Pump Replacement Project

The village Pump Team and I standing behind one of the newly installed India-Mali pumps. (From left to right: Aliwata, Lassana, Dramani, Daouda, and myself)

As I had previously mentioned, at the beginning of last month I travelled to Bamako to hand deliver money to S.E.TRA., the pump manufacturer/installer. We had scheduled a March 20th start to the pump installation and training formation, during which three of our villagers, Lassana, Dramani, and Daouda, would be trained on pump maintenance, installation, and repair.

I called their office the Friday before to confirm what time they would be coming, but was told that the pump crew was still working on a project in Gao, so they would not be coming on time.

Delays continued, not only due to the work in Gao, but also due to their vehicle breaking down twice. Never once did I receive notification from S.E.TRA. on a change of plans, so I got into the habit of calling every morning to check the status. Unfortunately, this is just par for the course in this country, where people never want to tell you anything you don’t want to hear.

On Thursday, April 7th, the pump crew finally arrived, and finished their installation of the two pumps and the training formation the following evening. After giving the crew a bit of a tounge-lashing, my frustrations were quickly forgotten as I watched Omaru and his team do an incredible job of educating our pump team.

Daouda, Dramani, and Lassana assembling the Katilɛla pump cylinder.

Daouda and Dramani installing the Katilɛla pump as Omaru of S.E.TRA. looks on.

The first task completed was installation of the Katilɛla pump. Omaru put our team to work right away to perform the entire operation as Omaru briefly explained the parts and procedures. 

Omaru teaching Daouda, Dramani, and Lassana about the different parts of the pump.

Daouda explaining the piston clapet as Dramani and Lassana look on.

Omaru (center) explaining the individual tools from the village's new toolkit to our pump team.

That afternoon and the following morning was spent in a classroom-type session, where Omaru took the pump components apart and, one-by-one, explained their purpose, what can go wrong, and how to repair the pump in such a situation. Each villager then took turns disassembling and reassembling the pump cylinder and piston while naming and describing each component along the way. This was repeated until Omaru felt confident in their learning. 

Out with the old, in with the new...  Daouda and Lassana removing the old, broken foot pump in Diarrakɛla.

Dramani testing the pump piston in water.

Lassana, Aliwata, and Dramani working on the piston cylinder while Daouda braces the connected pipe.

Finally, Friday afternoon was spent installing the second pump in Diarrakɛla. Omaru and his crew sat back as our local pump team did all of the work, only to interject with occasional tips and instruction. They were also instructed on how to perform monthly maintenance.

Daouda and Lassana lowering the pump cylinder and piping into the deep well.

Lassana, Daouda, Aliwata, and Dramani installing the pump while Omaru offers advice.

It was impressive to watch our team work, and I was brimming with pride and enthusiasm over my involvement in the newfound knowledge and capacity of these men.

For my engineer friends, the Diarrakɛla pump was 18 meters (58 feet) deep, while the Katilɛla pump was 21 meters (69 feet) deep.

And we have water! Daouda pumping the Diarrakɛla pump while others test out the water.

I advised our pump team to keep the pumps locked until we could establish rules for use. We held a Water and Sanitation Committee meeting that night, then a village-wide meeting the following morning. Thanks to some strong advice from Omaru, to my surprise, the community decided to assess each family a small monthly fee for the use of the pump. The money raised is to go into a ‘kɛsu’ which can be used for water and sanitation projects in the future.

Ten rules were also decided upon, with fines established for any violations as well as fees paid by other localities for any repair service provided by our pump team, providing the community with a new revenue source. 

Daouda, Aliwata, Lassana, and Dramani learning how to perform monthly maintenance on the pump.

In the end, I could not be more pleased with how this project turned out. The two pumps are now in operation, providing the community with clean drinking water. More importantly, the village now has a team of four men (the fourth, Aliwata, joined us on the second day) capable of installing, maintaining, and repairing pumps into the future, and rules have been established to ensure that these pumps are looked after by the community.