MYWAY DEMOSTRATION ORGANIZATION

The organization is a non profitable organization designed to help the poor people of Abidjan. The organization is founded on the 5th day of october 1997.

Groundwater is the sole source of water for industry and human consumption in Abidjan City. Current exploitation of this resource is unsustainable and there is an urgent need for an information/knowledge base on the hydro-geological situation and the resulting effects of both abstraction practices and the fate of pollutants.

Although water resources are not currently limited in the city, demands will gradually reach levels where groundwater resources may be insufficient. There is a need to develop a demand management strategy now to ensure that all actors use water efficiently. The amount of water currently used by industry is not well known. However, rough estimates show that this amount is excessive, especially in the food-processing industries and there is currently no incentive to reduce usage. In addition, many commercial/institutional establishments have high consumption of freshwater. Furthermore, it has been shown that vast amounts of water are lost through poor management, particularly in public buildings and Universities.

A large proportion of Abidjan's urban poor is without efficient services. There is however an ability to pay and many of the poor already pay high prices to unsolicited water vendors etc. There is a very real possibility that the private sector water supplier, SODECI and Mayors could provide some basic services in a way that would ensure improved conditions, while at the same time generating revenue to cover operational costs.

Public awareness for the need to conserve water is very limited in Abidjan on account of low price of water and it's apparent abundance. Also, many citizens, the industrial and agricultural sectors, both large and small, are unaware of the need to protect both ground and surface water resources. This has resulted in excessive pollution of the lagoons in and around Abidjan and deterioration in groundwater quality.