WORKERS in the UK water industry could set swap places with counterparts in the poverty-stricken African country of Malawi.

The prospect of the exchange programme was raised after a visit to Malawi by officials from the charity WaterAid and representatives of Northumbrian Water.

They were joined on the trip by Durham North MP Kevan Jones, who hopes to persuade International Development Secretary Hilary Benn and Chancellor Gordon Brown to provide funding for such a venture, which could benefit those without clean, fresh water.

Malawi ranks among the world's least-developed countries, with 90 per cent of its population living in rural areas.

Four million people are thought to lack access to clean water in the country, while seven million have no adequate sanitation.

Water-related diseases such as cholera and typhoid pose a serious problem because many people do not have a reliable source of water to wash with and to drink.

Six years ago, WaterAid established a head office in Malawi.

It helps people in 17 African and Asian countries access safe drinking water and sanitation and teaches them about hygiene to help stop the spread of disease.

It is now working with local communities, partner organisations and the Malawi Government to provide solutions to the country's water problems.

As part of last month's trip, officials met the Minister of Irrigation and Water Development in Malawi, where job swaps between UK and Malawi water industry workers were discussed.

They also saw the work carried out by the Chagwa co- operative society, which, with WaterAid's help, has improved a failing water system and had rehabilitated it to now serve more than 11,000 people.

They also visited communities where there was still much work to be carried out, including in the slums of the capital, Lilongwe, where the number of water collection points is insufficient to serve the population, with 35,000 people depending on ten points.

Meanwhile, in the village of Nkwali, people have to walk 5km to collect water or use the nearby river, with some drawing drinking water, washing food and washing nappies in the same place.

These water sources become even more dangerous when it floods, with more risk of disease and the possibility of being swept away while collecting water.

Mr Jones said: "What we would like to do is use the expertise of water companies like Northumbrian Water and send people on secondment to Malawi to provide help over there.

"I will be sitting down with Northumbrian Water and also writing to the minister concerned to try and follow this matter up.

"We are also exploring whether we can try and get schools back here involved and twinned with their counterparts in Malawi to raise awareness among schoolchildren of the problems.

"When you get up in the morning and turn on the water tap and clean water comes out, it is something you take for granted.

"In Malawi, what we saw at first-hand were things like women having to walk two miles just to draw water, which in many cases is contaminated anyway."

Rona Higgins, 24, a former pupil of St Leonards RC Comprehensive School, in Durham, is a regional development assistant for Water-Aid. She said: "Two-fifths of the world population do not have any access to clean water and half do not have access to proper toilets and sanitation."