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initial version
Neil Noble gravatar image
Energy

This answer comes from my new colleague Mary Allen - Practical Action West Africa office.

Are solar pumps generally regarded as good or not, eg in terms of value for money, being prone to failure etc.?emphasized text

You don’t say what the water is for. We have assumed it’s for general household/domestic use as you are pumping from 100m Yes – solar pumping a commonly selected option if the size of the community and/or value of activity can meet the repair and maintenance charges including pump, solar panel and other part replacements in line with manufacturer’s recommended lifetimes if these are less than 20 years (for water supply the community is not expected to fund replacement of the borehole design life 20+ years). Govt. policy in Mali is to install pumped piped water supplies (generally solar) for villages 2000 inhabitants or more. For villages below 1500 in habitants you need to look carefully at lifetime costs, work out how much people need to be paying per bucket and check they agree to this. Don’t budget for them to purchase more than 5 litres of clean drinking water per person per day (even though the norm is 20l).

If you are pumping from 100m an electric submersible pump may be your only option so your choice will be between solar or a diesel generator. Hand pumping from this depth would be very difficult. In Senegal if the discharge from the water table is high enough, they install the borehole and pump in a central location and pipe water to 6 or more small villages at a time. This takes more sophisticated organisation but gets over the costs issue to some extent

In terms of breakdowns – the panels are generally reliable if purchased from a reputable dealer and installed by qualified staff. The main risk is theft. The pump and electrical components will need regular maintenance and repair/replacement. You should check that parts and qualified maintenance staff are available in the area. There is an organisation (STEFI I think it is called) which takes on the supervision of this in some areas for a % of the water fees collected

Please note that in Mali all installation of water supplies for domestic use, should go be done via the elected local government structure (rural commune) who according to law are the owners (“Maitre d’Ouvrage” )

What sort of price might you expect to pay for a solar water pump and borehole (to a depth of around 100m) in rural Mali?emphasized text

If you were to add on two water storage tanks also, is £40k a very expensive amount in total?

I have never seen a solar pump without a storage tank – usually elevated (water tower) so that gravity does the rest. The prices I have below all include water storage tanks

The actual cost will vary considerably depending on the location of the village, the type of rock/subsoil you are drilling through and depth to water table, the diameter of the borehole, and its discharge rate, the number of people to be served, height and capacity of the water tank, the length and diameter of water distribution pipes

I asked one entrepreneur and one NGO/donor person both with considerable experience of the sector to give me their quotes

Person 1: Entrepreneur • From 30 Million FCFA (£38,800) for 350 people with, borehole, submersible pump, water tower + pipes and 2 water points (+taps) • To 45 Million FCFA (£58,000) for 2000 people with, borehole, submersible pump, water tower + pipes and 4 water points (+taps)

Person 2 : NGO-donor • From 39 Million FCFA (£50,500) for a simple piped water supply system • To nearly 60 million FCFA (£77,700) for 1500 people, 8 water distribution points, 10m3 storage tank, 15m high including all the costs of social organisation/training etc

CONCULSION

- So on this basis £40k does not sound expensive although we don’t know what it includes.

XOF/GBP Details XOF/GBP for the 24-hour period ending Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 22:00 UTC @ +/- 2% (Typical ATM rate) Estimated price based on daily USD rates Selling 30,000,000 XOF you get 37,334.4 GBP Buying 30,000,000 XOF you pay 38,879.3 GBP

click to hide/show revision 2
No.2 Revision
KnowledgePointAdmin gravatar image
RedR CCDRR

This answer comes from my new colleague Mary Allen - Practical Action West Africa office.

Are solar pumps generally regarded as good or not, eg in terms of value for money, being prone to failure etc.? emphasized text

You don’t say what the water is for. We have assumed it’s for general household/domestic use as you are pumping from 100m

Yes – solar pumping a commonly selected option if the size of the community and/or value of activity can meet the repair and maintenance charges including pump, solar panel and other part replacements in line with manufacturer’s recommended lifetimes if these are less than 20 years (for water supply the community is not expected to fund replacement of the borehole design life 20+ years). Govt. policy in Mali is to install pumped piped water supplies (generally solar) for villages 2000 inhabitants or more. For villages below 1500 in habitants you need to look carefully at lifetime costs, work out how much people need to be paying per bucket and check they agree to this. Don’t budget for them to purchase more than 5 litres of clean drinking water per person per day (even though the norm is 20l).

If you are pumping from 100m an electric submersible pump may be your only option so your choice will be between solar or a diesel generator. Hand pumping from this depth would be very difficult. In Senegal if the discharge from the water table is high enough, they install the borehole and pump in a central location and pipe water to 6 or more small villages at a time. This takes more sophisticated organisation but gets over the costs issue to some extent

In terms of breakdowns – the panels are generally reliable if purchased from a reputable dealer and installed by qualified staff. The main risk is theft. The pump and electrical components will need regular maintenance and repair/replacement. You should check that parts and qualified maintenance staff are available in the area. There is an organisation (STEFI I think it is called) which takes on the supervision of this in some areas for a % of the water fees collected

Please note that in Mali all installation of water supplies for domestic use, should go be done via the elected local government structure (rural commune) who according to law are the owners (“Maitre d’Ouvrage” )

What sort of price might you expect to pay for a solar water pump and borehole (to a depth of around 100m) in rural Mali? emphasized text

If you were to add on two water storage tanks also, is £40k a very expensive amount in total?

