2 - safe and sufficient water (3 of 8)

40 Green World Actions

40 manuals to improve the environment in rural communities

Christian Fenger

Publication:

The GAIA-Movement TrustLiving EarthGreen World Action

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ISBN 978-2-9700470-2-5

Printing DonBoscoTechnicalInstitute, OkhlaRoad,NewDelhi-110025,India February2006Layout: HumanaPeopletoPeopleIndia CallandServiceCentre

“UNOnlineVolunteers”(www.onlinevolunteering.org): Layout: Anne-MarieFord(Guyana), JenMcintosh(USA) Editing and Proofreading: AllisonSilva(USA) AstridMarieVillarta(Philippines) BiaOliveira(Brazil) ElizabethNielson(Chile) GlendaKölbrant(Brazil) KateKilpatrick(Germany) KirstyLawson(Australia) LindaJohannes(USA) MarcoTurco(USA) MarcoVallejo(USA) MariaGarcia(USA) MelissaMcIntyre(USA) MikeDabo(EquatorialGuinea) PetrosPassas(USA) PriscilaTanaami Illustrations: JulianaYamashita(Brazil) Malathi(EUA) MereteSchioeler(Holland) NickCannan(England) RobinUrquhart(Canada)

Publicationanddistribution: TheGAIA-MovementTrustLivingEarthGreenWorldAction InternationalEnvironmentHouseII, ChemindeBalexert9, CH1219Châtelaine,Switzerland [email protected] www.gaia-movement.org

2

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Table of Contents

� • Introduction 5

1•WhyaGreenWorldActionManual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52•CaseStoriesofGreenWorldActions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 • Safe and Sufficient Water 9

3•Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94•SolarDisinfection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115•WaterClarificationwithMoringa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136•TheDrumWaterFilter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147•SimpleWaterFilters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148•The‘TippyTap’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199•DripIrrigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2010•MaintenanceofWaterPosts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2211•Low-costWaterTanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2412•MakingGutters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2613•TheRopePump-Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2914•WellDrilling-Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3115•GroundWaterRecharge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3216•SubsurfaceDams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

� • Healthy and productive soils �9

17•Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3918•SoilExamination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4119•ProductionofCompost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4320•ConservationFarming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4421•ImprovedFallow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4922•SoilConservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5323•RainwaterHarvestingwithVetiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5724•Vermi-compost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

4 • Sufficient and Nutritious Food 6�

25•Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6326•FermentedFood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6527•MaltedGrain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6628•SoybeanProcessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6829•DryingFruitsandVegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7030•LocalLeafyVegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

40 Green World Actions4

31• Moringa oleifera -aMultipurposeTree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8232•TheMedicinalGarden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8433•TheTCEImmuneTea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8634•Biopesticides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8935•Tephrosia-ABiopesticideandMuchMore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9336•LivingFences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9537•SeedPriming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

5 • Recycling of Waste 99

38•IntroductiontoRecycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9939•TheArborloo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10140•TheDoublePitLatrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10541•WastewaterReuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

6 • CO2 Neutral Energy ��

42•Introduction-Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11143•Firewood-SavingStove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11344•JatrophaforFencesandOil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11645•FuelBriquettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11946•SolarCookingPanel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

7 • Improving Tree Cover �25

47•TheImportanceofPlantCover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12548•NaturePreservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12749•ProductionofTrees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13050•AgroforestrySystems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13251•BambooCultivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Wind rope pump being erected at Nhama-tanda in Mozam-bique

� Introduction - Why a Green World Action Manual 5

� • Why a Green World Action Manual

The value and importance of small “environmental actions”

Theenvironmentisapopularnewsiteminthemedia.Oftenasasyetanotheralarm-ingheadline:Deforestation,anincreaseindesertland,meltedglaciersanddestroyedcoralreefs..Thisleavesmanypeoplewithafeelingthatthereisnotmuchonecandotochangethecourseofmanandnature.

�Children irrigat-ing the vegetable garden at the Farm-ers Club in Bilibiza

Introduction

Small actions, however, can have a greatimpactwhenmanypeopleimplementthem.Thisiswhythisbookhasbeenwritten.TheGAIA-Movementwishestogetmanypeopletounderstandandimplementsimplesystemssuchastheonesdescribedinthismanual. This will not only improve theirownlives,butalsocontributetopreserveandimprovetheirlocalenvironment.

To you - the user of the manual

This manual was written as part of theprogramme “GAIA Activities at VillageSchools”-implementedinCentralMozam-biqueandinAngola.


Theideaistogivesomepracticalexamplesofhowonecanimprovelivingconditionsandatthesametimeprotectandimprovethelocalenvironment.Mostofthesystemsare simple and economical to constructorsetup.Thismakesitpossibletocarrythem out at village schools and in ruralcommunities.Themanualconsistsof40concreteinstruc-tionsonhowtosetupaffordablesystemsrelatedto the issuesofwater, soil, food,waste,energyandnaturepreservation.Theycanbeusedbyanybodyinterestedincreatingsuchsystems.Withthismanual,wehopetogiveyouthepossibilitytoacquirenewskillsandknowl-edge-andthushopefullychangeyourlifeandthelivesofotherstothebetter.Educa-tioncanchangelives-sometimeseventhesmallestthingscanchangelives.Wehopethatyouenjoyusingthisbook.Pleaseletusknowofyourexperiencesaswewouldliketoincludemoresystemsinfutureeditions.

Contact us

Itisachallengingtasktodescribetechnicalsystemsonalimitedspacesothattheusercanimplementthemtofunctionwell.Differences in localconditionsmightalsomakeitnecessarytoadaptandchangesomeoftheelements.Therefore,youaremorethanwelcometocontacttheGAIA-Movementatinfo@gaia-movement.orgtogetassistancewithspe-cificquestions,ortobereferredtopeoplewhocangiveyoumoreinformation.

