Mutete in Gicumbi District (Northern province), with a population of 23,000 people, is a rural community in Rwanda. Its local parish, Mutete Parish, is located at the top of the hill. This remote rural community faces significant challenges for a year-round sustainable drinking water supply. Piped water, when available, has to be boiled before it can be consumed or children have to carry huge loads of water (in jerrycans of 20L) of dubious quality from the local source deep in the valley (circa 1. 5 hrs).

A project was therefore drawn up in 2020 to improve the general health and standard of living of Mutete’s school community, its residents, and to develop a specific model for neighbouring communities.

BOSAQ with its team of engineers designed and produced a tailored solution, Q-Drop Iguazu, for Mutete Parish in Rwanda. Q-Drop Iguazu, converts rainwater into high quality drinking water with the output capacity of 1,000 to 2,000 liters per hour, using 100% solar energy source (from locally sourced rooftop solar panels with a 1-day battery buffer).

BOSAQ dispatched the constructed water solution to Rwanda through air transport and successfully completed the detailed commissioning work in August 2022.

The groundwork including construction of the 200 m³ central rainwater collection tank, connecting the waste and feed lines, setting up distribution piping, installation of buffer tanks, constructing the structure for housing the tanks and Q-Drop Iguazu, was completed in collaboration with our local partners, Falide. At the same time, De Watergroep, our project partner, worked on optimizing the local rainwater capture to secure water supply during dry periods.

After completing the technical installation, and setting up cloud connection for secured operations and remote follow-up, our engineers thoroughly testedstested the different operation cycles, and trained the local priests (of the parish) so they could interpret the data.

Thanks to the unique partnership between BOSAQ and  the Mutete Parish, and with Flemish partners De Watergroep (national drinking water company in Belgium), Umubano (NGO), HOWEST (the Belgian university), VPWvO (Vlaams Partnerschap Water voor Ontwikkeling), funding by the Departement Omgeving and our local partners, Q-drop Yellowstone, is now fully operational.

The local parish is now ready for the new school year. In a few weeks, 2,000 school children, at Mutete Parish, Rwanda will for the first time have easy access to clean and safe drinking water in their playground, and the remaining water will be sold to the surrounding community.