Category: Mapping groundwater quality degradation beneath growing rural towns in SSA

  • :: New UPGro Paper :: Tryptophan-like fluorescence as a measure of microbial contamination
    :: New UPGro Paper :: Tryptophan-like fluorescence as a measure of microbial contamination

    A new paper has been published from the UPGro Gro for GooD project, working in Kenya, which develops the work done under the UPGro Catalyst Project on mapping groundwater quality, which developed an exciting new low-cost, real-time method of measuring microbial contamination of groundwater. Context: Globally, 25% of people lack access to water that is…

  • Safe water in towns and peri-urban areas: challenges of self-supply and water quality monitoring
    Safe water in towns and peri-urban areas: challenges of self-supply and water quality monitoring

    Millions of people in towns and cities across Sub-Saharan Africa depend on groundwater day-to-day – but is it safe to drink? How can we measure the safety quickly, cheaply and accurately?  In this RWSN-UPGro webinar, Dr Jenny Grönwall (SIWI/T-GroUP) and Dr Dan Lapworth (BGS) present the latest updates on their research into urban groundwater monitoring…

  • Groundwater – the earth’s renewable wealth
    Groundwater – the earth’s renewable wealth

    By Sean Furey, Skat Foundation/RWSN/UPGro Where does wealth come from? At its most basic, it is the difference between how much you invest in a product or service and how much you get from selling it. If the difference is positive you get wealth, if it is negative then you get trouble. For a country…

  • New pollution risk maps for Africa to help with achieving safe water for everyone
    New pollution risk maps for Africa to help with achieving safe water for everyone

    Media Release: World Water Day 22 March New pollution risk maps for Africa to help with achieving safe water for everyone. Responding to UNICEF/WHO report on Safely managed drinking water The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have published a key Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report on “Safely managed drinking…

  • Zambia: Study Finds Shallow Groundwater Unsafe.

    Originally posted on WaterSan Perspective: Water Journalists Africa (WJA) August 18, 2015 Kabwe is a transport hub and old mining town in central Zambia. One resident, Joseph, recounted how when he was growing up in the town in the 1970s, most houses had a tap and a reliable water supply from the municipal system. Few…

  • Groundwater Resources and Supplies in Africa

    Two research-based presentations by: Joy Obando (Kenyatta University, Kenya) and Dan Lapworth (British Geological Survey, UK). With a focus on selected sites in in Comoros, Tanzania and Kenya, Obando’s presentation sets out key social and economic issues with respect to groundwater resources in coastal East Africa. Lapworth’s presentation examines the changes in water access and…

  • A tale of two cities: How can we provide safe water for poor people living in African cities?
    A tale of two cities: How can we provide safe water for poor people living in African cities?

    Dan Lapworth, Jim Wright and Steve Pedley are working to find out. Reproduced from Planet Earth Winter 2014, p 22-23 Across much of Africa, cities are growing quickly. Current projections estimate that by 2050, 60 per cent of the population will be living in urban areas – half of them in slums. Many of these…

  • Poster presentations about work in Zambia and Kenya (Video)
    Poster presentations about work in Zambia and Kenya (Video)

    At the IAH Congress, we asked two of the UPGro researchers to present their posters: Jacob Mutua, Rural Focus Ltd, Kenya, describing the “Risks and Institutional Responses for Poverty Reduction in Rural Africa” Catalyst project Dr Dan Lapworth talks about the project that he has been leading: “Mapping groundwater quality degradation beneath growing rural towns…

  • Tracking pollution from a small town in Zambia

    James Sorenson (BGS) walked us through his poster presentation for his Catalyst Project: Mapping groundwater quality degradation beneath growing rural towns in Sub Saharan Africa. The story starts with a pesticide found in slug pellets, which was unexpectedly detected in UK groundwater. This prompted this research to look for similar chemicals in African groundwater, What…