Acknowledgements

TheGAIA-Movementisextremelygratefultotheorganisationsthathaveassistedwithmaterialtothismanual.Wearesimilarlygratefultothemanyvol-unteersinassistinguswiththeenormoustaskofbringing together thispublication,wearethankfulfortheirdedication.Mostofthevolunteershaverepliedtorequestsforassistancewithtranslations,corrections,proofreading,layoutworkandproductionof illustrationspostedontheUNOnlinevolunteerwebsite:www.onlinevolunteering.org

Manythankstoallofyou.ChristianFenger,GeneralManagerAndersSvensson,VicePresident

The GAIA-Movement Trust Living EarthGreenWorldAction,InternationalEnvironmentHouseII,ChemindeBalexert9,CH1219Chatelaine,Switzerland.Tel:41764210154Fax:41227971768For further informationabouttheGAIA-Movement and our projects, please visitusat:www.gaia-movement.org

2 - Introduction - Case Stories of Green World Actions 7

shortpolesandgoodclay.Eventhoughitwillnotlastsolong,itisfineforthekindofcompostinglatrinethestudentswerepro-moting.Anewlatrine pit willbe made afteroneyear,andatreeplantedintheoldpit.Anothergroupwantedtostartproduction oftreeseedlings,butdidnotyethavetheseedsandplasticbags.Theythereforemobilisedthepupilstocollectseedsattheirhomes.Theywenttothelocalmarketandagreedthatthesugarsellersshouldkeepthesmallplasticbags,whenthesellerssellthesugarinsmallerquantities. Inthiswaytheygotmany plantingbags to pro-duce the treeseedlings.The studentswerealsoableto find otherlocal organi-sations to as-sistthemwithseedsandma-terials.These examples show that it is possibletostarttheprocessofimprovinglivesandconditions in the villages, evenwith verysmallmeans.Thecrucialelementsarede-terminationforchangeandknowledge.

2 • Case Stories of Green World Actions

GAIA Activities at Village Schools

Weknow there is a hugeneed for suchGAIAactivities.In September 2005wemet someof thestudentsfromtheteachertrainingcollegeinChimoio,runbyADPPMozambique(AjudadeDesenvolvimentodePovoparaPovo).They were part of the 60 students whostartedtoimplementtheGAIAprojectinCentralMozambique.Wemet them in avillage40kilometresfromChimoio.Duringoneyearoftheireducationtheyworkasteachertraineesatvillageschools.Besidesteaching,eachteachertraineealsochoosesalineofcommunitywork-ofwhichoneistoimplementGAIAactivities.Anawasoneofthestudentswemet,andshe was making slabs for latrines with agroupofvillagepeople.Shetoldusthatitisgoodtodocommunityworkbecauseitimprovespeople’slivesinallaspects.Whenthe latrinewas finished, the familywouldnotneedtogotothebushandwouldatthesametimeimprovetheirhygiene.Shealsotoldhowimportanteducationwastoimprovethelevelofhygieneandsanita-tion,andhowtheyweredoingthisinthevillageschoolandcampaigns.Communitydevelopmentwork is not aneasy task, asoneoften faces a varietyofchallenges.Thestudentswemettoldhowtheyhadovercomesomeofthesedifficul-ties. When there was only cement for alimitedamountoflatrineslabs,theymobi-lised25familiestomakelatrineswithlocalmaterials.Theslabswerethenmadewith

Protecting the soil against evapora-tion with grass

Using sugar bags to produce tree seed-lings


Producing a slab for a latrine of the kind in which a tree will later be planted

Irrigating a tree that will supply firewood Students at the Teacher Training Colleges, EPF Chimoio and Nhamatanda discussing the results achieved in 20 communities

Showing how to multiply vetiver grass to use against soil erosion

ThisGreenActionManualismadetogivesuch knowledge and ideas to people likeAnawhohavethedeterminationtoworkonimprovinglivesandenvironmentintheirlocalcommunities.We want to see these GAIA activitiesspread to many more parts of Mozam-biqueandAngola,aswellastomanyothercountries.Hopefullymanyotherswillfinditusefulasahandbooktogetideas,assistanceandinspiration.

9

� • Introduction

Waterislife!Withoutwatertherewouldbenolifeontheplanet.Weallusewaterevery day; to drink, wash ourselves, tocook,towashourclothes,flushourtoiletsandwaterourgardens.Animalsandplantswilldiewithoutwater.Ourdailyexistencedependsonwater.Inruralareasofdevelop-ingcountries,alargeportionofwomen’sdailyworkistosecureanadequateamountofpotablewaterfortheirfamilies.

2The world’s economy also depends onwater.Industriesandespeciallyagriculturespendenormousquantityofwaterintheirproduction.Thismanualintroducesthetwomainwaterrelatedproblemsthatthehumanracehasyettosolve:• Resourcesoffreshwaterarecomingto

anend• 1.2billionpeopledonothaveaccessto

potablewater

A locally made rope pump providing water in Zambia

Safe and Sufficient Water

� - Safe and Sufficient Water - Introduction

40 Green World Actions�0

Water resources are coming to an end

About70%ofthewaterthatistakenfromrivers or pumped from the water tableis used for irrigation. Inmany regions oftheworldtheuseofwateratthisrateisunsustainable.Thegroundwater isbeingusedfasterthanitisbeingreplacedbytherainwaterthatfiltersthroughtheearthtoreplenishthewatertables.Theresultisthatthewatertablesfall,andwellsrundry.Watertablesarefallinginmanycountries,includingChina,India,andtheUnitedStates,which, put together, produce half of theworld’sgrains.UnderthenorthernplainofChina,wherehalfofthewheatandathirdof the country’s maize is produced, theannualfallofthewatertablehasincreasedfrom1.5metresperyearadecadeagotoitscurrentrateof3metresayear.IntheareassurroundingBeijing,thecapitalofChina,itisnecessarytodrillupto1000metrestoreachwater.RecentdatafromIndia,fromstudiesofPun-

jab and Hary-ana, indicatesthatthewatertables are fall-ing at a rateof one metreper year. It isestimatedthatthe reductionof the watersupplywill re-

ducethegraincropsofIndiabyonefifth.(Information from Worldwatch Institute-www.wwiuma.org.br)Todayitisnolongerenoughtobuildmoredamsordrillmorewells.Theonlyoptionistoreducethegrowingdemandthroughstabilizationof thepopulationand to im-provetheefficiencyofusingwater-inthe

samemannerthatagriculturalproductivitywas improved in the second half of the20thcentury.Thismeansthatwatermustbeusedmoreefficientlyinagricultureandagriculturalsystemsthatpromotebetterin-filtrationofthewaterintothegroundmustbeadopted.Itmeanswemustpromotewa-terandwatersourcepreservationsystemstoraisethelevelofthewatertables.

