http://www.ekk.org/water.htm

http://www.usembassy.it/usunrome/files/Statements/021903Ethiopia.htm

Ethiopian Water ...

Egypt--Sudan--Ethiopia

American Red Cross ..

Question 1)
In my opinion, in most areas of Ethiopia there should
be potable water at some depth below the land surface.
But, there are a couple of issues:

1) How deep does one have to drill to reach a suitable
aquifer? The deeper the well, the more intensive the
drilling + drilling costs. Additionally, the cost to
actually bring water from deeper depths increases.
Below a certain depth, one can no longer use hand
pumps, but must use gas-driven pumps. The
difficulties in getting a gas driven pump fixed in a
rural village is potentially great.
2) Due to the subsurface geology in some regions of
Ethiopia, the groundwater is naturally contaminated by
fluoride. (In N. America many municipalities put
fluoride at low concentrations, about 1 part per
million, in drinking water to help teeth). In Awasa,
Ethiopia, the groundwater has up to a few hundred
parts per million of fluoride in the groundwater, a
situation that can lead to the early onset of
osteoporosis (a degenerative bone disease). The town
of Awasa now has water piped in at some distance from
groundwater wells that do not have this contamination.

But, I do not intend to sound negative about the
drilling of groundwater. I met a hydrologist who
worked in Southern Ethiopia in the late 1980s. He
directed a drilling rig that dug 40 straigth
successful water-wells! I think that water wells are
are a very important potential source of drinking
water.

Question 2)
My familiarity is primarily with Southern Region of
Ethiopia. I would assume that other areas of Ethiopia
are similar to that of Southern Ethiopia. In
particular I think the central and northern parts of
Ethiopia would be similar. As for the Eastern part of
Ethiopia, I cannot say.

Question 3)
Personally I volunteer for an organization out of
Vancouver Canada that develops natural springs as a
community domestic water source. It is through my
work with this organization that I collected the water
samples used in our article. Additionally, the
organization has worked with the South Water Works
Construction Enterprise (SWWCE), an Ethiopian
water-drilling firm, to rehabilitate a dilapidated
drilling rig.