Residents of Freetown fetching water from a broken pipe

Residents in Freetown in the Western area of Sierra Leone have to grapple with the daily reality of water shortage. This situation has become a very serious situation over the last decade with a massive urbanisation to the Western area that followed the end of the country's war. The Guma valley water dam at mile thirteen was to cater for a population slightly over 900,000 but that number has multiplied without any possible solution to meet the increase in population.  People in rural communities of the country do suffer too due to the absence of pipe borne water. Additionally, most water wells in rural Sierra Leone lack the necessary purification for a clean drinking water.