Lack of potable water

Many places in the world lack potable(drinkable) water and many people diebecauseofthis.Anestimatedtwomillionpeopledieeachyearbecauseofwaterre-lateddiseases.Onethirdofhumanitylivesinaconstantstateofsicknessordisabilityasaresultofunsafewater.Itispossibletoavoidthesediseases.Wa-tercanbetreatedwithchlorine,butmanypeopledonothavethemoneytobuyit,oritisnotavailableforpurchaseintheirarea.Watercanalsobeboiledbeforeitisused,but many families do not have sufficientfirewood,andobtainingmorewouldmeanevenmoreworkforthewomen.Forthesereasonsitisgoodtolearnothermethodsofmakingwatersafetodrink.

This chapter

This chapter presents the following lowcostsolutions:• makingwaterpotable(sections4-6),• economizingwaterresources(sections

7-8),• providingwater fordomesticuseand

smallscaleirrigation(sections9-14).

Water is life. For

fishermen in Lochin-var, and everyone

else

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4 • Solar Disinfection

Idea

Theideaistospreadasimplesystemforcleaning water which can be used whenpeoplecannotboilwater.

Introduction

Accesstocleanwaterisaprobleminmanypartsoftheworld.Inmanyplacespeoplehavetousewaterfromriversorlakes,oruserainwatercollectedincontainers.Thiswaterisoftenfullofmicroorganismsthatspread diseases. The diseases are spreadwhen people use the water for cleaningfoodordrinking.Toavoidgettingsickitisnecessarytodisinfectthewater.Thiscanbedoneinmanyways:• boiling-thiswillkillnearlyallmicroor-

ganisms• disinfectingwithchlorine-thisisdone

inmanylargercities• treatingwithradiation-thiswillalsokill

themicroorganisms

FormanypeopleinAfricagettingenoughfirewoodisaproblem.Itisadifficulttaskonwhichmostruralwomenspendseveralhoursaday,or,inthetownswherethereisnopossibilityofgatheringfirewood,fire-woodorcharcoalmustbepurchased.Thismeansthatevenwhenpeopleknowthat they should boil all water used fordrinkingorcleaningfoodsandeatinguten-sils,itisoftennotdone.Hence,itisgoodto promote other simple methods thatcouldhelppeoplegetsafedrinkingwaterand,therefore,avoiddiseases.Althoughtheradiationmethodmentionedisusedinmanydevelopedcountrieswith

special equipment,ultraviolet rays insunlightarealsoca-pable of destroy-ingmicroorganisms.These rays can gothrough glass orclearplasticbottles.The Swiss FederalInstituteofEnviron-mental Science andTechnology (EA-WAG) developedthe SODIS methodand showed that 6hoursofnormalsun-light will disinfectsurfacewatersothatitissafetodrink.Solarradiationdoesnotkillallbacteriabutitinactivatesthebacteriacausingdiarrhoea,choleraandtyphus.Thesystemcanbeusedevenwhenthewatercontainsmanymoremicroorganismsthannormal.If the temperature gets over 50 degreesfor just one hour many other parasiteslikewormsandamoebaearealsokilled.Itisthereforegoodtoplacethebottlesonablacksurface. If thewaterused is fairlyclearandthecorrectstepsarefolloweditispossibletoobtainsafedrinkingwater.

How to disinfect water with sunlight

• Fillsomeclearplasticbottles(PET)withscrewcaps3/4withclear(transparent)water.

• Closeandshakeatleast20timestogetairintothewater.Theoxygenhelpstokillthebacteria.

• Fillupthebottlescompletelywithmorewaterandclosewell(noairinsideasthebubbleswillreflectthesun).

4 - Water - Solar Disinfection

6 hours of exposure to the sun are enough to disinfect transpar-ent water


• Placethebottleslyingdowninasunnyplace - for example on a roof or on

somesheetmetal.• The warmer thebetter, so it is goodto place them on ablack surface - orpainthalfofthesideblack (and place theblacksidedown!)• After 6 hours of

sunlight (do not place in shade!) thewaterisdisinfected.

• Ifitisverycloudy,leavethebottlesfor2 days. The systemdoes not work if itrains during the 2days.•Placethebottlesinacoolplaceorinwatertocool.•Keep thewater inthesamebottlesanduse it. Do not fill itintoothercontainersunlesstheyhavebeendisinfected.

TogetagoodresultitisimportantthatthebottlesarePETbot-tlesastheyletmoreoftheultravioletrays

through. Clear Coca Cola plastic bottlesareanexampleofPETbottles.Donotusecolouredbottles(green,brown,etc.).Theultravioletlightdoesnotgothrough.

PVCbottlesarenotso good. (PVCdoesnotburneasily.PETburns eas i l y andsmells sweet whenburned).Avoidusingscratched bottles asless light will get in.

Changethemwhentheyarenotclearanymoreorafteroneyear.Glassbottlescanalsobeused.

Tobesurethatthewaterisclearenoughtouseperformthefollowingtest:• Fillthebottlewithwater.• Placeit(normally-notlyingdown)on

topofapieceofpaperwithsomelettersof3cm.

• Lookthroughtheopeningfromthetopthroughthebottomofthebottle.

• Ifyoucanseetheletters(readthem)thewateriscleanenoughforSODIS.

• Ifyoucannotreadthelettersyouhavetocleanthewaterthroughafinefilter(cloth)orusemoringaseedstocleanit(seenextsection).

*** SODIS does not remove any chemical pol-lution from farms, factories, garbage dumps etc. from the water ***

Information and drawings adapted from www.sodis.ch, website of EAWAG, the Swiss Federal Institute of Environmental Science and Tech-nology

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5 • Water Clarification with Moringa

Idea

The idea is to promote a system wheremoringa seeds are used to purify turbid(unclear)water.This system is especiallyusefulforcleaningriverorlakewaterwithmanysmalldirtparticles.

Introduction

Asmentionedintheprevioussection,itispossibletodisinfectwaterwiththeultravio-letraysinthesunlight.Ifthewatercontainsmanyverysmallparticlesthismethodisnotgood.Thelightcannotpenetrateandensurethatallmicroorganismsarekilled.Thiskindofwaterisoftenfoundinriverscarryingfineclayparticlesfromerosionupstream.Ifitisnotpossibletofilterthewaterandmakeitclearenoughforsolardisinfection,thesolu-tionistousemoringaseeds.Compoundsintheseedsbindwiththesiltandclaysotheysettleatthebottom.Withtheparticlesmanyofthebacteriaandotherorganismswillalsosettle.Moringaisalsoaveryusefultreebecausetheverynutritiousleavescanbeeaten.ItiseasytogrowandisfoundinmanyplacesinAsiaandAfrica.Read more about how to grow moringaandusetheleavestoimprovenutritioninsection31.

