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WELLS OF LIFE
Infrastructure Explained

Piped Water
Schemes

Uganda is transitioning from shared point-sources to modern Piped Water Supply Schemes (PWSS) — the Ministry of Water & Environment's flagship infrastructure model for delivering treated, reticulated water to rural communities at scale.

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1
The Real Barrier

The Last Mile of the Last Mile

Two to Four Hours

Women in rural central Uganda spend two to four hours a day walking to fetch water from unprotected sources. That time comes directly out of antenatal care visits, immunization appointments, and facility deliveries — the exact services a clinical partner is already staffed and ready to provide. This isn't a behavioral problem. It's an infrastructure problem, sitting on the path to the clinic instead of inside it.

Before piped water
Before

Two to four hours. That's the daily walk to water for a household without a scheme nearby — time that comes out of the clinic visit, the classroom, the workday.

After piped water
After

Same road. Same women. No jerry cans. — the two to four hours they used to spend walking now belongs to THEM.

The Honest Trade-Off

A Piped Water Scheme costs more upfront than a borehole — real capital, real construction time, a real hurdle to clear before the benefits start compounding. That hurdle is exactly why it's worth clearing: Wells of Life's schemes deliver a 6.64 benefit-cost ratio, more than double the 2.88 return of a standard handpump borehole.

Facility-Level Connections

Each Piped Water Scheme includes dedicated connections to a facility's maternity ward, OPD, and laboratory — the water infrastructure infection prevention protocols already require.

The Safe Water Chain

Piped Water Schemes and WOL's WASH programming reinforce the same outcomes a clinical partner is already working toward — maternal health, infection prevention, facility resilience — from outside the clinic walls.

2
How It's Built

Six Elements. Built 1,524 Times.

Wells of Life has drilled or restored more than 1,524 wells and Piped Water Schemes across 30+ Ugandan districts. Every one follows this same six-part sequence — the difference between a scheme that lasts and one that doesn't is whether each element was built right.

Element 01

Water Source

Chosen by hydrogeology, not convenience — deep boreholes, protected springs, or surface intake, selected for dry-season reliability. WOL has developed or restored the source for 1,524+ wells and schemes.

Water source
Borehole · Spring Intake · Surface Water
Element 02

Intake & Pumping

Solar PV, not diesel — zero marginal fuel cost, no dependence on an unreliable grid. WOL's Kitebere scheme pumps entirely on solar power.

Pumping system
Solar PV · Submersible Pumps · Gravity Fallback
Element 03

Treatment Plant

Engineered to the water's chemistry — chlorination for surface sources, iron or fluoride filtration for mineralized boreholes — built to Uganda National Bureau of Standards before a single tap opens.

Treatment plant
Chlorination · Iron Removal · Fluoride Filters

Utility-Grade Treatment

Rural solar schemes run as automated, utility-style systems — integrated chlorination dosing, real-time pressure monitoring.

Real-Time Telemetry

Sunda meters and digital monitoring sensors installed across 30 wells (GreenWell, 2024) — issues get caught before communities have to report them.

Element 04

Storage Tank

Elevation replaces the fuel cost of pressure. Kitebere stores water in two 10,000-liter elevated tanks, buffering supply through peak demand with zero moving parts.

Storage tank
Elevated · 1–2 Day Buffer · Gravity Pressure
Element 05

Distribution Network

The overlooked plumbing that eats up to 60% of project capital — and the reason WOL's GreenWell model performed preventive maintenance on 300+ wells in 2024 alone, catching pipe failures before they become village-wide outages.

Pipe network
60% of Capital · Break-Pressure Tanks · PVC/HDPE
Element 06

Points of Use

Kitebere's five standposts serve three schools, a church, and a community center. 90%+ of households using them report willingness to pay — the number that keeps a scheme alive after installation.

Water tap
Standposts · Yard Taps · Metered Connections

How Water Flows Through the System

Source
Pump
Treatment
Storage
Pipes
Your Tap
3
The Numbers

What 1,524 Schemes Changed

Sixteen years. 1,524+ wells and schemes. 1.5 million people. Here's what changed for them — measured, not assumed.

1

Improved Health

Independent research in Buikwe District recorded a 45% drop in diarrhea cases after a piped scheme replaced unprotected sources — 65% among children under five. In WOL's own Mityana district, water access rose from 74% to 89% between 2016 and 2024, with WOL responsible for 19.2% of that gain.

Improved health
2

Time Saved

The two to four hours once spent walking to water get redirected into school, income, and rest — the single largest lever a Piped Water Scheme pulls.

Time saved
3

Economic Growth

A documented case in Nebbi District: one woman now earns up to Shs 10,000 a day reselling water at a standpost. Multiply that by every standpost a scheme installs, and the economic effect compounds village-wide.

Economic growth
4

Dignity & Safety

Long queues and rationing don't just cost time — they cost safety. Household and yard connections remove the exposure that comes with distant water points, and the friction that comes with scarcity.

Dignity and safety
5

Better Hygiene & Sanitation

Twenty-two of WOL's Healthy Village Program communities have been declared Open Defecation Free — independently verified by Uganda's Ministry of Health.

Handwashing
6

Community Resilience

WOL's GreenWell Area Service Provider model — a formal joint venture with district Hand Pump Mechanics Associations — hands long-term operation to the community, not back to WOL. 300+ wells received preventive maintenance in 2024 alone.

Community resilience
Predictive Maintenance

Resolving system functionality issues via remote sensors before communities alert us — building radical trust and institutional credibility.

Operational Discipline

The GreenWell Program provides continuous preventive maintenance for over 300 wells, drastically mitigating mechanical breakdown lifecycles.

The Impact in Numbers

1,524+

wells and Piped Water Schemes drilled or restored

1.5M+

beneficiaries served

6.64

verified benefit-cost ratio (vs. 2.88 for boreholes)

19.2%

of Mityana's water access gain (2016–2024) attributable to WOL

Verified Health Milestones

40 villages engaged through the Healthy Village Program — 22 declared Open Defecation Free, independently verified by Uganda's Ministry of Health.

The Last Mile of the Last Mile

A clinical partner can staff the facility. Wells of Life gets people there. Sixteen years, 1,524+ wells and schemes, 1.5 million people — this is the infrastructure the last mile was missing.

Source → Treat → Deliver → Thrive
WELLS OF LIFE