OT: How to bring drinking water to a village...

Nak · Since 19 May 2005 4316 Posts Camas Site Lackey **CGKA Member**

OK, long story how I got involved in this. Here's the basics:

There's a village in Senegal without clean drinking water. (I know there's problems all over the world. This is about solving this particular problem.) Currently, they get their water out of a heavily polluted stream. (Mostly biological pollutants...) They have a water tower, but no water in it.

Here's the problem they need help with. How to get water out of the stream and into the water tower, cleaning and purifying it along the way. BTW, there is no electrical grid. The two possible sources of power, as far as I can tell, are the stream itself and solar power. Ideally we're looking at a low tech solution, something that the villagers can maintain. If that's not possible, something as simple and durable as possible.

What I'm looking for right now is just a first impression. Can it be done? Ideas on how to do it? Probable cost range? Does anyone here have any expertise in this, or do you know someone that does? Again, at this point I'm just looking for an off the cuff answer. Is there interest here in helping deign and/or build parts?

I'm not looking for donations. Someone else will be handling the money end of things. I'm just trying to get an idea of the feasibility of the project & the possibility of nwKite members helping out.

It's possible that the money end might fall through, but I don't think so. There are some comparatively big players looking at this...

genek · Since 21 Jul 2006 2165 Posts East Po KGB

Sounds like a great thing that you're doing.

I don't really know anything about this, but how steep is the stream? Would it be possible to build something like an aqueduct to grab the water further up stream and take it to the water tower using gravity? How tall is the tower?

For cleaning it sounds like filtering, boiling, or iodination are the three common methods in the wilderness. I'm guessing some kind of filtering will be the most energy efficient and practical. Is there any way to create a well or spring type setup to have the natural deposits in the ground clean the water before or while in aqueduct?

I'm sure someone with more expertise will have much better info. Good luck.

tinyE · Since 21 Jan 2006 2004 Posts not really an XTreme Poster

how tall is the tower? is there any current in the stream? do you have any more info?
There's lots of ways to get the water into it!

vangondc · Tue Nov 11, 08 2:08 pm

I knew a guy who used a water tower and he had this little portable gas driven rotery pump to fill it with. It fit in the back of his car and was easily carried by hand. He had a 1.5 in fire hose that he ran up the tower ~50ft high and the ridged hose went into the stream adjacent to his land. It pumped a crap load of water and filled his 500gal tank in no time. Hope it helps.

Nak · Tue Nov 11, 08 4:36 pm

I don't have too many specifics yet. I'm just putting out some feelers on the feasability of it right now. I've seen film of the stream & the water tower. The tower is big, like you'd expect to see around here maybe. The stream is definately flowing, but no steep drops. Kind of similar to the Tualitan River around Hillsborro. Maybe a current of 1 mph?

I'll know more later, but right now my understanding is that there is no reliable gasoline or electricity nearby. What I'm wondering now is if it's possible to do this with water power or solar power. Something that the villagers can maintain without a lot of supplies or help from the outside. What worries me about gasoline power is they might have some initially, but if they run out of gas I don't want them to run out of water... Plus, we still would have to figure out the purification.

Same thing with solar. I'd like to see if it could be done without batterries. Batterries eventually need replacing at a high cost. Maybe a solar setup where water is purified and pumped into the tower during the day?

Thanks for the interest and any ideas you guys come up with!

mschulz · Since 29 May 2007 530 Posts Reno, NV Addicted

You are correct in not wanting to depend on batteries and pumping water during day light will work as long as you can pump enough to last through the night. To purify it, you can run it through a gravity fed screen and ultraviolet light, so the water is clean in the tank. Then gravity does the rest. I am not sure the requirements on the ultraviolet light and what size solar cell would be needed to run the pump and light.

Stream --> pump--> ultraviolet Filter--> Screen filter-->water tank.

http://www.purestfilters.com/ultraviolet.htm

mschulz · Since 29 May 2007 530 Posts Reno, NV Addicted

This would eliminate the need for UV filtering.

http://www.epsea.org/stills.html

Hein · Since 08 Mar 2005 1314 Posts Possessed

Maybe this could help. Or at least get you thinking outside the box.

Link

Mark · Tue Nov 11, 08 5:52 pm

Here is a link to a "rolling" container to transport water over long distances. Quite clever.

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/07/01/rolling-water-container/

GorgeKite.com · Since 17 Mar 2008 226 Posts Hood River Stoked

I would say use the water to help. The Question is Grade or slope in the area. I have seen 5 Gallon Bucket Turbines made from PVC and a used Alternator.

apctjb · Since 19 Aug 2007 440 Posts Obsessed

solar electric (PV) has been used for village water pumping and electrification for decades. Simple, proven, reliable. Best source of information is www.aeesolar.com

Sounds like a great project

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4911 Posts Portland Unstrapped

think this thing needs power but looks interesting - colbert is over the top

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/164485/march-20-2008/dean-kamen

http://www.dekaresearch.com/

pdxmonkeyboy · Wed Nov 12, 08 12:32 am

MCshultz hit the nail on the head. I think pumping the water into the tower is not going to be the big issue. A cheap diesel motor or even like hein suggested, pedal power could get the water into the tank. Depending on the size of the stream, you could build a simple water wheel as well.

Its the purification part that is going to take energy.

I'll ask some of the engineers at the office, but filters and UV are the only common technologies I know of that don't involve a bunch of chemicals.

Nak · Wed Nov 12, 08 12:33 am

Thanks again to everyone that posted. I've got a lot to look at! Very Happy

I'll update later...

ecg · Since 25 Aug 2008 10 Posts PDX New Member

Without knowing the specifics, you could use the sun to "filter" the water. Using evaporation and condensation as the method. Basically the water tower becomes a container for the "grey" water with a large peice of plastic or glass over the entire tank with a slight depression in the middle. Evaporation casued by the heat and force of the sunlight will turn into condensed H2O on the bottom side of the plastic sheet. Once back into its liquid state, gravity will cause it to move towards the depression and into the second container. What you have left in that container is distilled drinking water. This is a very basic way to do this, but I have seen it used in "ghost" towns in Nevada (retirees and desert rats) and in quite a few homes in CR that don't have running water. Also can be used to save your life in a bad situation, have spoken to guys in the backpacking community that have done this with there own um, yeah you get it.
Real question is; how many people are we talking and what is the estimated potable water need? UV may be the only way to do it, but this method takes, you guessed it, no energy. No carbon emmissions, but more importantly, can't break down.
And finally, big hell yeah to you Nak.
It was funny, during the Obama speech and some posts here, people started talking about "doing something for the country/community" and I was going to reply with the breakdown on hours volunteered by country, but I didn't. Lets just say the US is not at the top by no means.

tinyE · Since 21 Jan 2006 2004 Posts not really an XTreme Poster

i was going to suggest a simple bicycle pump, but the tower might be too high. A more complex pumping system might be needed.

Nak · Wed Nov 12, 08 1:22 pm

Thanks for the props guys, but I really don't deserve them. Embarassed

I'm just trying to figure out the feasibility and give direction to the folks that are going to start a charity to get this done. How much involvement I'll have is still a question mark. If sufficient money becomes available it will probably be contracted out to a big outfit.

My goal is to ensure that whatever is done will last a long time. I'd hate to see these people get a first rate water system, only to have it fall into disrepair in a few years. There's going to be interest now, but what happens when people move on to the next project?

The goal is to eventually have running water in the village. Right now they go get their water out of a polluted stream. My thought is to start with a fountain of some type. Maybe just a few spigots centrally located. I think it's important to get access to clean water immediately. Running water mains all over the village can take place after that, I think.