Instructions

Howtoclearwaterwithmoringaseeds:• Useoneseedtoclean1litreofturbid

water.• Takeofftheshelloftheseeds.• Grind the seeds to a powder inside

someclothonastone.• Mixthepowderwithalittlewaterto

free the active components, and mixthiswhitesolutionforsomeminutes.

• Mixthewaterusingawoodentool.• Leavethecontainerwithoutmovingit

foronehoursotheparticlescansettleonthebottom.

• Pourtheclearedwater carefullyintothePETbot-tles so they canbesolartreated.

• Do not use theb o t t o m p a r twhere theparti-cleshavesettled.

Moringa - leaves, flowers and seeds

5 - Water - Water Clarification with Moringa


7 • Simple Water Filters

Introduction

One of the options to make water safefordrinking are ceramic filters for familyuse.Thistechniqueiscommonlyusedforinstance in India andBrazilwhere candlefiltersofdifferentqualitiesareproduced.Because of transport costs these filtersareexpensiveinAfricaornotavailableatall.Thissectiondescribestwosystems-aclayfilterthatcanbemadeatnocost,andalow-costsiphonfiltermadebycombiningaqualitycandlefilter,aplastictubeandtwocontainers.

The clay filter

This simple clay filter was developed bytheAustralianNationalUniversityscientistTonyFlynn.Theproductionofthesefiltersisextremelysimple.Takeahandfulofdry,crushedclay,mixitwithahandfuloforganicmaterial,suchasusedtealeaves,coffeegroundsorricehull,addenoughwatertomakeastiffbiscuit-likemixtureandformacylindricalpotthathasoneendclosed,thendryitinthesun.Ac-cordingtoMr.Flynn,usedcoffeegroundshavegiventhebestresultstodate.Next,surroundthepotswithstrawandputtheminamoundofcowmanure.Lightthestrawandthentopuptheburningmanureasrequired.Inlessthananhourthefiltersarefinished.

6 • The Drum Water Filter

�57 - Water - Simple Water Filters

Thepropertiesofcowmanurearevitalasthe fuel can reach a temperature of 700Cinhalfanhourandwillbeupto950Cafteranother20to30minutes.Thema-nuremakesagoodfuelbecauseitisveryhighinorganicmaterialthatburnsreadilyandquickly.Themanurehastobedryandisbestusedexactlyas found in the field.Thereisnoneedtobreakituporprocessitanyfurther.Thefiltrationprocessissimple,buteffec-tive.Thebasicprinciple is that therearepassages through the filter that arewideenoughforwaterdropletstopassthrough,buttoonarrowforpathogens.TestswiththedeadlyE-colibacteriumhaveseenthefiltersremove96.4to99.8percentofthepathogen-wellwithinsafelevels.Eachfiltercanprocessa litreofwater intwohours.

Step-by-step guide

Make the clay mixtureDig the red to brown coloured clay anddryitinthesun.Poundandcrushtheclayintoa fine,powderconsistency.Mixonehandfulofdriedandcrushedclaywithonehandfulofdryorganicmaterial(usedcof-fee grounds are ideal, rice hulls, sawdustortealeavesmayalsobeused),ensuringitiswelldistributedthroughtheclay.Adda littlewateratatime,using justenoughtoproduceastiffmixture that is firmtohandle,isnotwetandwillnotloseitsshapewhenmoulded.

Shape into filter pots and place them in fireShapetheclaymixtureintoacylinderandleaveittodryinthesun.Thewallsofthefinishedpotshouldbeaboutasthickasanadult’s index finger. Do not break up orcrushthelumpsofcowmanure,thebest

heatwillcomefromlumpsastheyarefound.Putthedried filter forms onto alayerof drymanure, sur-roundthemwithdrystraworleavesandaddanothertwoorthreelayersofma-nure.Thepotsshouldbecompletely covered andnotvisible.Lightthestraworleaves.

Fuel the fire with more manureThefirewillreachatem-peratureof700Cinabouthalfanhourandwillreach900-950Cafteranother20to30minutes.To keep the fire at therequired temperature, itwill be necessary to addmanure.Todoso,placeitovertheholesinthesidesandthetopoftheburningmound.The temperature of thefire can be judged by itscolour,whenitisburningwellthefirewillbeabrightorange-to-yellow colour.Thefiltersshouldbeinthefire at that colour for atleast30minutes.

Bake the filters in the fireIt will take less than anhour to sinter the filtersandburnawaytheorganicmaterial, leaving passagesthat arewide enough forwatertopassthrough,buttoosmallforbacteriaandothermicroorganisms.


Remove the filters from the fireAfterfiringfor45-60min-utes,removethepotsfromthe fire.Thepotswill beredhotsoshouldnotbetouched.Moreunfiredpotscanbeput into the fire at thispoint, and covered withmorecowmanureasbe-

fore.Youwillneedtorepeattheprocessand wait until the fire isburningstronglyandtoseethesamecolouragainforatleast30minutesbeforeremovingthenextfilter.

Filter waterAllow the filter to cool.Washoutanycharcoalorrubbishandfillwithwater.Discardthefirstwatertopassthroughthefilter.

Ifthereisheavycontamination,aseriesoftwoormorefilterscanbeusedinordertoensuredecontamination.

Information and photos provided by Mr. Tony Flynn of the National University of Australia. www.anu.edu.au

The siphon filter

How the siphon filter worksThefilterisplacedintheuppercontainerwhichisplacedataheightofforinstance1.5mhigh.Theotherendof thetube isputintothelowercontainerthatisplaced0.7to1metrebelowtheuppercontainer.Avacuumisthencreatedeitherbysuckingwiththemouthorwithasuctiondevice.Oncethewaterisflowing,thisflowwillgoonbecauseofthesiphon(vacuum)effect.Theflowofwaterdependsontheheight

differenceandthequalityofthefilter,butcanbe2-5litres/hour.

