Before the Village Drinking Water Project, many of the villages had no safe clean water supply. Water was taken from existing water sources or open unprotected holes. Many villagers would walk long distances daily to carry water to their homes. The water was not always safe or clean.
The boreholes and pumps provide clean water from the water table, a process that is one of the least expensive means of accessing clean water supplies, and one of the easiest to construct. Local villagers were able to help in the construction, involving them from the beginning stages in the creation of a clean water supply.