Mothering Sunday is a day to thank mums for the great, tireless work they do. But for millions of mothers across the world the lack of safe water makes the job of bringing up children harder than we can ever imagine.

Find out about all the ways you can get involved this World Water Day.

In Malawi, like much of Africa, the situation is grim too.
The following item is from Africa News

Malawi: Water shortages hit Blantyre March 10, 2009

Sam Banda Jnr, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre.

Malawi's commercial city of Blantyre and surrounding areas has had to do without water for some days now following the lowering of water levels on Shire River by the country's Electricity Supply Corporation at its Nkula A Hydro Station.

Malawi Photo: Women in Blantyre accessing dirty water from a burst pipe.

Blantyre Water board which supplies water to the city and other surrounding areas uses the same intake to pump water and this has created the water shortage. This has also threatened to create waterborne diseases like Cholera.

April 9, 2009 - A briefing from Blantyre

The following report came out of a meeting with officials of the Blantyre Water Board and the Ministry of Water with journalists Orchestra Kamanga and Robert, representing the Malawi News Agency and The Big Issue magazine...and attended by Zex Thambo, the executive director of the Tithandize Orphan Care Organisation, and his colleague, Pastor Rabson K. Chilewa

New equipment for BWB to reduce water crisis
By Orchestra Kamanga

The residents of Blantyre,the commercial city of Malawi have been facing a water crisis for many years due to old equipment such as pumping machines, transformers and pipes, commissioned at Walker's Ferry in 1963

The water treatment works at walker's Ferry, which is the backbone of Blantyre Water Board {BWB) was established to accomodate only 500 residents in Blantyre city and the design of the treatment plant and other machinery was based on the population at that time compared to around 1 million population currently.

BWB relies mainly on pumping water from Walkers Ferry to Chileka pumping station and from Chileka to Nyambadwe from where the water is being distributed to different reservoirs within the supply area of the Board.

Since the commissioning of Walkers Ferry treatment plant in 1963 , there has been only one upgrading of the plant which was done in 1996 and was aimed at meeting the demanding of up to the year 2000 poplation demand.

The upgrading involved water treatment plant to 78 000 cubic metres and installation of additional pump to pumping capacity of 83,000 cubic metres per day but the equipment was still that installed in 1963.

The equipments has lost it effeciency due to old age and the cost of electricity and servicing of plant is now very expensive and high.

Daily demand for Blantyre is 96,000 cubic metres per day but the current water treatment capacity at Walkers's Ferry is only 78,000 cubic metres per day.

The current plant (pumps)have the capacity to produce a 108 000 cubic metres per day under normal concditions. But with limited treatment capacity only 78 000 cubic metres per day is produced.

The Mudi treatment plant situated at the head office was designed to act as an emergency supply system in case of failure at Walker's Ferry system.however the system is being utilised contionuously due to increase in demand on the Limbe side.

The system was designed to produce up to 45 000 cubic metres of treated water, however, due to poor quality of raw water from mudi dam due to heavy siltation , the treatment works is only able to produce an average of 8000 cubic metres a day..

Most of the equpment at Blantyre Water Board have outlived their designed life and therefore need replacement.Being obsolete, the original manufactures also sttoped producing necessary spare parts. Special arrangements have to be made with the films in South Africa to fabricate the parts required. The companies require payment upfront because these parts cannot be sold elsewhere.

Briefing journalists in Blantyre (Malawi) , the Minister of Irrigation and Water Development Sidik Mia said the board was looking for I billion Malawian Kwacha to purshase a generator which would be used when there was no power.

He observed that due to failure of power supply the Blantyre water Board was failing to pump water from walker's ferry to Blantyre sometimes for 2-3 weeeks.

"We need also to buy pipes to replace the old ones beaceuse we are losing water due to this problem," said the Minister, adding that they also need to buy transformers which controls the voltage of power supply.

Mia said all equipment will be bought in South africa if money will be available..

"Our customers are failing to pay water bills hence failing to purchase such equipments. They have even K1billion debts and we engaged on a campaign to disconect water connections to claim our money" he said.

One transformer costs MK10 Million and 10 are needed to help pumping of water to replace the old ones.

Marketing and Public Affairs Manager for the BWB, Tamanda Longwe said at the moment they could not store enough water in the tank which could last a day because of its capacity it was constructed.

"We have only have one Tank which supplies water in most parts of the city. We also rely on Mudi dam to supply water in some parts of limbe within the commercial city and the whnen the dam dries we face water crisis in most parts for long period of time." She said," adding that the Board was planning to have more water reservoirs and dams to store enough water when they is no water supply from the Walkers Ferry.

The Australian AIDS Fund Inc is working with the Tithandize Orphan Care organisation at Ndirande, a slum area of Blantyre.

The AAFI is funding the construction of an 1,800 metre pipeline down a mountainside to enable the Tithandize Orphan Care organisation to provide a fresh water supply to another 3,500 people.....at its Multi-Purpose Hall Centre...... lifting its capacity to serve over 10,000 people....and to help reduce the pressure as shown in these  recent pictures (see below)