Filter elementThefilteringelementinthesiphonfilterisaceramiccandlefilterthatissoldasspareparts for water filtering systems. Waterfiltersofafairqualityandaccessiblepriceareproduced in India (around30millionfiltersinuse)andinBrazilbythecompaniesPozzaniorStefani.Theelementconsistsofaceramicpieceintheshapeofacylinder(athickcandle).Thisceramichasverysmallporeswhichretainfineparticles andbacteria.Thequalityofcandle filters ismeasuredbythecapacityto retain bacteria. This depends on thepore size of the filters. If the pores aresmallenoughallbacteriaareretained.Theceramicpartisgluedtoametalorplasticcoverwithanoutletnipple for thecleanwater.

How to make a siphon filter

Materials needed:• 1candlefilterelement,• 1metreofplastictube,outsidediameter

7mm(orthesizethatfitsintotheoutletofthefilterelement),

• 1 container or bucket for the unsafewater(uppercontainer),

• 1container,bucketorbottlewithalidforthesafewater(lowercontainer),

• colloidal silver (optional -butrecom-mended). 1 gram of powder for 20filters.

Inordertomakethefiltersmoreefficientineliminatingharmfulbacteriafromunsafewater,itisrecommendedtoimpregnatetheceramicpartwithcolloidalsilver(ifthisisnotdonebythefactoryalready).Thesilveris inexpensiveandcanbepurchased in apowderform-forexamplefromArgonolin

See how to make a clay filter

in the text

�77 - Water - Simple Water Filters

Spain.Twentycandlefilterscanbetreatedwith one gram of this powder. ColloidalsilverisperfectlysafeandisapprovedforfiltersbytheWorldHealthOrganisation,WHO.

Mounting of the siphon filter

• Cutapieceofonemetretubeandmakethecutwithanangleof45degrees.

• Mountonesideintothenippleofthefilterandmakesure itentersat leastonecm.

Bubble testBeforedistributingthefilters,checkthemforleakswiththeso-calledbubbletest.Fillupabucketwithwater,jointheplastictubeintotheplasticnippleofthefilterele-ment,andplacethefilterunderwater.Thenblowthroughtheplastictube.Iflargebubblescomeout,thefiltermusteitherbereplacedor repaired. Leaks arenormallyfoundbetween the ceramic part and theplasticcapandcanoftenberepairedwithsiliconeorplasticglue.

How to impregnateBecause one needs very little silver perfilter, it iseasiestfirsttomakeaconcen-tratedsolution,whichcanbeusedformanyfilters.Mix 10 grams of colloidal silver powder(enoughfor200filters)into500mldem-ineralisedordistilledwaterasusedforbat-teries(NOTbatteryacid!!!).Ifyoudonothaveaccesstothis,thenuseboiledwater.Youcankeepthissolutionforalongtime.About100mlofwaterisneededtoimpreg-nateafilter.Youmustthereforecalculatehowmuchwateryouneedtoimpregnateyourfilters.

Example: You want to impregnate 40 candle filters• Youwillneed40x100mlwater=4

litresofwater.• Youwillneed1/5oftheconcentrated

silversolution(40/200=1/5).• Take100mloftheconcentratedsilver

solution.• Mixthisintoabucketorbasinwith4

litresofdistilledorboiledwater• Submerge the filters for 5minutes in

thissolution.• Holdthefilterssothatthesolutionleaks

out.• Leavethefilterstodry.

Use of the siphon filter

• Placethefilterintheuppercontainerandleavethetubehangingout.

• Fillwatertobetreatedintotheuppercontainer.Itmustcoverthefilterandnotbemorethantheamountyoucanhaveinthebottomcontainer.

• Place it at least one metre over theground.

• Place the lower container 0.5 to 0.8metrebelowtheuppercontainer.


• Suck at theendofthetubeun t i l wa tercomesoutandplace the endof the tube inthelowercon-tainer/bottle.• Finishthefil-teringbyplac-ing theendof

thetubehigherthanthefilter.• Donotdrinkthefirst10litresthatare

filteredaftertreatingwithsilver.

Maintenance• Replace thecandleifitgetscrackedorev-ery year (rec-ommended).• C lean thefi lter with atoothbrushoranotherstrongbrush, if theporesbecome

cloggedandthefiltercapacitythereforeisreduced.

• Blowthroughthetubetopressoutthedirtfromthepores.

Ifthewatertobefilteredisturbid(fulloffineclayparticles), it isrecommendedtofirst

filterthewaterthrough a finecloth, througha homemadeclay filter ortousemoringaseeds to getthe dirt parti-cles to settle(see Section5).

Treating the filters

with colloi-dal silver

“Basic Water

Needs” has devel-oped this filter set

Filter demon-stration in an Indian village

Information and photos kindly supplied by:Henk Holtslag, [email protected]“Basic Water Needs”, IndiaConnect International,www.connectinternational.nlJan de Jongh, Arrakis, www.arrakis.nl

�9

8 • The ‘Tippy Tap’

Idea

Lackofwater is theprinciple reason forwhichpeopleneglecttowashtheirhandsregularly. Here is an idea that uses onlyabout a tenth of the normal quantity ofwater per hand washing. The Tippy Tapis made of a used plastic bottle of thetypewithahandleandastring.Itdoesn’tconsumeasmuchsoapeitherbecausethesoapisprotectedbyacanfromtherainsoitdoesn’tgetwet.

Instruction

1.Heatthebaseofthehandleofaplasticbottleslowlywithacandle,turningthehandleuntilallsidesareevenlyheatedandhavebecomeshiny.

2. Removethecandleandpinchthebaseofthehandleclosedwithapairofplierssothatthewatercannotpassthroughit.Holdthehandleclosedwiththepliersuntiltheplasticcoolstoensurethattheopeningiscompletelyclosed.

3.Heat the point of a small nail over acandle.Usethehotnailtomakeasmallholeontheoutersideofthehandlejustabovetheplacewhereitissealedoff.

4. Heatthenailagainandmaketwosmall-erholesinthebackpartofthebottle.Theholesshouldbeinthemiddleofthebottleandaboutafingerwidthapart.AcordwillbepassedthroughtheseholestohangtheTippyTap.

5.Threadacordthroughthetwoholesandtietheendstoapole.Tieabarofsoapandanemptycanonanotherpieceofcordsothatthecanwillprotectthesoap from the rain and sun.Connectthiscordtooneofthesupportcords.

8 - Water - The ‘Tippy Tap’

6.Tie another piece ofcordtotheneckofthebottleandleaveithang-ingdown.Thiscordisusedtopullthebottledownsothatthewatercomesoutthehole inthehandle.

