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No clean water was taken for granted!
But things were different in the city.
In 2004 Peter Njodzeka founded the Life and Water Development Group Cameroon (LWDGC) with a rather simple goal. “I wanted to see the people in my area have clean water,” he said. “And we kept expanding. That’s how it started,” writes Danielle Nierenberg, Nourishing the Planet Co-Project director.
While Peter was growing up in Nkuv, the small village in Cameroon where he was born, no one had clean water. The water available for drinking was also used by livestock and wildlife, as well as for the whole village’s washing. Every year at least one child would die from illness caused by the dirty water and most households reported having at least one sick family member in the past six months at any given time. “When I was growing up that’s how everyone lived,” said Peter. “But when I left the village and came to Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon, I saw that things were so different from my village and I wanted to change things to make them better.”
Six years later, LWDGC, with help from Engineers Without Borders USA Hope College Chapter taught the technicians of LWDGC how to construct and install bio sand filters in the village of Nkuv. In 2008, Thirst Relief International USA partnered with LWDGC and has been bringing access to clean water to over 6 villages in addition to Nkuv, as well as providing wells and latrines for 23 schools, and providing education about hygiene and sanitation practices. And they are providing access to the clean water with a very unlikely technique-they are using dirt and bacteria to make the dirty water clean.
LWDGC and Thirst Relief International are building bio sand filters and teaching households how to use and maintain them, greatly improving the cleanliness of drinking water and all but eliminating diseases caused by contaminated water. Bio sand filters are built with the help of an iron mold. Concrete forms the base of the filter and its center is filled with layers of differently-sized, crushed rock. Two layers of gravel and then fine-grained sand create three levels through which water is poured over the course of three weeks. Slowly on the very top forms what is called a biolayer. Once that final layer has formed, the filter removes 99 percent of the bacteria in water that passes through it and is ready to use.
The drinking water slowly filters through the layers of naturally formed bacteria and sand at a rate of about 1 liter per minute and comes out clean and ready for consumption from a pipe that’s connected through the concrete from the bottom to the side top outlet of the filter. If properly maintained a biosand filter can be used for up to 12 months without the need for much maintenance.
You can read more about innovations that help bring clan water to communities and improve health and livelihoods.
More information: www.nourishingtheplanet.org
One Response to “No clean water was taken for granted!”
ecoadmin says:
We take things for granted in the civilized world. But the lack of water, cleanliness and hygiene are second nature to people living in these deprived circumstances.