By Johnny Santiago
"Water, the stuff of life and a basic human right, is at the heart of a daily crisis faced by countless millions of the world's most vulnerable people", one of the lead authors of the report, Kevin Watkins, stated, adding that approximately 1.1 billion people are not provided with safe water, while a staggering 2.6 billion suffer from inadequate sewerage”
This is only the beginning of the problems that are created by not having enough clean water for people in third world counties. I have personally experience lack of clean water in the Dominical republic, not having a resource that would so easily been accessible in the United States was hard to adjust in the beginning. There are many solutions to clean water. There are three specific ones that I am going to touch base on. Ceramic water filters, water wells, and water tanks.
Ceramic Filters
Filter pure is a non-profit organization working distributing ceramic water filters in the developing world. Filters are distributed to those with the greatest need. It began in the Dominican Republic in August 2006. Dominican Republic is a country with many needs and poorly guarded resources. Water borne diseases are common and a serious problem.
Ceramic filtration is one household water treatment option in current use in developing countries. The filters are manufactured by mixing combustible material with clay; the clay is then fired to create pore spaces through which are used as the clean water receptacle. Treated water is collected from spigot at the bottom of the clean water receptacle.
http://filterpurefilters.org/
The technology of the Filter Pure water filters are very simple and works for the developing countries in which its in. “A round bottom ceramic pot is made from a mixture, of clay, a combustible material, and colloidal silver, Any agricultural waste such as sawdust, rice husks, and/or coffee husks can serve as a combustible additive. After the clay and combustible have both been sieved through a fine mesh, they are mixed together with measured amount of silver and water until a homogenous mixture is formed. The mixture is then made into a filter suing a filter press, and is kiln fired. During the firing process, the combustible material is burned out leaving micro pores coated with the silver to clean the water. During the firing process, about ½ inch of the charcoal is produced within the filter, which further improves the water.
When the water is poured through the filter it is purified in several three ways:
1. A pore size of less than or equal 1.3 micros filters out main contaminating particles, turbidity, parasites and bacteria
2. Colloidal silver creates a hostile environment for bacteria, rendering it ineffective as it passes through.
3. One half inch of charcoal integrated into the core of the filter improves taste, odor, and color.”
Test Sample |
Total Coli forms |
Fecal Coli forms |
Presence Of E. Coli |
Presence of Salmonella |
Presence of Pseudomonas |
Classification |
River Buyacanes |
>2420 |
1120 |
Positive |
Negative |
Positive |
D |
Filter Initial Test |
<1.1 |
<1.1 |
Negative |
Negative |
Negative |
A |
Filter after 24 months |
<1.1 |
<1.1 |
Negative |
Negative |
Negative |
A |
This table is a representation of how effective the filters work. Initially the filters have a pore size of 1.3 microns anything that get through that can be harmful to the water and individual drinking it.
The best thing about Filter Pure is that is supply one of the most cost efficient solution to this crisis. A filter only cost $35.00 and can supply a family of five with clean water for up to 5 years.
Water Wells
The Water Project is an organization that provides the next solution to the water crisis in developing countries. The Water Project works in Kenya, Sudan, Sierra Leone, and India to provide water wells for those in need. They use their resources for digging and construction needed wells for communities in these countries. What I personally like and appreciate about this organization is that they do not just give out handouts. They do not just do the work and leave and hope and pray that the people that live their can operate and maintain the project that was implement in their lives. They assist local organization, labor and management to build the wells and help sustain their lives through clean water.
“A child dies every 15 seconds from lack of clean water.” This is much of the reason in which why water has become such a priority to The Water Project. The access to clean water can be made so easy and simple. And yet so many people are dyeing from such a solvable issue. The problem is that not many people know the exact problem and solutions to what these problems are. The Water Project strives to relieve this oppression from those who seek for better health.
