For World Water Day 2022, we wanted to spotlight one of our groundwater projects, the water supply for Aligegeo School in Malaita, which we undertook in partnership with Caritas Australia in Solomon Islands and the Malaita Provincial Government. The theme for World Water Day is Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible and so we wanted to showcase the difference that reliable access to groundwater makes to this school and these kids.
Four years after it was built, the groundwater supply is still going strong and supplying water to the Aligegeo School population, and recently received its final upgrades to connect to the toilet block to supply essential access to hygiene. The Aligegeo Secondary School, in Malaita, Solomon Islands and its a boarding school for approximately 600 students and staff. The boarding school for girls and boys is one of the oldest in the country and for decades was often forced to stop teaching since they could not provide basic services for water supply, hygiene or sanitation. The existing surface water and shallow hand-dug well sources were subject to catchment disturbance, contaminated run-off or temporary flows. The Principal of the Aligegeo School, Alick Bebesia commented that if unsuitable conditions lasted for 3-5 days, the rainwater supplies would be finished and the school then had to close. In the past, the sheer number of students using limited water sources resulted in girls and boys travelling outside school grounds to locate other water sources just for basic hygiene, sanitation and drinking water.
School students at the school helping out with the construction of the groundwater pump.
In 2018 Aligegeo School unveiled a new pumped groundwater supply system to improve hygiene and sanitation for the students and staff. The system pumps from a 62m deep groundwater bore which was made possible through Malaita Provincial Government funding. Tapping into these deeper groundwater resources accesses water that is naturally better protected and filtered by the ground making the sources inherently safer than the previous surface water and shallow, hand-dug well sources.
The bore pump system was designed by Earth Water People’s Hydrogeologist, Shaun Kies-Ryan, through the work of Caritas Australia in Solomon Islands. Shaun also supervised the installation and construction of the pump, tank and water distribution system – the construction was a joint effort between Earth Water People, Caritas Australia in Solomon Islands, Malaita Provincial Government (Rural WASH unit) and Aligegeo School. Earth Water People recently checked-in with the Principal of Aligegeo School to monitor how the system was working. “The system is working good, no major issues” says the principal. He also recounts, “with this water supply we are back operating like a normal school, which is much better than what it was like previously”.
Furthermore, the school has also now received an upgrade to the male and female toilet and shower blocks since the school was assessed by government as part of preparations for a potential emergency COVID-19 quarantine facility to assist the nearby hospital. It is wonderful to see water supply investments such as these being upgraded and utilised to benefit Solomon Islanders. The ongoing reliable groundwater supply along with these recent upgrades will ensure the water supply system for the school continues to meet the hygiene and sanitation needs of not only potential COVID-19 patients, but also for the ongoing development of the youth of the nation for many years to come.
Earth Water People sees the demand for reliable, safe groundwater is growing in Solomon Islands. Shaun has been working in Solomon Islands since 2015 and acknowledges that the country is relatively under-developed in terms of its groundwater resources with very little known about the full potential. Continued effort and investment is needed to understand the groundwater resources so that they can be sustainably developed to meet water supply demands of future populations.
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