Clean drinking water for Zanzibar

Access to clean water is a basic human right. Working on behalf of the German Federal Government, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has helped to ensure that over 45 million people across the world benefited from a reliable drinking water supply in 2015 than in 2010.

In some regions, however, providing clean drinking water is still a challenge. Take the island of Zanzibar, for example, which is a semiautonomous province of Tanzania. Zanzibar is already one of the most arid areas of the world, and its groundwater is now turning saline due to the rise in the sea levels and becoming contaminated by germs from refuse and wastewater.

Three German medium-sized companies have formed an alliance in order to make lasting improvements to public provision of drinking water on Zanzibar. GIZ is assisting this consortium as part of the develoPPP.de programme, through which the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) supports private businesses investing in developing countries and emerging economies.

In this development partnership, the necessary technology was provided by UST Umwelt Systemtechnik GmbH, the Ingenieursgesellschaft für Umweltschutz und Geotechnik mbH (GeoConsult) and Lithec GmbH. Two pilot facilities for water treatment and desalination have been in operation since 2015. As a result, around 2,000 residents in the regions of Michamvi and Kijito Upele now have access to clean and affordable drinking water. In addition, a system has been put in place that for the first time enables local authorities to constantly monitor water quality throughout the entire island.

With the support of GIZ, these companies have also trained almost 100 water utility employees and 11 tutors at the Karume Institute of Science and Technology. The result is that local skilled workers can now operate the new facilities, and access to clean drinking water can be safeguarded in the long term. The Institute is successfully transferring this expertise. The first 100 students have already completed the recently launched courses in hydraulics, water supply and wastewater disposal.