There are many ways to produce these wells. Cost is definitely a definitive factor in which wells works best for which community. Each continent is different which allows for a more custom form to building the wells. Some wells allow for a dig of a few feet and others need about 900 feet to be dug and order for the well to be built. These measurements are completely contingent in the area where the well is being constructed. The first kinds of wells that are built are by hand. This is the most dangerous form of building a well it is a major danger to the individuals participating in the production process. Some can even die from digging the well. This of course is the cheapest option since tools are not used and labor play a huge role. The second cheapest option is digging with rigs provide by donations. The rig allows for workers to dig effortlessly and dig for about 150-200 feet into the ground. The
Water is providing through the natural resource. The water that flows underground is stored into the water wells and pumped up. These wells are completely sealed so the water stays clean. This project cost about $6,000. The next project is the most costly project, with estimates of about $30,000 but allows for the largest impact to the community. It can server up to 3,000 people. The costly factors that come into play are the drilling equipment and water pump system. Since it requires a deep dig, it requires a more powerful pump to reach the water.
One of the most important parts of this experiment and this entire process is getting the community on board with what you are trying to accomplish. Knowledge is power and giving them the opportunity to take control over their lives is powerful. The Water Project strives to provide knowledge to those who seek to know more. One of the ways that they accomplish this is having what local area pay and provides the geological survey from the local government. The purpose for the genealogy report is so that the drillers know what kind of rocks they are going to encounter and where the best chance of discovering the best supply of water.
http://thewaterproject.org/
Drilling process consist of a process called rotary mud pump drilling. “Rotary mud pump drilling involves a rotating drill head being pushed into the ground, and adding more stems onto the drill pipe as you get deeper. Water is flushed through the stems, and out through the drill bit at the bottom of the whole as the drilling head is spinning and cutting. This water has been mixed with a substance that makes it thick and viscous. As the water comes back out of the top of the hole, it carries with it all the bits of rock and soil that have been broken up by the drill bit. For this process to work, you need to have a good water supply close by, because as you get deeper you require more and more water to make sure it brings the bits out the top.” Then there are several steps to take to seal the hole with cement that needs to dry for 10 days. As describe there are several step and some financial responsible require for this solution to be implemented, but it reaches such a large amount of people that the initial financial investment seems non problematic.
Rain Catchment Tanks
Another Micros solution to the water crisis is providing water tanks. Global Water can provide water tanks. “GLOBAL WATER was founded in 1982 by former U.S. Ambassador John McDonald and Dr. Peter Bourne to help save the lives of people in developing countries that are lost due to unclean water”
Global Water provides several ways to solve the issue of lack of clean water. One of the best ways that the water can be preserved is in its most available way, from the sky. Rain Catchment system is a development to catch water from the sky when it is raining. This system is really easy to use and has the opportunity to really make use out of water that would normally go to waste.
There are some things that are need when developing this solution. First their needs to be a tank that needs to be build in order for the water to be contained. Although in many countries raining does not occur it still creates an opportunity to really take advantage of the wasted rain. A water tank can hold about 100,000 liters. The Water Project has implemented this project in several countries. It benefits at least 600 people. The cost of having a water tank is about $6,000.00. Much of the cost goes to materials such as
- Rods,
-Pipes
-Wire
-Mess
-Cement
-Sand
-Gravel
-Water.
The building process consists of needing to mark out the center of the tank, and make space for the desire piping. All tubing inside the tank should be located under the trapdoor. A standard tank has a minimum of three tubes on the floor. The first is the inlet pipe from the water source; the second is an outlet to the distribution system and third is used as a means to clean out the tank. There is one inlet pipe coming from the back of the tank and four outlets pipes at the front of the tank, serving two distribution systems. The overflow tube can also serve as a means of draining the tank.
Although there are many steps and cost directed to this specific solution the amount of people that is affected by this solution is grand.
Water is a major source of life. There is no reason why so many individuals in this world can be supplied with such abundance in water yet there is so many other they are dying from lack of clean water. Having filters and tanks and wells can truly help prevent many disease and lives from lack of clean water.