and the Filipino government.
The number of people leaving Marawi City is expected to rise as the conflict enters its fourth week.
Relief Web Science, Studies, And Reports Water scarcity has caused many conflicts among tribes in Sudan, but solar powered water pumps are beginning to foster reconciliation.
Relief Web On The Radar The American Red Cross has pledged $650,000 in funding to East Africa as drought persists throughout the region.
The funds will aid local Red Cross teams in Kenya and South Sudan, including in areas of South Sudan which are facing violent conflict.