Project Maji to provide water to one million Ghanaians through solar powered water pumps
Close to six million people in Ghana representing 22 percent do not have access to potable water, International organization for water and sanitation Water.com has revealed.
These people according to the organization, have been left to rely on surface water to meet their daily water needs, leaving them vulnerable to water-related diseases.
In view of this, Project Maji a non-governmental organization, (NGO) is seeking to help curb the situation by providing potable water to one million people by 2025 through the building of solar powered water pumps, called solar water kiosks.
Currently, the organization has the solar water kiosks operating at nine sites which provide over 15,000 Ghanaians safe drinking water.
Unlike the manual borehole pumps where consumers would have to physically pump the water, the kiosk pumps the water by itself and can serve up to 5,000 liters of water per day.
“Our technology allows us to monitor all of our projects remotely directly from our cell phones. This not only mitigates costs, but also ensures that each site remains functional well after we leave. And Project Maji is committed to spending a 100 percent of its proceeds to expand and maintain rural water installation,” stated Sunil Lalvani, Founder of Project Maji at an event to mark the World Water Day celebration in Accra.
The initiative which began as one of Binatone’s CSR project in 2014 and expanded in 2015, is designed to work with almost no maintenance in the harshest environment and minimal damage to the ecosystem.
The facilities, which use clean renewable energy source have zero running costs and are not dependent on the electrical grid.
“We use a build-operate-transfer and sustain model for all our projects and we integrate environmental, financial, and community sustainability into all aspects of what we do, stated Nicole Malick, Development Director at Project Maji.
Project Maji has specialized in creating sustainable water solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The organization has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the WASH project to work together for future developments.
It is therefore calling on other institutions and individuals to partner and donate to support their efforts to providing safe drinking water to Ghanaians.
The World Water Day is celebrated on March 22 every year.
This year’s theme, “Nature for Water” would be used to explore how nature can be used to overcome the water challenges of the 21st century.
By Nana Oye Ankrah
