ICRC ETH Assessment report WatHab

WATER & HABITAT DEPARTMENT

ETHIOPIA

Assessment Report of the Water system in Aydora Town Centre

Dates of visit: Aug 26, 2021 and November 18, 2021

WatHab Participants: Mahdi Abdi Guled, WatHab Engineer; Tonny Bollo Achieng, Wathab Delegate;

Kebele Coordinates
Zone Woreda Altitude
(hd.ddddd)
Location
N
Sitti Zone Erer Aydora asl
E

1. Map and access

Aydora town centre is located in Erer Worada,Siti Zone of SRS and is situated on the furthest point of Sitti Zone
bordering the Afar Region, is about 40km from Erer town and approximately 100 km from Diri Dawa city as well 270
km from Jigjiga (ICRC) office. The road from Dire Dawa to Aydora Centre is rough gravel road . The kebeles have one
access road which goes through Erer
2. Background
Aydora town centre is located in Erer Worada,Siti Zone of SRS and is situated on the furthest point of Sitti
Zone bordering the Afar Region, is about 40km from Erer town and approximately 100 km from Diri Dawa
city as well 270 km from Jigjiga (ICRC) office. The road from Dire Dawa to Aydora Centre is rough gravel
road. The kebeles have one access road which goes through Erer. There have been recent clashes between
Afar forces and Somali resulting in the displacement of communities in the disputed areas moving to more
safer grounds in Sitti zone as a result the worada is now accommodating large number of IDPs Since mid-
2021 because of the conflict between Somali and Afar the center received 650 HH. They first moved into the
aydora primary school compound and Some have since integrated within the community as their host and
others are distributed in most kebeles of the worada as well as the town Receives 160 HH.

ICRC made a rapid wathab assessment last year and as a result it become part of the PfR. The second visit
was made to make the technical detail assessment with water bureau to rehabilitate these wells. During the
assessment we noted that there was scarcity of access to water as the one well currently in use was
constantly breaking down.
3. Presence of other organizations
Currently in the above-mentioned areas where the IDPs are temporarily hosted, the only organizations
working in the area in relations to the WASH activities was NRC who provided solar power and the
distribution system of the town. Save the Children is mainly focusing on health activities Nutrition for mothers
and children. During this visit, our Ecosec team had begun providing cash transfers for the IDPs.

4. Actual Situation
the Aydora community depended on 4Hand dug wells and one Bore hole (the BH was 250 M Deep with
Discharge of 16l/s sealed (drilled by Oromia Drilling enterprise by SRS Water bureau Ownership).,2013).
They are shallow wells averaging 8 metres in depth but with plenty of water throughout the year. The Erer
water bureau has been indirectly been involved in the management of the wells since handing over to the
community. The bore hole is not used for Drinking purpose now but water system had a complete distribution
with 50 m3 reservoir, many water points and cattle troughs and discussions with kebele administrator, they
mentioned out of the four HDWs only one is now working with hand pump as they also complained about the
water in HDWs not being clean due to contamination caused by the direct collection from the hand dug wells
and rivers which is a health risk as children are becoming sick with diarrhea and related diseases. He
requested if we could install hand pumps to the shallow wells. Three of the HDWs remain non-functional to
date.
The remaining one HDW and the three with open manual fetching are the only source for the villages and
queue takes long periods averaging 2-3 hrs before they can get water from the wells due to the high
demand. It is for this reason the ICRC wathab team is proposing to upgrade the two current wells in use to
solar powered submersible pump to increase the amount of water available to the population and to reduce
the amount of time taken to draw water. We shall also donate five (5) hand pumps and support in their
rehabilitation of the HDWs. The area being relatively flat is not suitable for setting up gravity water
distribution system. We therefore propose the construction of a tank reservoir seat complete with 8 tap
connections and installation of a 10,000 L in the two solar connected wells. The two will also be fenced to
prevent interference and two cattle throughs.
Mahdi/ACHIENG
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4.1 Management
Erer district water bureau have a few water technicians who are working on maintenance of the water
schemes in the woreda as well the replacement of the pipeline if there is a budget. The Erer head of water
bureau said that in the previous years in the previous year they had some budget with additional support
from the NGOs. because of the number of IDPs increasing from Time to time and the problem of the river
washing out the pipes which the host community previously used to get water from surface pond when the
system stop functioning but now it will not be easy if its damaged and right now the pipes are on the surface
of the river without protection and the tightness of the collection points and the For that reason, they have
requested ICRC support to meet the growing demands and resilience of the pipeline system.