7. FilltheTippyTapwithwaterup to theholesinthebackofthebot-tle. Tie the system toapoleorabranchandtheTippyTapisreadytouse.

How to use the Tippy Tap:

• Letthewaterflowoveryourhands.

• Usethesoap.• Rinse your hands to

removethesoap.• Drythemwithaclean

cloth.• Ensure that the Tippy

Tap is tilted back sothewaterdoesnotrunout.

The Tippy Tap was originally made of a pivoting gourd and was designed by Dr. Jim Watt and Mr. Jackson Masa-wi at the Rural Centre of the University of Zimbabwe. The plastic version was designed by Mr. Ralph Gamet and Dr. Jim Watt in Canada.


Drip ir-rigation

system in Nicaragua

Micro-tubes are

cheap and easy to

clean

9 • Drip Irrigation

Introduction

An efficient way of using water for cropproduction is drip irrigation. Trials haveshownthat,dependingonthecrop,dripir-rigationuses10timeslesswaterthanfloodirrigation.Anotheradvantageofdripirriga-tionisthatnutrientscanbeaddedtothewaterwhichthenentersdirectlyintothe

soilaroundtheplants. A ma-nure“tea”canbemade froma n i m a l m a -nureor greenp lants . Thisliquid shouldb e t h i n n e din order notto burn theplants. Cor-

rect irrigation avoids that nutrients arewashedawaybyrainsor transformedbymicroorganisms.Asimpledripirrigationsystemcanbecon-

necteddirectlyto the outletofapump(theoutlet shouldbeat least0.7m above thedrip outlets).Orthesystemcanconsistofastoragetank.Amainhoseis

connectedtolateralhoseswithsmallholesorinsertedmicrotubes.Thetwosystemsdescribedhereare:1. theNicadrip,2. theMicro-tubedrip.

How to design the lay-out

Thelay-outofthesystemdependsonsev-eralfactors,suchas:• availabilityofmanpowertopumpand

workontheland,• thetypeofproductstobegrown,• thesoilandclimateconditions,• theslopesanddifferencesinheightof

thesoilsurface.

Ifpossible,thenaskadvicefromlocalag-ricultural experts to design the optimallay-out.Askthemalsohowmuchwaterthevariouscropsrequireandhowoftentheyneedthatamount.Theareathatcanbeirrigatedwithadripsystemsandahandropepumpisbetween1/8to1/2ha.

Nica Drip

MaterialsandtoolsneededtosetupaNicadrip:• afilter(insidethetank),anoutlettube

andavalve,• amainhoseof30to50mm(depending

onsizeofplot),• “T” pieces and extra valve in case 2

sectionsaredesired,• connectorstoconnectthe lateralsto

themainhose,• laterals (polypropylene hose, strong

blackplastic,of14-19mmdiameter),• anailorpieceofstrongwireof1.5mm

diameter,• plierstoholdthenailandscissorsora

knife.

How to install

1.Connectthelateralstothemain,foldtheotherendandfixitwithastickintheground.

2�9 - Water - Drip Irrigation

Making a hole, cutting a sleeve and the finished Nica drip

2.Makeholes(1.5mm)withthenailonthe topside of the pipe (distance be-tweentheholesdependsontheplantstobeirrigated,e.g.tomatoes70cm).

3.Makedrippersofthelateralhose.Eachdripperrequires2“sleeves”of5cm.Cutthesleeveslengthwiseandmountonesleeveoverthelateralwithoutcov-eringthehole.Placetheother“sleeve”overthefirstone,butthesecondonecoveringthehole.

4. Fill up the tank, test if equal wateramountscomeoutfromeverydripper

5. Plant4plantsaroundeachdripper.6. In case the area is sloping, differences

inwaterflowfromthedripperscanbecompensatedbypartlyclosingthelateralsormainhoseonthelowestsections.

“Micro-tube Drip”

CompletesystemsaredistributedasDrumKitsbytheorganisationIDE(InternationalDevelopment Enterprise). They use so-called“layflat”hoseformainsandlateralswhich reduce cost and transport volumecomparedtotheNicadrip.Thecompletesystemsrequirewaterpres-sureofaboutonemetre.Thismeansthatthere must be one metre difference be-tweentheoutletofthetankandwherethewatercomesoutofthemicro-tubes.Themicro-tubedrippersinsertedinthelay-flathosesareinthissystemabout0.6mlong.It ispossible touse thesystemwith lesswaterheight(0.5to0.9metre).Thelengthofthedrippers isthenreducedto0.3to0.5metre.Thismakesitpossibletomakeacheapersystemconnectedtoatankmadeofbricks(see section 11), even though the waterfroma tankonthegroundwillhave lesspressure than if the water comes froma container placed one metre above theground.

Waterflowfromthedrippers can be al-tered bymaking themicro-tubelongerorshorter.The micro-tubes ofthelowestplacedlat-eralsshouldbelongerthanthoseofthelat-erals placed higherup.Tohaveanequalamountofwaterfromthedripper,youwillneed to experimentwiththetubelengths.If the land is slopingit is best to let thelateralsrunalongthecontours,sothatthepressureisthesamewithinthelateral.

Troubleshooting

Nowatercomesoutofthedripper:This can be due todirt in the water oran air bubble.Takeouttheairbubblebysuckingonthemicro-tube.Toremovedirt,takeoutthedripperandbloworsuckit.

Weekly maintenance

• Controlregularlythatequalamountsofwatercomeoutofallthemicro-tubes

• Opentheendofthelateralstoflushoutanydirt

• Check/cleanthefilter

Information: Henk Holtslag,[email protected]


�0 • Maintenance of Water Posts

Clean water is important for a good health

Cleandrinkingwaterisveryimportantforthefamilytoremainhealthy.Manydiseasesare caused by unclean water. Safe watercomesfromaprotectedhanddugwellorfromaboreholewithahandpump.Ifthehygienicrulesforthewaterpointsarewellkept-allthesesystemsaregood.Thesafestareboreholeswithhandpumps.However,boreholescannotbeinstalledeverywherebecause they are much more expensive.Oneboreholecostsasmuchas10wells.

