Sand Dam Project - Mennonite Central Committee - Dodoma, Tanzania: January 2011

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Teaching villagers to treat turbid water with seed of the Moringa tree

Water from seasonal riverbeds is extremely turbid. The water can be clarified with ground seed of the Moringa tree. After clarification, water can be chorinated or sun-sterilized. We will offer Moringa seedlings for villagers.

(This posting will be further developed after we do a demonstration with the villagers.)
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Erosion control planting starts

We planted Vetiver grass around the sand dams for controlling erosion and silting. See slide show "Vetiver planting..." in column to right.

On right - Excavated Vetiver grass roots!! Vetiver produces no seed and does not spread. Its roots are the strongest of any plant, and often penetrate 5 meters downward. See www.vetiver.org for more information on vetiver grass.

The MCC Sand Dam Project in a Nutshell

Sand dams are small, low-tech dams that are built in areas with seasonal rivers (rivers that flow only after rainstorms), and work by slowing down the flow of water during and after the often intense rainstorms here. They work best in regions with soils that have high sand content (30%). Fast moving water carries sand with it. When the water is slowed down by a sand dam, the sand sinks and settles, while the clay and silt move on. The sand stores water behind the dam, which can then be tapped into with wells.
The villages of Mkonze, Chididimo, and Zuzu are the current foci of the MCC project (see Google Earth link above).
Villagers provide labor and rocks, while MCC provides the mason, cement, tools, and transport.
The project started in 2008.
Wikipedia link for sand dam