Progress Update: Humanitarian Water Engineering Lab Project in Uganda

This August, researchers Michael De Santi, James Brown, and Dr. Syed Imran Ali from the Humanitarian Water Engineering (HWE) Lab at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research concluded a year-long water quality monitoring project in collaboration with the Nsamizi Training Institute of Social Development (NTISD) in the Kyaka II refugee settlement in Uganda.

The research produced one of the most comprehensive humanitarian water quality datasets – comprising over 1,500 water quality measurements from source to the point of consumption, with over a year of digitized water treatment logs to support improved operations of the Kyaka II water system. The data was analyzed and integrated to produce new operational recommendations to improve the performance of the system while promoting cost-savings for Nsamizi. These recommendations were integrated with findings from co-design workshops that mapped out stakeholder interests and responsibilities for the Kyaka II water supply systems.

Future work for this project includes continued analysis to produce a source to tap water quality and health risk model for operational forecasting, and future engagement with local and national NGOs and the Uganda WASH cluster.

Special thanks to Ruth, Clare, Lovis, and Arthur who conducted the water system monitoring, and to George, Scovia, Peter, and Godlive from Nsamizi who supported the project.

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