Water committees

In order toconstruct andmaintainawa-terpoint-anyof the abovementioned-itis importantthat the com-munity formsaWaterCom-mittee. This

committeeconsistsofachairman,asecre-tary,atreasurerandafewactivemembers.The responsibility of the committee is toorganisethecommunitytoassistwithcon-structionofthewaterpointsandhereaftermaintainandsafeguardthem.Theymustalsoprotectthemagainstvan-dalismandtheftandkeeptheareasclean.Everyyearafterharvesthecommitteemustreceivecontributionsfromthefamilies,inordertobeabletobuyspareparts,cementandsoonforthemaintenanceandrepair.

Main rules of well maintenance

• Slashgrassaroundthewell.• Keepthedrainageclearandsweepthe

areaclean.• Keepanimalsawayfromthewell:con-

structafence.• Keepthebucketandrope/chainclean

-theyshouldneverbeontheground.• Putthelidonafteruse.• Takeinthewindlass,chainandbucket

atnightorsecurethem.

Main rules of borehole maintenance

• Slashgrassaroundtheborehole• Maintainthedrainsystemsandkeepthe

areacleanbysweeping• Fencetheborehole-thisisimportant,

becausecattlecandestroythepump• Makesurechildrenneverplaywiththe

pump• Thehandlemustbeoperatedsmoothly• Thepumpshouldbegreasedandbolts

tightenedmonthly

TheWaterCommitteeshallcallforprofes-sionalassistanceifthepumpbreaksdown.Buythesparesandpaythetechnicianfortheworkdone.Thegovernmentmighthaveasystemfortherepairofhandpumps,butthecommunitymembersmustknowthatif ittakesalongtimetorepairthepumptheyare theoneswhowill suffer.TherearepumpsinZambiawhichhavebeenindisrepairfor3years.Thereforeitisbetterforthewelfareofthecommunitytosolvetheproblemlocally.

Building a pole fence to protect the water

point

2��0 - Water - Maintenance of Water Posts

The “water ladder”

�.Open well with a bucket 2.Open well with a windlass

�. Protected well, but open 4. Protected well with a rope pump

Create a good environment around the water point

Thecommunityshouldmakeaniceenvi-ronmentaroundthewaterpoint.Thiscaninclude:• Live fencing- forexamplewith finger

euphorbia, jatropha or moringa. Alivefencelooksbeautiful-andatthesame time thecommunitydoesnotregularlyneedtorenewapolefence.

• Plantshadetrees.• Plantflowers.

User fee

Thecommitteeshouldcollectasmalluserfeeannuallyofeachmemberofthecom-munity(aftertheharvest).

Information and drawings courtesy of DAPP (Development Aid from People for People) Child Aid and Environment, Monze, Zambia.


Low-cost water tank

made of straw

�� • Low-cost Water Tanks

Awaterreservoircanstorerainwaterfordo-mesticuseorforirrigatingavegetablegarden.Manyalreadyusefueldrums.Thissectionalsodescribesotherinexpensivecontainerssuchasthestrawmattankandthebricktank.Littlecementisneededbecausetheyarereinforcedwithsteelwire.Thetankcanbeplacedunderarooftocol-lectrainwaterorjustbesideawellwitharopepumptostoreirrigationwater.

Straw mat tank

1.Takethematerialstotheplacewhereyouwillbuildthetank. Itshouldbeaplacewhereitiseasytocollectwater.Itshouldalsobeelevatedsothatthe

water can bedrainedoutoftheholes2.Amatmadeof bamboo orstrong grassis made intotheshapeofacylinder or adrum. Thereshould be a

doublelayer.Thematcanbecutintotwolongstripstomakeasmallcylinder.

Or use twomats to makealargertank.3. Reinforcethe cyl inderwiththreecir-cles of steelwire.4.Mix1partofcementwith5

partsofsand,smallgravel(ifavailable),andwatertomakethebottomofthecylinder.

5. PlaceaPVCpipe20cmlong(8”)inthelower part of the cylinder. This tubewill remain closed and only be usedtodrainthetankaftercleaning.PlaceanotherPVCpipe20cm(8inch)overthebottomofthetank.Thistubewillbethewateroutlet.

6. Mixcementandwatertoformathinsolutionand“paint”boththeinsideandtheoutsideofthecylinderwithalargebrush.Letitdryforabouthalfaday.

7.Mix1partofcementwith3partsofsandandwater.Placethemixtureonbothsidesofthecylinderasthinlyaspossible-maximum3to4cm.

8.The area where the tubes are, needto be reinforced with a thicker layer-about7to8cm.Theareawherethewallendsmeetthebottomshouldalsobereinforced.

9. Letthetankdryfor10daysinahumidenvironment - covered with grass orleavesandwateredeveryday.

10.Placeaspongeorapieceofcottoninthewateroutlettofilterimpurities.Thisstepisalsoimportantifthewaterisbe-ingusedfordripirrigation.Itwillkeepthelittleholesfromgettingblocked.

Using a fuel drum as a water reservoir

The following are thenecessary steps toconvertafueldrumintoawatertank:• Cutthebottomofthedrum.• Smoothoutthesharpedges.• Buya“T”shapedwaterpipefittingand

placeitintothesmallthreadedholeonthelid.

• Connecttwohosestothe“T”joint.Thehoses can be connected with bicycletubesiffittingsarenotavailable.

25�� - Water - Low-cost Water Tanks

Make the bricks wet before applying cement

Brick water tank

Materials fora400 litre tank.3 layersofbricks.Diameter0.85m.Height0.70m:• 90bricks(23cmx11cm),• 30mblacksteelwire(1.5mm),• ½bagofcement,• 2bagsofsand,• 0.5mof1”PVCpipeorotherpipe.

1.Cleanacircularareawithdiameterofatleast1.3mandmake ithorizontal andflat.

2. Drawacircleof85cm,forinstancewithapieceofwireand2sticks.

3. Place a first round of bricks outsidethiscircle,withthelongsidesvertically.Cleanthebrickstoensurethattheyaremoreorlesseven.

4. Secureawirearoundthebricksat3cmfromthetop.Tightenthewirebymak-ingaloopatoneendandpullthroughtheotherend.

5. Securetwootherwires.Oneinthemid-dleandone3cmfromthebottom.

6. Place a second and a third round ofbricksontopandalsoplacewiresasinsteps4and5.

7.Mixonepartofcement(startwith1/3bag of cement) with 4 parts of sand,smallgravel(ifavailable),andwater.

8.Applyathinlayerontheoutsideandin-sideofthetankjusttocoverthebricks.

9.Cut a 25 cm long steel pipeor thickwalled PVC pipe of 1” to make thewateroutlet.

