Engineering Resilience in Action: Restoring Safe Water Access in Kumi, Uganda
In Uganda’s Kumi District, a team of EWB-USA volunteers worked alongside community leaders, hospital staff, and local engineers from our partner EWB East Africa to solve a complex challenge: how to restore and future-proof a failing water supply system in the face of aging infrastructure, rising energy costs, and climate-driven flooding.
Kumi Hospital serves not only as a vital health facility but as a hub for surrounding villages, schools, and a local police station. Its water supply system, originally designed to draw untreated water from Lake Bisina, once reliably served clinical buildings, staff quarters, a farm, and nearby institutions. But over time, climate change and infrastructure decay pushed the system to its breaking point.
By late 2024, increased flooding had rendered the pump house nearly inaccessible, requiring staff to row boats across submerged land to reach it. The diesel-powered pumps were costly to run, frequently in disrepair, and vulnerable to storm damage. The hospital's primary water storage tanks, over 50 years old, had deteriorated beyond repair. Most tap stands were failing. And worst of all, no treatment systems remained in place, forcing the community to use raw untreated lake water.
Recognizing the urgent need for change, EWB-USA volunteers launched a comprehensive technical assessment in partnership with hospital staff, local leaders, and residents. Their goal was to co-develop a sustainable, climate-resilient water supply system that could serve both the hospital and an expanded service area which includes four additional villages.
Understanding the Problem: Technical Assessments and Community Voices
Before any designs were drawn, the volunteer team began with a fundamental principle: listen first. Over several weeks in late 2024, they worked closely with Kumi Hospital staff, local leadership, school officials, and community members to build a full picture of the challenges facing the water system. Through structured interviews, site visits, and collaborative meetings, the team gathered both lived experience and technical data, both essential inputs for engineering a meaningful solution.
Community members shared how rising lake levels had turned routine maintenance into a logistical ordeal. Hospital staff explained that to access the diesel-powered pump house, they had to row nearly 90 meters across floodwaters. The pumps, over 18 years old, frequently broke down, leaving the hospital without water for days at a time.
Field assessments confirmed the severity of the situation. The team used Trimble R2 satellite equipment to conduct a full topographical survey, revealing the vulnerability of the current intake location. Water quality tests showed the untreated lake source posed health risks, and equipment inspections revealed that nearly all 24 public tap stands across the site were structurally compromised. The hospital's two primary storage tanks, in service for more than five decades, had visible corrosion and frequent leaks. One rainwater tank had collapsed from internal structural failure.
These findings made it clear: the existing system was underperforming and unsustainable. But just as importantly, the community was ready to co-create something better. Local leaders offered historical insight on water use, shared ideas for improving equity in distribution, and identified land options for new infrastructure. Their input shaped every part of what would come next.
Designing for Resilience: A System Built for the Future
With a clear understanding of the system’s failures and the community’s priorities, the EWB-USA team began developing a comprehensive design rooted in resilience. At the core of the proposal was a simple but powerful idea: move the system out of harm’s way and build it to last.
The new design calls for relocating the pump house and treatment facility to higher ground, away from the increasingly flood-prone shores of Lake Bisina. The new site, identified with input from local leaders, offers safe access year-round and a stable foundation for operations. This relocation alone addresses the constant disruption due to flooding.
To improve energy efficiency and lower operational costs, the design replaces the aging diesel-powered pumps with a solar-powered system. Solar energy will serve as the primary power source, supplemented by national grid electricity for backup, ensuring continuous operation even during cloudy seasons or maintenance windows. This shift not only cuts fuel costs, but also reflects the community’s long-term commitment to sustainable infrastructure.
The plan also introduces a multi-stage water treatment process, designed to address the impurities identified in water quality testing. With components like sedimentation, filtration, and chlorination, the new system will provide safe, treated water to all users, the first time in over 5 years.
Storage is another critical component. The hospital’s two corroded steel tanks, each more than 50 years old, will be replaced with new, durable models, planned to be installed on the existing elevated steel tower. A second tank will be constructed at the Ongino Sub-county offices to expand service to four additional villages: Otada, Aduka, Oseera, and Ceele.
Together, these improvements will support a gravity-fed distribution network that reduces energy use and improves reliability. Public tap stands throughout the service area will be reconstructed, and key institutions like Adesso Primary School and the Agirigiroi Police Station will have access to safe water once again.
Every design decision, from intake siting to transmission line layout, was informed by both community knowledge and rigorous engineering analysis. The result is a system that doesn't just restore service, but fundamentally reimagines it for a changing climate and growing population.
Looking Ahead
As this project moves toward implementation, the partnership between EWB-USA and the Kumi community continues to grow. The design may be technical, but the impact is deeply human; measured in cleaner water, safer health facilities, and a future less vulnerable to the climate shocks already reshaping daily life in eastern Uganda. This is what engineering for resilience looks like: grounded in data, powered by collaboration, and built to serve.