Project manager from Tanzania visits Guernsey Water

From Tanzania to Guernsey. Godfrey Gahanga, Project Manager for the Eleanor Foundation in Tanzania enjoyed a tour of Guernsey Water's services from source to sea.

Mr Gahanga works to provide safe and sustainable water supplies for the people of his country. He holds a degree in Community Development and has training in sustainable agriculture practice, he has also worked on research studying the challenges of safe and clean water supply in rural areas.

Earlier this year Steve Langlois, general manager of Guernsey Water, and Allister Carey, founder of the Eleanor Foundation, visited Tanzania to see the impact Mr Gahanga's expertise and the Foundation is having.

Mr Langlois said: "Being so passionate about my profession, I'm a big supporter of the water points work that The Eleanor Foundation is doing in Tanzania. While my trip there was a personal journey, I learned a huge amount professionally. The Eleanor Foundation team defines success; not by the number of new wells they install but by how many will be working in ten years or more. Ensuring the ongoing sustainability of a new water supply is incredibly important for gaining trust, especially in a country where water point functionality is as low as 56%."

Mr Gahanga is responsible for implementing all of the Foundation's projects in Chato and Biharamulo Districts - about half the size of Wales in area and with around 750,000 population. His visit to Guernsey has been his first ever trip out of his home country.

The tour took Mr Gahanga to the control room at St Andrew's and the storage reservoir, and to the Kings Mills conventional Water Treatment Works, this allowed a thorough experience of the water cycle from collection, through storage to treatment. This was followed by a trip to St Saviours to see the reservoir and membrane treatment system in action. While at St Saviour's Mr Gahanga also assisted in the daily water quality sampling.

Mr Gahanga said: "It was very interesting to see such a sophisticated water infrastructure. Clean and safe water is a very basic human right and something I have been passionate about for a long time. In Tanzania my key projects are providing clean water, sanitation and installing shallow wells. My tour of Guernsey Water showed just how advanced, safe and efficient water services can be."

Since the beginning of 2014, The Eleanor Foundation has been working in North West Tanzania and has been principally facilitating the installation of improved water sources - shallow wells and spring protection schemes - in rural communities in the districts of Chato (Geita Region) and Biharamulo (Kagera Region).

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