College Rotary International Service Safe Water Project 2004

In January 2003 I traveled to Rabondo Village, Kenya at the request of of Rotary District 5890, Minneapolis, Minnesota to work with Lifewater International, a Christian non profit agency to assist in the drilling of a well and drill training for the villagers. The geology was inappropriate for the shallow well drilling rig and we were unable to complete a single well.

Due to the failed well drilling operation, our attention turned toward the repairing of a defunct well installed by Kenya/CARE in the 80s'. This well is repaired and is now capable of delivering 10 gallons per minute of potable water. Harvesting rainwater is also a viable option for Rabondo Village.

In January 2004 I returned to Kenya with Tommy Bickel, a former Lifewater volunteer on the unsuccessful 2003 Rabondo water mission. Tommy is knowledgeable and has a long history of successful water projects in Mozambique and Haiti.

Olntiyani Village 2004

We paid a visit to a Masai Village in the Amboseli Game preserve near Tanzania and Mt. Kilimanjaro where we discovered a school which was built by Rotarians Jon and Mary Stine through the Orlando Rotary Club. The Rotary logo on my hat was recognized which led to a viewing of the Rotary sponsored school. The villagers were very gracious and offered to let me to stay in the village at no cost as their guest. 

Nyaoga Village 2004

Seeking a possible source of potable water for this village was the impetus of the 2004 trip. I became acquainted with this village through my association with Elijah Omollo, a Kenya National and a liaison for Give Us Wings, an NGO in Minneapolis, Minn. who works with both Rabondo and Nyaoga Villages in delivering medical care and community development.  

Nyaoga community is situated along Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh water lake in the world and yet not a source of safe drinking water. Over the years, the people in Nyaoga community have relied on contaminated lake water for their drinking needs because of lack of alternatives. There are no streams in the area and the ground water is mineralized, and unsuitable for human use. The area is very dry and receives very little rainfall spread in four months throughout the year making it difficult to make good use of the fertile soil around community. Although the community has been using the contaminated lake water, Lake Victoria is today threatened with even more problems which means more deaths and diseases in the community.

In a free medical camp that was sponsored by Give Us Wings in the community in July 2001, the result indicated that 75% of the patients that were treated suffered from waterborne or other water related diseases. Thirty percent were children of 5 years and below, 15% children between 6 and 11 years. The rest were adults.

There are endemic waterborne diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea, intestinal problems etc., which can directly cause large numbers of deaths. Children are mostly affected, they are more susceptible to waterborne diseases. Women walk 8 -10 Km to fetch water. When people fall sick their ability to be productively involved in poverty eradication in the community is highly reduced. 

Lake Victoria is also infected with Shistosomiasis (Bilharzia). One can become infected just by bathing in the water or getting wet and not toweling off rapidly.

Through an association with Alaskans who work in other developing countries delivering potable water solutions, I became acquainted with Leroy Hawn, Wasilla, Alaska and Dick Hamilton of Medford, Oregon.. Leroy and Dick Hamilton have been working in East Africa for the last 20 years through their non-profit East African Christian Missions water drilling operation. 12 years ago, the previous Kenya kleptocracy, confiscated their drill rigs and deported them in the middle of the night.. They recently recovered their equipment and were in Nairobi performing extensive repairs.  This drill rig is capable of drilling just about anywhere in Africa.

Water Pump Transfer of Technology from Nicaragua to East Africa. Rope Pump (185KB)

Why

Industrial (donated) hand pumps, such as a India Mark II,  for communal wells often break down after several years.  In practice this cost is too high when repairs prove necessary If cost for maintenance is born by the users. Next to communal pumps, pumps on private wells could raise the standard of living if they were low in cost, reliable and lift water effectively. To irrigate a garden in the dry season to increase income can only be realized if such a hand pump converts human energy with little loss in water lifted. Local affordability and local maintenance is a must, together with an excellent pump performance. Local affordability asks for a cost reduction compared to imported industrial goods in a twenty to hundred fold way. Local maintenance is only possible when local craft or the future user have constructed the pump. A pumping system should allow full closure of a well against contamination of drinking water. 

How

• Low cost modern materials as plastic pipe and rope are used in a rotating hand pump system. In the working principle of the chain pump the chain is replaced by rope and the rotating chain drum by a specially constructed rubber disk wheel. Such a rubber wheel can be made from used car tires. Other additional needed materials can be found at little or no cost.
  
• Little time is needed to instruct users or craftsman to construct a rope pump. People adapt the basic principle to their own needs, be it shallow or deep wells and bore holes, or horizontal pumping from a pond. To achieve quality, instruction should center on making understood the relation between wheel diameter and the diameter of the plastic pump pipe. Correct construction is crucial of the place where the rope movement changes direction from downwards to upwards in the bottom of the well.
  
• If instructions regarding quality are followed, the rope pump outclasses the traditional pump by far. The Rope-pump is superior by far in all aspects of use, as well as price per unit, when compared to other types of hand-pumps. Further development could mean cutting the cost-price per unit in half, making it suitable for 100m-holes, quick and efficient maintenance, robust construction and housing, as well as more-efficient propulsion and higher efficiency.
  

• The rope pump can be adapted to a special situation. To make it suitable for being mounted on a well cover the bearing of the pump axle is positioned at one side of the pump wheel only. In most other set-ups it is preferred to have the bearing on both sides of the pump wheel, better even: at both the very ends of the axle and handle.

BIO SAND FILTER

The BioSand Filter will remove the Shistosomiasis (Bilharzia) parasites which are endemic in the Lake Victoria water source for Nyaoga Village. 

The basic device consists of a large container filled with sand and gravel. As water passes through the various layers, foreign particles and organisms are filtered out and the end product is safe drinking water.

The biolayer is formed with the accumulation of organic material in the first layer of sand. Oxygen and nutrients are delivered through a small reserve of water that remains on top of the filter, a feature that distinguishes the BioSand filter from similar devices. The microorganisms that make up most of the biolayer consume bacteria, increasing the effectiveness of the filter and eliminating 90 percent of pathogens. The sand absorbs viruses, iron and other small particles.

The BioSand filter runs on a demand basis and requires no electricity or chemicals, making it ideal for communities with few resources. The technology is applied to the concrete version, which is manufactured and installed in developing countries. 

Solar Water Purification

The Solar Water Disinfection (SODIS) process is a simple technology used to improve the microbiological quality of drinking water. SODIS uses solar radiation to destroy pathogenic microorganisms which cause water borne diseases.

SODIS is ideal to treat small quantities of water. Contaminated water is filled into transparent plastic bottles and exposed to full sunlight for six hours.

Sunlight is treating the contaminated water through two synergetic mechanisms: Radiation in the spectrum of UV-A (wavelength 320-400nm) and increased water temperature. If the water temperatures raises above 50°C, the disinfection process is three times faster.

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