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Water Filtration in Guatemala
As a new member, it is interesting to me to see the fact that you are using the same filters as those used by Pure Water for the World. This fact indicates a good relationship. As a Rotarian, I am interested in the extent that you are cooperating with the Rotary Clubs in Guatemala. As you may know, The Rotary Club of Guatemala Sur is deeply involved with water filtration using another type of in-home filter. It occurs to me that some applications are better served using one type and other applications are better served with the other. See bombagua.com.gt.
Any experiences?
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Wayne:
As you mentioned, every situation is different. There are many factors that enter into the choice of which technology to use. These include effectiveness, price, ease of construction, maintenance and longevity. We have chosen the BioSand filter technology of HydrAid for the garbage dump project, as well as several others.
We have not yet used the ceramic filter technology, mostly because of the cost. However, we are planning to use them when we run into situations where sand of the proper quality is not available or the transportation is too difficult.
The Rotary groups do a terrific job of funding water projects. We do make presentations to and package projects for various Rotary groups.
Averill
I'm also working on a Rotary-sponsored water filter project, with Partners in Development (PID.org). PID had no prior experience with water, so I'm the engineer (which I am, by background), the coordinator and the builder. We're installing slow sand filters near Mazatenango, Guatemala. We're not using anybody's specific design, but are using some of the biosand filter specifications. We're using plastic drums for the containers, purchasing some of the specialized fittings (bulkhead connectors, etc) here in the States and purchasing the PVC pipe and fittings locally. Our problem is finding a source of filter sand. We hand sifted black volcanic sand with reasonable success but won't be able to do the same for our next phase, which will involve about 150 cubic feet of fine sand(about 0.3mm effective size with a U/C of about 2.0). Do you know of any such filter sand in Guatemala or should I plan on mechanizing our sieving process (or get 50 more volunteers...)?
Thanks.
Norm