AfriWatSan

As part of my master dissertation at the University College London, Institute for Global Health, I was honoured to participate in a workshop organised by one of the most innovative global consortium on Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) called AfriWatSan in the past week. The AfriWatSan project houses multi-disciplinary research experts from UCAD Senegal, University of Nairobi Kenya, Makerere University Uganda and University College London, The United Kingdom with financial support from The Royal Society and UK aid. The consortium’s objective is to “develop the scientific evidence to inform policies and practices sustaining low-cost, on-site water supplies and sanitation systems…

The AfriWatSan Senegal Observatory based at the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar will host the 4th Annual AfriWatsan International Consortium Workshop to be held from 09th to 13th July 2018 in Saly, Senegal. The main goal of this workshop, which includes a full day meeting with stakeholders, is to give opportunity for members of the Consortium to share experiences, progress made, outputs achieved, and challenges experienced in the three Observatories and engage with local stakeholders. It will also include a visit of the monitoring sites in the Thiaroye aquifer.   More information to be provided.

Dr. Seynabou Cisse Faye (UCAD co-PI) participated in the 3rd International Conference on Integrated Environmental Management for Sustainable Development (ICIEM 2018) held in Sousse (Tunisia) from 02nd to 05th May 2018. A few photos of her making her presentation and for more information go to http://afriwatsan.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Cisse_faye-et-al.-Extended_abstract-_ICIEMB-9-March-2018.pdf

In April 2018, the AfriWatSan team in Dakar began construction of Urban Observatories in the Thiaroye shallow aquifer to assess the impact of the on-site sanitation systems on groundwater quality and human health. The construction of monitoring wells, a central feature of the Urban Observatories, provided an opportunity for additional training in drilling supervision   by AfriWatSan co-PIs, Professor Cheikh Gaye and Dr. Seynabou Cissé Faye to AfriWatSan PhD and MSc students (Mor Talla Diaw, Abdoulaye Pouye, Djim Diongue) that was started at last year’s AfriWatSan workshop in Kisumu.  Construction was completed in a timely manner and now enables high-frequency (hourly)…

AfriWatSan PhD student, Mor Talla Diaw, presented his research at the first session of the “doctoriales” in March 2018 at Assane Seck University of Ziguinchor in southern Senegal. This session of the doctoriales brought together PhD students from five universities in Senegal to discuss their research. Here, Mor Talla presented his recent research highlighting the magnitude of faecal contamination of the Thiaroye shallow aquifer. Further, Mor Talla showed using advanced digital mapping of on-site sanitation facilities in Dakar the strong relationship between the magnitude of faecal contamination and the density of on-site sanitation facilities including septic tanks or pit latrines….

AfriWatSan co-investigator, Dr. Robinah Kulabako, received a National Medal from the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, on an occasion to mark International Women’s Day, March 8th 2018, in Mityana, Uganda. The award recognises Robinah’s very substantial contributions not only to research in civil and environmental engineering and natural sciences but also to the education and training of the next generation of engineers and scientists. Robinah’s success and internationally renowned expertise in these traditionally male-dominated disciplines provides a clear example and inspiration for other women at Makerere University and beyond, that they too can succeed in science.

Between September and November 2017, the AfriWatSan team in Dakar were busy undertaking field surveys in the Cape Verde peninsula to assess groundwater quality and levels in the Thiaroye aquifer. The team also assessed potential sites for the construction of integrated research observatories to monitor the impact of on-site sanitation on shallow groundwater. The research team consisting of PI Cheikh Gaye; AfriWatSan PhD students; Abdoulaye Pouye; Mor Talla Diaw; and MSc Students; Djim Mouhamadou Lamine Diongue; Alpha Diao, and supported by Moussa Sow (technician); sampled 34 shallow wells and boreholes, and downloaded high-frequency observations of groundwater levels from recently installed dataloggers (In Situ AquaTroll…

AfriWatSan held its 3rd annual workshop in Kisumu, Kenya from the 10th to 16th of July (2017) engaging with 40 stakeholders from the private sector (e.g. KIWASCO, WSUP), NGOs (e.g. Wandiege WatSan), government ministries (County Ministry for Water, Environment and Natural Resources, Ministry of Health), other government agencies (WRMA, LBDA) and allied research institutions (Great Lakes University). Hosted by the University of Nairobi, the workshop held lively discussions between stakeholders and the cross-disciplinary research team around the potential role of groundwater use and sustaining access to safe water in Kisumu, particularly to low-income, peri-urban communities.   Caption:AfriWatSan team and stakeholders meet in Kisumu at…

A one day stakeholder engagement workshop was held at the Kisumu Hotel on 14th June 2016 from 8.00 am to 5.00pm. The workshop was organized by the AfriWatSan Kenya team led by the PI, Prof. D. Olago, CO-PIs, Dr. R. Ayah and Dr. S. Dulo and the PhD student, Mr. J. Kanoti, in collaboration with the Department of Geology, University of Nairobi. The workshop was funded under Africa Capacity Building Initiative of The Royal Society and UK government’s Department for International Development. Figure 1: Group photograph during the Workshop. Front row from left is Dr. R. Ayah, Ms. S. Kanga, Prof. N. Opiyo,…

As part of its Afriwatsan research project activities in Dakar, the Hydrogeologist research team undertook a field mission focused on groundwater sampling, in-situ data collection and Data-logger installation. This campaign started from the 19th to 22th April 2017. Figure 1: Water sampling from a borehole The team included the Principal Investigator (Pl), 3 hydrogeologist supervisors, 2 Phd students and 1 MSc student. The mission involved a network of hydraulic structures located in the peri-urban (Thiaroye) and the rural area. It follows a similar first campaign carried out last year with the University Cheikh Anta Diop cross-disciplinary (groundwater-sanitation-health) team. The implementation of…