UniWater Education Limited

Bilfinger Water Technologies of New Brighton, Minnesota has donated 81 copies of the text Groundwater and Wells, enough for every student in our pilot program in Africa to have their very own copy! This book was written by Fletcher Driscoll of Johnson Well Screens in 1986 and it has been considered a ‘must have’ by any practicing hydrogeologist. It is incredibly useful for those working in remote areas. Also, included in the back of each book is a plasticized Field Guide – a tool used for logging borehole information. Thank you Bilfinger for this very generous donation!

Dr Willy Burgess of University College London in the UK has agreed to be the reviewer for the UniWater MSc program in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Management. This review will provide valuable feedback for us, ensuring that our core program meets international standards. Dr Burgess has been involved with teaching hydrogeology at an MSc/PhD level since taking over the directorship of the UCL Hydrogeology for Developing Countries in 1991.

Thanks goes out to Prof Hubert Savenije of TUDelft for giving permission to UniWater to use his on-line hydrology lectures as part of the generic sub-Saharan Africa program. It is ‘giving’ people like him who share our vision of making education accessible to all.

UniWater has just begun our latest venture in global community action! We have a growing number of professional hydrogeologists, hydrologists, geologists or any number of environmental professionals who have text books and equipment gathering dust on their bookshelves. Many times professionals who are retiring would like to clear out their offices yet do not know of a ‘home’ for their beloved books. We have received emails of offers of these resource items, but given the weight of them combined with shipping charges, it has been problematic in determining a way to get these books/equipment to African universities where students could make use of them. Many of the universities that we visited had very few resources in their libraries.

Our initiative is to link up the locations where the books reside with people who are travelling from these locations to the places where they are needed. Indeed, even if we can get books to the nearest city, the cost of ground transportation is considerably less than shipping a box of books internationally.

We welcome all contributions to this project. If you have technical books (particularly relatively recent editions, and especially in the environmental field, hydrogeology or hydrology disciplines) please contact me. Or, if you have plans to travel to Morogoro (Tanzania), Nairobi (Kenya) or Calabar (Nigeria) in the near future, and are willing to take a box of books, please contact Laurra at uniwatered@gmail.com

Many thanks go out to Tim Larson of the Illinois State Geological Survey for his contribution in the area of applied geophysics. Tim gave us some material that can be used to demonstrate how software can augment geophysical survey interpretations. He also has helped with some references to African geology.

John Mundell, principal of Mundell and Associates, has provided numerous case studies where geophysics has been used in hydrogeological investigations or environmental investigations. These case studies are very illustrative in the learning of practical applications of geophysics. Thanks John!

Raj has been a source of great perspectives on rural water supply and contacts that have access to data related to the use and functionality of pumps in Nigeria and Kenya. Raj consulted to UNICEF for many years. Through his contacts with Danida, we have gain access to data in Kenya. We hope to be able to benefit from his contacts to build collaborative relationships that will provide value to the local people.

The University of Toronto Scarborough is the mentoring university for the UniWater pilot project.  Our pilot project was initially intended to consist of two new programs in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Management in sub-Saharan Africa, but due to the interest shown, the pilot is now 4 universities strong!  To confirm acceptance of the program and to ensure that it receives Senate approval at each African university, a Memorandum of Understanding is signed between the mentoring university and the host university.  UTSC has just signed their first agreement with the University of Nairobi in Kenya.  This is fantastic news.

Peyman Sayyah has been an integral part of our UniWater team.  He has contributed to the development of the lectures and some of the practicals that we’ve been able to produce this far.  Peyman has an MSc in Hydrogeology from UBC and also a masters in Economic Geology.  He is currently looking for work in the hydrogeology field, but I am hoping to find some funding to keep him employed at UniWater before someone else offers him a job!  Good luck Peyman – you are an asset to our organization!