I have never seen a solar pump without a storage tank – usually elevated (water tower) so that gravity does the rest. The prices I have below all include water storage tanks

The actual cost will vary considerably depending on the location of the village, the type of rock/subsoil you are drilling through and depth to water table, the diameter of the borehole, and its discharge rate, the number of people to be served, height and capacity of the water tank, the length and diameter of water distribution pipes

I asked one entrepreneur and one NGO/donor person both with considerable experience of the sector to give me their quotes

Person 1: Entrepreneur Entrepreneur

• From 30 Million FCFA (£38,800) for 350 people with, borehole, submersible pump, water tower + pipes and 2 water points (+taps)

• To 45 Million FCFA (£58,000) for 2000 people with, borehole, submersible pump, water tower + pipes and 4 water points (+taps)

Person 2 : NGO-donor NGO-donor

• From 39 Million FCFA (£50,500) for a simple piped water supply system

• To nearly 60 million FCFA (£77,700) for 1500 people, 8 water distribution points, 10m3 storage tank, 15m high including all the costs of social organisation/training etc

CONCULSION

- CONCLUSION

  • So on this basis £40k does not sound expensive although we don’t know what it includes.


XOF/GBP Details XOF/GBP for the 24-hour period ending Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 22:00 UTC @ +/- 2% (Typical ATM rate) Estimated price based on daily USD rates Selling 30,000,000 XOF you get 37,334.4 GBP Buying 30,000,000 XOF you pay 38,879.3 GBP

click to hide/show revision 3
No.3 Revision
KnowledgePointAdmin gravatar image
RedR CCDRR

This answer comes from my new colleague Mary Allen - Practical Action West Africa office.

Are solar pumps generally regarded as good or not, eg in terms of value for money, being prone to failure etc.?

You don’t say what the water is for. We have assumed it’s for general household/domestic use as you are pumping from 100m

Yes – solar pumping a commonly selected option if the size of the community and/or value of activity can meet the repair and maintenance charges including pump, solar panel and other part replacements in line with manufacturer’s recommended lifetimes if these are less than 20 years (for water supply the community is not expected to fund replacement of the borehole design life 20+ years). Govt. policy in Mali is to install pumped piped water supplies (generally solar) for villages 2000 inhabitants or more. For villages below 1500 in habitants you need to look carefully at lifetime costs, work out how much people need to be paying per bucket and check they agree to this. Don’t budget for them to purchase more than 5 litres of clean drinking water per person per day (even though the norm is 20l).

If you are pumping from 100m an electric submersible pump may be your only option so your choice will be between solar or a diesel generator. Hand pumping from this depth would be very difficult. In Senegal if the discharge from the water table is high enough, they install the borehole and pump in a central location and pipe water to 6 or more small villages at a time. This takes more sophisticated organisation but gets over the costs issue to some extent

In terms of breakdowns – the panels are generally reliable if purchased from a reputable dealer and installed by qualified staff. The main risk is theft. The pump and electrical components will need regular maintenance and repair/replacement. You should check that parts and qualified maintenance staff are available in the area. There is an organisation (STEFI I think it is called) which takes on the supervision of this in some areas for a % of the water fees collected

Please note that in Mali all installation of water supplies for domestic use, should go be done via the elected local government structure (rural commune) who according to law are the owners (“Maitre d’Ouvrage” )

What sort of price might you expect to pay for a solar water pump and borehole (to a depth of around 100m) in rural Mali?

If you were to add on two water storage tanks also, is £40k a very expensive amount in total?

I have never seen a solar pump without a storage tank – usually elevated (water tower) so that gravity does the rest. The prices I have below all include water storage tanks

The actual cost will vary considerably depending on the location of the village, the type of rock/subsoil you are drilling through and depth to water table, the diameter of the borehole, and its discharge rate, the number of people to be served, height and capacity of the water tank, the length and diameter of water distribution pipes

I asked one entrepreneur and one NGO/donor person both with considerable experience of the sector to give me their quotes

Person 1: Entrepreneur

• From 30 Million FCFA (£38,800) for 350 people with, borehole, submersible pump, water tower + pipes and 2 water points (+taps)

• To 45 Million FCFA (£58,000) for 2000 people with, borehole, submersible pump, water tower + pipes and 4 water points (+taps)

Person 2 : NGO-donor

• From 39 Million FCFA (£50,500) for a simple piped water supply system

• To nearly 60 million FCFA (£77,700) for 1500 people, 8 water distribution points, 10m3 storage tank, 15m high including all the costs of social organisation/training etc

CONCLUSION

  • So on this basis £40k does not sound expensive although we don’t know what it includes.

XOF/GBP Details Details

XOF/GBP for the 24-hour period ending Thursday, Nov 28, 2013 22:00 UTC @ +/- 2% (Typical ATM rate) rate)

Estimated price based on daily USD rates rates

Selling 30,000,000 XOF you get 37,334.4 GBP GBP

Buying 30,000,000 XOF you pay 38,879.3 GBP