May Ayni and the Gravity Flow System

Posted by Sadie

May Ayni is a village situated 65km from Mekele. Project work started here 2 years ago, and the 741 inhabitants have seen dramatic differences to their lives.

This village is near the source of a gravity flow scheme. The local community contributed 654 labour days in building the gravity flow scheme, including the pipes, water points and protecting the source. During the rainy season there is a lot of flooding in the gorge where the source is, so the structure protecting the source has been designed to withstand this and rocks have been strategically placed to dissipate the energy of the flood waters hitting the structure protecting the spring. The local community used to walk up the gorge to collect water at the spring, but now the gravity flow system pipes it into the villages. The community own and look after the spring, and are responsible for all the care taking and maintenance of the system. There are separate drinking, washing and cattle drinking points.