Clean Water Access for Ecuador
Donation protected
Project: Household Carbon Water Filters for Rural Poor
The Goal:
Access to safe drinking water in rural Manabí, Ecuador. This project is focused on earthquake affected communities, installing household carbon water filters for access to clean water.
The Team:
This is Katherine; the beauty and brains of the operation. She is a soon to graduate Environmental Engineer, who did her thesis on activated carbon made from local agricultural waste products. She is from the Manabí province in Ecuador, understands the people and the problems, and wants to do something about it.
This is me, Tarant, an Australian Environmental Scientist living in Manabí Ecuador; I'm the brawn and backup brain. I make high temperature biochar, tinker, daydream and work on my small permaculture coffee farm. But mostly daydream. And the pup is my Sombra, my shadow.
The Reason We Care:
After the devastating 7.8 earthquake in 2016 I saw firsthand how unprepared we are to face the reality of disaster; no access to drinking water, yet surrounded by water. In the days following the quake I made a carbon water filter using a single 200L barrel, based on a design from aqueous solutions - this allowed us to bucket water from the river and in a short order have clean drinking water. The neighbours came around and we made a deal - help with filling the buckets and take as much clean water as you need!
The filter is still in place and continues to work great, and continues to raise questions by other neighbours who want their own. The design is effective, relatively inexpensive and uses locally available material and locally made biochar.
The Problem:
People here buy bottled water, even in remote poor communities, due to fear of contamination of river water and groundwater; maybe with good reason as agricultural chemical use is out of control. High temperature biochar makes an excellent filter material, and is made from what is otherwise a locally problematic agricultural waste stream.
The Solution:
A multi stage water filter is a very effective solution for water filtration, and is used in the treatment of drinking water worldwide. The design we are proposing is based on the great work by Aqueous Solutions (http://www.aqsolutions.org/) a non-profit, volunteer-run organisation based in the USA and Thailand. A series of proven filter materials housed in rugged, and ubiquitous, blue plastic barrels provide a filter which is biologically active and is proven to remove agrochemical residues with high temperature biochar.
(picture courtesy of Aqueous Solutions: http://www.aqsolutions.org/?page_id=927)
The Plan:
Together we have the ideas, the experience, the motivation, but we need your help. Our plan is to get carbon water filters into as many rural households in the earthquake effected area as we can, and the best way to do that is to subsidise the initial expense. Due to the slow recovery of the local economy things are difficult, money is tight, but people put a value on their health and it is important that they have ownership of the filter so that it is their responsibility to maintain it – not some NGO or government department.
That's where you can come in - we propose a 50% cost share between the homes (or group of homes if they share) and your donations. This will allow us to stretch your help further, and for people to take ownership of their water supply.
The Costs: each household filter requires;
3 x 200L barrel (new for safety): $90
3 x sacks of cleaned gravel: $9
8 x sacks of cleaned fine sand: $24
Plumbing and fittings: ` $50 (approx., to be confirmed)
1 x sack of high temp biochar: $20
Install: $40 (travel and time for 3 people)
Total: $234 (USD)
That is $234 for a 2 stage semi-slow sand and biochar filter which produces 300L+ of clean water daily. Other systems available locally to treat tap water cost $50 for an inline filter which has to be replaced every 3 months, or $1000+ for a household system which requires the same service interval. If we can raise $10,000 we can get systems installed in 100 homes, and we will be targetting areas where people are more affected by water quality.
If a family buys two bottles of water a week (2 x 20L) @ $1, that's $104 per year (minimum, most buy 3-5 a week). This filter can produce 52 times more water, allowing it to be used for other purposes like washing, with a return of investment in 2 years - with your help that is reduced to just 1 year, and the system will last many years with a little care.
If you donate to our cause you are directly helping people who want to help themselves, and providing the opportunity for an amazing young professional to put theory into practice for her community. The side benefit is that I get to continue to burn stuff and make biochar.
As a side note, the biochar used in the filters can also be used in the home gardens, and is a personal interest of mine to get as many people exposed to its benefits as possible!
