Providing a safe-water well might seem to be an easy way to prevent water-related deaths, but it is not that simple.  Safe water is often contaminated before use because of poor hygiene and sanitation practices such as carrying water in dirty buckets and allowing human and animal waste to come into contact with the water. The benefits of having access to safe water are greatly diminished by poor hygiene.

There are many opportunities for contamination to ruin safe water during water transport, storage and use. In one study, more than 40 percent of surveyed households using improved (safe water) sources had water samples that were ‘unsafe’ at point-of-use.¹ Community members need more than a well with safe water; they need to be empowered to implement the behavior changes necessary for keeping the water safe from access until it is used.

The Keeping Water Safe module of the Community Health through Hygiene course trains partners to promote preventing contamination of safe water to stop the spread of diarrheal disease. The participatory lessons are designed to teach community members how water-related diseases are transmitted, how to block disease transmission through preventing water contamination, and how to effectively share this information with their families and neighbors.

An overview of all three Community Health through Hygiene Modules are included in our stateside Community Health through Hygiene course.

This program is implemented by Lifewater’s volunteer field trainers and staff for the purpose of building the capacity of our national partners. For information on US-based training opportunities in this program area, see our Stateside Training section.

¹ Gundry, S., et al (2006):“Contamination of drinking water between source and point-of-use in rural households of South Africa and Zimbabwe: implications for monitoring the Millennium Development Goal for water”. Water Practice & Technology Vol 1 No 2 © IWA Publishing.