Kabwe may be the most toxic town in the world. It was founded in 1902 when lead and zinc deposits were discovered. These deposits have now been mined and smelted for over 100 years with almost no safeguards or restrictions on use of waterways that carry waste. And the effect on thousands of people in the surrounding communities is devastating. In the most affected townships, lead in soils measures 10 times the United States safety limit. There is a desire to clean-up the area, but the effort will be massive and take years. In the meantime, one way to avoid the lead found in the water there is to avoid ground sources and instead catch rainwater.
Mr and Mrs Moono own Farm Number 37B in Mpima Dairy Scheme, Kabwe, about 450 kilometers from Monze. Monze is where we trained local communities members in February to build rainwater catchments, BioSand Water Filters, and Interlocking Stabilized Soil Bricks. The Moonos heard about the training and inquired with our Monze Coach, Warren Mwenda about an opportunity to contract with him and a team to construct two tanks on the Moono’s farm. Arrangements were made and soon our Coach and masons Saiti Chiboola, Friday Ng’andu, and Richard Mwiinga were heading north to build two tanks on Farm 37B (all the masons participated in our original training).
Fortunately, the Moono’s farm land does not appear to contain harmful levels of lead. But any water that enters his land runs the risk of bringing lead with it. He uses a borehole and a diesel-generated pump. Not only is the diesel expensive, but boreholes have a habit of running dry or becoming contaminated, as we were shown in Monze. This seemed like a great opportunity to expand the use of Rainwater Catchments in the area (who knows how many others will see the tanks and inquire about them), create more safe water and water security, and acquire additional Rainwater Catchment Tank construction experience for our Coach and the masons.
Over the course of many days, two 20,000 liter tanks were built. Warren did an outstanding job of documenting the construction process in both pictures and video. And this is how it all unfolded.