Creating a Sustainable Water Access in Guinea-Bissau

Sammanfattning: In Guinea Bissau, one of the third most underdeveloped countries, there are many areas that are hard to reach by any other kind of vehicles than motorcycles – cars struggle with the poor road conditions. This means that many smaller communities, that are at a considerable distance from a larger road or city, become isolated and vulnerable. When the water pumps break down, one of the main issues in the repair process is that the pump mechanics simply struggle to transport their tools and spare parts to these areas. The consequence is that the water pumps are left broken and out of use and people go back to using the water holes instead, where the water normally is of significantly worse quality and often contaminated. This leads to sickness, diseases and loss of workforce in the entire country. This project aims to develop a prototype of a monotrailer that can be used by the pumpmechanics in Guinea Bissau. A monotrailer is a transport vehicle which is attached behind a motorcycle. Motorcycles have very limited loading options, but with a monotrailer the possibilities can be extended. The road conditions are rough, the area of usage is hard to define and the manufacturing possibilities are limited. Given this, the challenges of this project is to develop the monotrailer in a way that it can be manufactured on site and fulfil its purpose. The project has been carried out in both Stockholm aa well as in Guinea Bissau and is acooperation between KTH and Unicef Wash Section.