For more than 20 years now, GRET has been supporting Senegalese and Mauritanian local authorities to improve access to sustainable water services. In light of the growing issue of the use of surface water in the Sahelian context, and in order to share its experience with the greatest possible number of people, GRET produced a practical guide on the production of drinking water from surface water in small towns in West Africa.
In partnership with several national consultancy firms, GRET designed and set up water purification stations adapted to suit the rural context in several countries: Cambodia, Laos, Madagascar, Senegal and Mauritania. These stations are designed to be effective and robust, and also so that they can be used easily by populations when they are set up and during equipment functioning and maintenance phases.
In the Senegal River valley, where available drinking water resources are limited and surface groundwater is brackish, populations regularly use water from the river and its tributaries. Given the health and logistical risks of this practice, and in order to minimise extraction of water from deep groundwater, today it is necessary to disseminate surface water treatment practices and technologies to the various stakeholders in the regions. Such was the objective of this guide, co-published by GRET and Quæ.
A book combining theory and practice
The guide, entitled Production of drinking water from surface water in West Africa – Technical solutions adapted from the experience in the Senegal River valley, gives pride of place to simplified descriptions in plain language of know-how and techniques. It is intended for an audience involved in selecting drinking water production systems, such as those in charge of public policies, technical staff and practitioners in organisations supporting them. Combining theory and practice, the guide describes and analyses the main drinking water production technologies present in the Senegal River valley in order to provide some keys to facilitate the process for selection of systems appropriate to the context in West Africa and elsewhere. It also makes recommendations to optimise design and operation of these systems.
The guide comes complete with two series of factsheets. The first of these provides additional technical notions on the main stages of surface water treatment The second presents the main water purification station families covered in the publication.
Authors: Frédéric David (editorial coordination), Khadim Diop, Frédéric Naulet, Ana Sanchez Riquelme, Mathieu Le Corre, Saskia Achouline.
Éditions du GRET, Éditions Quæ
Practical guide
220 pages
