Aquaquest was retained by DAI Global, through Rankin Engineering as Project Consultant to conduct hydrogeo-logical assessments, geophysical surveys, supervision of drilling contractors and supervision of civil works for 300 new hand pump boreholes and a solar water scheme in 13 districts in 4 provinces of Zambia. The project is part of the Scaling Up Nutrition – Technical Assistance (SUN TA) Project, which supports the Government of Zambia’s Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN 2.0) Programme, whose aim is to reduce malnutrition among young children. Improv-ing the water supply situation in poor rural communities through the development of access to basic water supply services from improved sources is an important part of this project.
Capacity development was a key component of the SUN TA project to ensure sustained access to services. In this regard, the A&E firm developed the capacity of communities, District and Village WASH committee members and pump menders in the operation and maintenance of the new handpump boreholes and piped water scheme.
Through Aquaquest’s supervision, the quality of the works of by contractors was improved, resulting in the development of cost effective, sustainable water supply boreholes. For all 4 provinces and 13 districts, detailed hydrogeological studies were conducted to improve knowledge on the local aquifers, which ranged from low-yielding clayey deposits and compact Basement rocks to high yielding cavernous limestones and fracture quartzites.