4.2 Operational scheme

The ICRC Wathab team in the sub-delegation will make sure necessary equipment and materials are
procured and managed by the LOG team. In addition, the Wathab team will ensure the proper
implementation of all works, including hiring of skilled and unskilled labor, rental of equipment, if necessary,
supervisors. If the ICRC doesn’t have regular access to the site, ICRC will hire an external consultant to
supervise and coordinate and monitor the implementation to completion and provide completion report.

Prior to the start of the works, the Water Bureau will:

- Formally endorse the technical documents needed for the rehabilitation activities prepared by the
ICRC, within two weeks from the date of their submission;
- Sign the MoU between ICRC and Tuliguled Water Bureau
- Contribute in the identification and selection of the technicians and water committee members who
will close monitor the rehabilitation works as well as operations and maintenance of the project after
handover
The ICRC on its part will:
- Select skilled and unskilled workers of its choice, if necessary, a contractor and organise its work in
agreement with the Water Committee;
- Supervise and monitor the implementation of the work in a professional manner, according to the
technical specifications and drawings. Any modification or change in the agreed design is in the
responsibility of the ICRC, and will to be discussed with the Water Committee;
During the execution of the works, the Water Committee will:
- Obtain and facilitate any land use, administrative and legal authorization, license, resolution or
certification to ensure the implementation and smooth running of the projects;
- Facilitate follow-ups by the ICRC representatives;
- Facilitate the implementation of the works carried out by the selected contractor (in particular, it will
ensure that the construction material and equipment is stored safely and protected from climate
hazards);
- Be responsible towards the ICRC and the contractor for any material and equipment stolen in the
community.
- Keep contact with local authorities, to inform them on regular basis.
After the completion of works, the Water Bureau & Committee will:
- Confirm the completion of the works and the functioning of the facilities by signing the "Handover
Document"; (trilateral agreement: ICRC, Water Bureau, Community)
- Make sure that O&M activities are carried out according to the ICRC prescription and as per the
provided training.
- Ensure that the existing well will be used as a public well exclusively for the water supply scheme
and not for any other individual investment uses.

4.3 Maintenance
Water technicians are employed by the water bureau and are responsible for the routine maintenance.
The operators in all these sites do not have tools for maintenance and are not trained but they cover
small maintenance costs from the fee and hire technicians from the District Erer town. A refresher training
of the operators will be crucial to improve maintenance skills.

Mahdi/ACHIENG
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4. Summary of the problems

Due to conflict between Somali and Afar regions that causes a lot of People to be displaced. which causes
water scarcity in the town centre is that the only borehole is not used for drinking pourposes and the 4 HDWs
and not properly functioning three of them don’t have hand pumps as a result the there is no enough to clean
water supply the town to meet their water needs.
5. Proposed way forward
This project proposes to rehabilitate the four damaged wells and provide hands pump in five of the wells and
while for the four HD wells currently in use, we provide two solar powered submersible pumps of connected
to an overhead tank that will supply to eight taps nearby. In addition, we propose to rehabilitate or build two
cattle troughs. The water storage should be a Roto tank of 10,000 litres supported by a seat structure which
is not more than 1.5 m above the ground. The pump will be a simple type of solar panel pump having a
sanction capacity of about 15m and pump level of about 8m. The storage tank will be connected GI pipe
having four opening taps for human consumption.
The proposed activities in this project are:
A- Civil Works
- Rehabilitation of Three (4) hand dug wells; desilting, cleaning and protection and rehabilitation of
walls and aprons as necessary;
- Construction of two reservoir tank seats for each tank with 8 taps
- Rehabilitation & construction of animal two water troughs
- Fencing works in two HDWs that are solar powered.

B- Water Connection: Pipes & Fittings

- Supply and installation of two 10,000 L water tank with pipes & fittings of different diameters
connecting to the main water point and taps
- Supply and installation of five hand pumps to 5 wells, complete with rising pipes and fittings

C- Solar Pump Installation

- Supply and installation of four complete submersible pump to the overhead tank with necessary
piping and fittings
Currently, the ICRC (mobile & resident) staff can access the area and can do the regular assessment &
supervision;
The contractor will be daily supervised by WatHab FO by phone and he is expected to send written reports
with some photos of the implemented activities on a weekly basis. The WatHab FO will also have direct
contacts with the communities and Local water Authorities to countercheck.
From the technical point of view, the project is feasible. The objective of this project is to guarantee
improved, stable and regular water supply to the population of Aydora kebele and the nearby villages. This
will be achieved by rehabilitation of the damaged HDWs and provide hands pump in five of the wells and
while for the remaining two a simple solar powered submersible pump connected to an overhead tank that
will supply 8 taps each. The system will require continuous maintenance. So far, the maintenance performed
by the committee has been not sufficient, resulting in loss of equipment. And hence Operations and
Maintenance training will have to be conducted.

5. Annex – Photos

Mahdi/ACHIENG
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Mahdi/ACHIENG
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