Borehole & Water Access

Access to clean water is a basic human right, yet millions in rural Nigeria walk miles daily to fetch water from contaminated sources. Our Borehole & Water Access initiative drills sustainable boreholes, installs hand pumps, and trains community water committees to maintain these vital resources for generations.

Why this work matters

Where there is no safe water point, the cost is paid in three currencies. The first is health: water drawn from open sources carries disease, and diarrhoeal illness is a leading cause of death among young children worldwide. The second is time — the walk to collect water is measured in hours a day, and it is overwhelmingly done by women and girls. The third is education, because those hours are taken from the school day, and girls lose them first.

A working borehole in the centre of a community returns all three at once.

How the programme works

Survey before drilling

Sites are surveyed before any drilling begins. Placement determines whether a borehole yields water reliably through the dry season, and getting this wrong wastes the entire investment.

Drilling and construction

We drill to a depth that reaches a dependable aquifer rather than the shallowest water available, and construct the wellhead and apron to keep surface contamination out of the supply.

Water quality testing

Water is tested before a borehole is handed over. A borehole that delivers unsafe water is not a completed project.

Community water committees

This is the part that determines whether the borehole still works in five years. Each community forms a water committee, trained in routine maintenance and minor repairs, and organises a small maintenance fund. Across the sector, the most common reason a borehole fails is not drilling failure but the absence of anyone responsible for repairing a pump.

Follow-up

We return to check that pumps are working and committees are active, and we report what we find rather than only what we hoped for.

What your support funds

• Hydrogeological survey and site selection
• Drilling, casing, and wellhead construction
• Hand pump supply and installation
• Water quality testing before handover
• Training and tools for the community water committee
• Follow-up visits and repairs

How we account for it

Each borehole is run as a project with a published budget and completion status, and the communities served are named. Donations designated to this initiative are tracked and reported in our public donation ledger.