When safe water systems fail, entire communities suffer. Women return to trekking long distances to get water. Children start getting sick again. Everything from businesses to farms to schools is negatively affected.
Unsustainable safe water systems are a big problem. GWC is addressing this problem in many ways: training water technicians, using carbon credits for financial stability, and creating a remote monitoring platform that alerts operators to system failures.
Our newest project focuses on another aspect of sustainability: operations and maintenance. Even the most expertly designed system will fail without trained operators and proper maintenance. So GWC is pulling together a Solar Powered Water Systems (SPWS) Operations and Maintenance Manual.
This manual will be a practical guide that operators and managers can use to keep their systems running strong. There will be helpful checklists, simple diagrams, and clear explanations. The manual will even be adaptable to different SPWS in their specific contexts.
We anticipate this 60- 80-page manual will be available in English and French by early 2025. At that point, we will offer it for free on our website along with our SPWS Design and Installation Guide. Then the manual will be used in two new courses about SPWS operations and maintenance.
As always, this project is built on the power of collaboration. The advisory group for the manual includes SPWS experts from Water Mission, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Kiritimati Island Water Project – Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), International Lifeline Funds (previously Engineers Without Borders), Practica, and other consultants. Funding for this work comes from The Coca-Cola Foundation.
Great initiative. Timely too esp for our organization. We are in the process of coming up with our own O&M manual to address normal O&M and sustainable development in Burundi.
That is great to hear! Best of luck with your important work in Burundi.
Great job 👍
That is great. Welcome in Burundi. There is a high need in terms of water infrastructures sustainability.
I can’t wait to access the manual. Sustainable Operation, Management and Maintenance is something many safe water supply and smallhoder irrigation systems have been struggling with in the East and Southern African region
Great work. This would be very helpful for us in Ghana, where solar powered SPWS is an emerging technology with minimal O & M manuals. Thanks for the excellent initiative. Looking forward to it
Thanks for this wonderful encouragement!
Fantastic ! The fuel crisis and rapid development in solar industry are further speeding the installation of solar pumping systems, particularly in the countries of the Africain Sahel. Unfortunately rural and peri-urban communities are not equiped to maintain them. This is a critical issue, especially in blockaded areas. It would be great if this manual could also cover issues related to hybrid pump, which are gaining ground. Delighted to have the manual issued soon
Thanks for your encouraging comment. We appreciate your suggestion to include issues related to hybrid pumps and will take it under advisement. We are excited to share the manual in the next few months!
I TOTALLY AGREE!
The SPWS manual and course will be a great addition to the GWC portfolio!
Thank you! We look forward to sharing it soon!
That will be great initiative on ensuring reliability of these solar powered water systems. Looking forward to it!
Thank you!