Excellent Development Launch Sand Dam Manual

During World Water Week 2012, Excellent Development launched the Sand Dam Manual: a practical guide for the siting, design and construction of Sand Dams.

Sand Dams have the potential to transform millions of lives. They are the most cost-effective method of rainwater harvesting known. As an affordable tool to address water and food insecurity, desertification, climate change and disaster, they can be applied to many dryland regions – home to 80% of the world’s poorest people.

Yet still they remain a little understood and under-utilised technology, particularly outside of Kenya.

At Excellent Development, our vision is to see many more people building Sand Dams in many more countries around the world. An integral part of our approach is to promote Sand Dams as a means of enabling sustainable development as well as to support other organisations to successfully apply and implement Sand Dam technology.

This Sand Dam manual introduces the ‘golden rules’ of Sand Dam design and provides a clear and practical guide for everything you need to know about Sand Dams – from siting and design to construction, maintenance and operation.

But, above all, this manual demystifies Sand Dam technology.  No specialist hydrological or engineering knowledge is assumed or required to build Sand Dams that work. In fact, it is our experience that water solutions should not be technology led, but must first consider the needs of the people they serve.

Excellent Development have supported communities in Kenya to build almost 400 Sand Dams in the last ten years – contributing to the 1,500 that have been built in Kenya since the late 1970s.

It is our vision that Sand Dams will transform millions of lives.