A WATER quality expert from Denholme has just returned from a mission to Ethiopia where she worked with Government on measures to improve local health.

Anna Warrington has now returned home after sharing her water quality expertise with the Ethiopian Minister of Water and Irrigation and Utility Managers from Bishoftu Water Company.

Miss Warrington works as a Water Quality Scientist for Bradford-based Yorkshire Water and spent nine days in Ethiopia, along with two water company colleagues, at the end of June.

Nearly half the population, a staggering 44.5 million people in Ethiopia, do not have access to safe water and the trip was part of Yorkshire Water and charity WaterAid’s "Big Wish" to bring them clean water.

Miss Warrington and her colleagues shared information on water quality, leakage detection and asset management skills with water company managers from 20 Ethiopian towns.

"The trip was an amazing experience and I enjoyed every minute," Miss Warrington said.

"In the past the focus has been on getting water to people, but now water quality is becoming more of an issue for my colleagues in Ethiopia.

"I was able to share best practises to avoid contamination and how to dose chlorine into the system to help prevent bacteria from entering the water supply.”

"We met many Ethiopians and were treated so well during our visit it was a shock to see that many live in conditions we could only imagine in Yorkshire," she said.

"My colleagues from Bishoftu were very keen to learn put my knowledge into practise and I hope this will ultimately make a real difference to people’s lives in Ethiopia."

The Big Wish is Yorkshire Water’s unique campaign which brings together all its fundraising, volunteering, influencing and customer awareness work for charity WaterAid. Yorkshire Water is the first company to undertake this approach and believes that this campaign will help in its aim to raise £1m and bring clean water to 130,000 people in Ethiopia over the next five years.

Bradford-based Yorkshire Water was one of the founding-members of WaterAid, which was set up 34 years ago in 1981.

Yorkshire Water is involved in many WaterAid fundraising activities throughout the year, and in the last 10 years has raised over £3 million for the charity.