The Goal:
Access to safe drinking water in rural Manabí, Ecuador. This project is focused on earthquake affected communities, installing household carbon water filters for access to clean water.
The Team:
This is Katherine; the beauty and brains of the operation. She is a soon to graduate Environmental Engineer, who did her thesis on activated carbon made from local agricultural waste products. She is from the Manabí province in Ecuador, understands the people and the problems, and wants to do something about it.
This is me, Tarant, an Australian Environmental Scientist living in Manabí Ecuador; I'm the brawn and backup brain. I make high temperature biochar, tinker, daydream and work on my small permaculture coffee farm. But mostly daydream. And the pup is my Sombra, my shadow.
The Reason We Care:
After the devastating 7.8 earthquake in 2016 I saw firsthand how unprepared we are to face the reality of disaster; no access to drinking water, yet surrounded by water. In the days following the quake I made a carbon water filter using a single 200L barrel, based on a design from aqueous solutions - this allowed us to bucket water from the river and in a short order have clean drinking water. The neighbours came around and we made a deal - help with filling the buckets and take as much clean water as you need!
The filter is still in place and continues to work great, and continues to raise questions by other neighbours who want their own. The design is effective, relatively inexpensive and uses locally available material and locally made biochar.
The Problem:
People here buy bottled water, even in remote poor communities, due to fear of contamination of river water and groundwater; maybe with good reason as agricultural chemical use is out of control. High temperature biochar makes an excellent filter material, and is made from what is otherwise a locally problematic agricultural waste stream.
The Solution:
A multi stage water filter is a very effective solution for water filtration, and is used in the treatment of drinking water worldwide. The design we are proposing is based on the great work by Aqueous Solutions (http://www.aqsolutions.org/) a non-profit, volunteer-run organisation based in the USA and Thailand. A series of proven filter materials housed in rugged, and ubiquitous, blue plastic barrels provide a filter which is biologically active and is proven to remove agrochemical residues with high temperature biochar.
(picture courtesy of Aqueous Solutions: http://www.aqsolutions.org/?page_id=927)The Plan:
Together we have the ideas, the experience, the motivation, but we need your help. Our plan is to get carbon water filters into as many rural households in the earthquake effected area as we can, and the best way to do that is to subsidise the initial expense. Due to the slow recovery of the local economy things are difficult, money is tight, but people put a value on their health and it is important that they have ownership of the filter so that it is their responsibility to maintain it – not some NGO or government department.
That's where you can come in - we propose a 50% cost share between the homes (or group of homes if they share) and your donations. This will allow us to stretch your help further, and for people to take ownership of their water supply.
The Costs: each household filter requires;
3 x 200L barrel (new for safety): $90
3 x sacks of cleaned gravel: $9
8 x sacks of cleaned fine sand: $24
Plumbing and fittings: ` $50 (approx., to be confirmed)
1 x sack of high temp biochar: $20
Install: $40 (travel and time for 3 people)
Total: $234 (USD)
That is $234 for a 2 stage semi-slow sand and biochar filter which produces 300L+ of clean water daily. Other systems available locally to treat tap water cost $50 for an inline filter which has to be replaced every 3 months, or $1000+ for a household system which requires the same service interval. If we can raise $10,000 we can get systems installed in 100 homes, and we will be targetting areas where people are more affected by water quality.
If a family buys two bottles of water a week (2 x 20L) @ $1, that's $104 per year (minimum, most buy 3-5 a week). This filter can produce 52 times more water, allowing it to be used for other purposes like washing, with a return of investment in 2 years - with your help that is reduced to just 1 year, and the system will last many years with a little care.
If you donate to our cause you are directly helping people who want to help themselves, and providing the opportunity for an amazing young professional to put theory into practice for her community. The side benefit is that I get to continue to burn stuff and make biochar.
As a side note, the biochar used in the filters can also be used in the home gardens, and is a personal interest of mine to get as many people exposed to its benefits as possible!
Organizer
Tarant Borlase
Organizer
Kaleen ACT
