Solar Powered Water Supply Installation for a Refugee Camp: Malawi
Malawi: New Water Supply Installation
Since 2019 Flow-5 have been working with an international NGO to develop a new, solar-powered groundwater supply system for a large Refugee Camp in Malawi. The camp’s population is continuously increasing and existing water supplies are not able to meet demand. The NGO client approached Flow-5 looking for a sustainable and future proof water supply solution.
Flow-5’s initial groundwater supply assessment survey identified two target areas with good groundwater supply potential that were earmarked for further investigation.
Pilot Drilling
In 2020, the client chose one of the two target areas as their preferred option for further work and Flow-5 moved forward with a pilot borehole drilling programme in this area. 10 pilot boreholes were drilled in a ‘grid’ across the area up to 100m depth, giving valuable primary information on the extent and productivity of the target aquifer (in this case, groundwater held in highly weathered, fractured or faulted areas of basement rock).
Resource Assessment
Using the data gathered in this pilot drilling and the preceding field survey, Flow-5 completed a detailed assessment of the feasibility of groundwater abstraction in this area. The potential impacts of pumping from the target aquifer at different rates and durations were analysed using a number of methods (including MODFLOW based numerical modelling).
The assessment demonstrated that high yielding abstraction boreholes could be feasibly installed to the target aquifer, however if the amount of groundwater abstracted was not regulated, groundwater levels could be impacted across the area. Therefore, a maximum allowable abstraction rate was presented to the client.
Final Water Supply Installation
At this point, Flow-5 were able to produce final designs for the groundwater supply system able to meet the proposed maximum allowable abstraction rate. This final supply system consists of three production boreholes in the target aquifer, acting as a mini ‘well-field’ to supply water to the camp area.
These final designs were accompanied by a detailed monitoring plan for the water supply system when in operation, including monitoring requirements and ‘trigger levels’ to flag potential issues at an early stage.
The final supply boreholes were successfully installed and tested in 2021, and finally in 2022, pumps, pipelines, and solar power infrastructure was installed. Water is now being pumped from the boreholes to the camp, meeting the client’s initial requirements and helping to ensure the camp population receives a suitable amount of water year-round.
If you would like to know more about groundwater resource exploration or groundwater supply installation services, please contact us.