10. If a steelpipe isused,weldpiecesofroundbartoittofixitinthecement.IfPVCisused,putPVCglueandsandtoincreasethegripofthepipeinthecement,ormakethePVCpipeendabitsquarebyheatinginafire.

11.Placethepipe3cmfromthebottomandmakethewallthicknessatthepartoftheoutlet15cmthick.

12.Puta3cmthick ce-ment lay-er on thefloorofthetank.

13.Mixcementand water(no sand)to form athinsolutionand“paint”ontheinsideofthetankwithatoolorlargebrush.Letitdryforabouthalfaday.

14.Letthecementcure.CoverthetankwithplasticsheetorpaperandKEEPITWET dur-ing10days.Put watertw ice ormore eve-ryday!!

15.Placeafilter(Spongeorold sock)on the in-sideofthewateroutlettofilterimpu-rities.Thisisimportantifthewaterisusedfordripirrigation.Itwillkeepthelittleholesfromgettingblocked.

Larger tanks can be made by making abigger circleand increasingthenumberofbricks and ce-ment accord-ingly.

Text and photos kindly provided by Henk Holt-slag, [email protected] information from Jan de Jongh, Arrakis, www.arrakis.nl

Scrape the edges of the bricks so that they fit closely

Measure with a stick to ensue a circle is formed


Alternative:Makeagoodscratchalongtheangleiron(ruler)andbendthesheetseveraltimes.Theedgeswillbestraighter.

2. Make the gutter into a round shape with a “gutter bender.”

3. Close the edgeA:Makean80mmcutattheendofthegutterB:FoldthetwoedgesovereachotherC:PunchtwoholeswithanailandtiethemtogetherwithagalvanizedwireD:Ifdesired,cuttheedgestomakethemround

4. Closed edge with draining holeA:CutastripinthemiddleofanedgetomaketwolipsB:PunchtwoholesC:Tiethetonguestogether

5. Gutter support

�2 • Making Gutters

An efficient rainwater collection systemneedsgutters,andthesecanbeexpensive.However, it ispossible tobuild low-costgutters fromcorrugatedgalvanizedmetalsheets.InGhana,itispossibletobuildgut-ters forUS$0.7permetre.This typeofguttershouldnotbemadeverylongsinceitisdirectlyconnectedtotheroof.Ifthegut-tersgetfilledwithwater,theymaybecometooheavyanddamagetheroof.(Seethistypeofgutteronthephotoattheendofthissection)

1. Cut strips

Thefirststepistocutthecorrugatedsheetintostrips.A120cmsheetcanbecutintoten12cmwidestrips.Placeyourfeetontheboardsorangleironandpullthethread.

27

A:Cutastripfromthe1mmmetalsheetB:Foldit,leavingonesidelongerthantheother.Thisway,itiseasiertocutarecesstosupportthegutter.

C:Bendthehook.Punchholeswithaheavynail.Useaheavypieceofsteelwitha10mm(approximately)hole.Placetheguttersup-portonthesteelpieceinawaythatallowsyoutopunchaholewithanailtroughtheguttersupportandthesteelpiece.

D:Curvethegutterseat.Cutarecesstoholdthegutterinplace.

�2 - Water - Making Gutters

E: The last bend gives the height of thesupport.Differentheightsgivethedesiredinclinationtothegutter.F:Placethehookontheroof.Usethehookasajigtopunchholes.Supporttheroofingsheetwithapieceofwoodwhilepunching.Tie the support. Place the gutter on thehook.Bendtherecesspiecethatholdsthegutterinplace.

6. ReceptacleA:Cutapieceofthegalvanizedmetalsheet.Straightenitusingthegutterbender.


B:Bendthetwoshortsidesovereachoth-er.Punchholesoverapieceofwood.Tiethereceptaclewithgalvanizedironwire.C:Cuta40mmstripfromthe1mmmetalsheetandfoldittomakethesupport.D:Cutarecessontherooftomakeroomforthesupport.Mountthesupportontheroofandsecureittotheboard.E:Tiethepipetothereceptacleandthesupport.

Text and photos kindly provided by Henk Holtslag,[email protected]

A complete system to collect rainwater with the gutter fixed directly to the roofing sheets

Tank for storing water for irrigation

29�� - Water - The Rope Pump - Introduction

The rope pump system

�� • The Rope Pump - Introduction

Low-cost solutions to address water scarcity

Droughtspellsanderraticrainfallsfrequent-lyaffectSouthernAfrica.Wethusurgentlyneed low-costsolutionsto improve foodproductionandconsequentlyimproveliv-ingconditionsTheropepumpisanefficientandlow-costsolutionforsmall-scaleirrigationsystems.Thequantityofwaterdependsonthedepthofthewell.Theamountofwateritprovidesdependsmainlyonthedepthofthewell.At10metres,itispossibletoobtain200litresin5minutes.Comparedtotreadlepumps,ropepumpscanbeusedinmuchdeeperwells.Treadlepumpscanonlyextractwaterfromwellsupto6-7metresdeep.Ropepumpscanreachdepthsofatleast30metres.Theropepumpscanbebuilt locallywithmaterialsthatcanbeacquiredinthearea-steel,PVCpipesandusedcartyres.Theonly requirement is the existence of aworkshopwithmachines forweldingandcuttingsteel.Thetechniquesaresimpletounderstandanditispossibletotrainpeoplein the villages to install and maintain thepumps.The promotion of pumps for small-scaleirrigationcanalsobeawaytoimprovethenaturalenvironment.Manycommunitieses-tablishirrigatedgardensattheriverbanksinordertobeabletoproducefoodduringthedryseason.Deforestationoftheriverbanksleadsto increasederosionandovertimereducestheamountofwaterintheriverduringthedryseason.Ropepumpsmakeit

possibletoirrigategardensawayfromtheriverbanks, thus providing an alternativetothedestructionofthevegetationalongtherivers.

What is the rope pump?

Theropepumpiseconomicalandeasytobuild. It ismadeofmetal,PVCpipesandrecycledtyres.Itcanbebuiltandmaintainedbypeoplewithlittletechnicaltraining.Aropepumpusesacontinuousropewithattachedpistons.TheroperunsupthroughaPVCtube(mainas-cendingtubeonthedrawing). The lowextremityofthetubereaches the groundwater in the well.The top extremityisaboveground.Pis-tonsareattachedtothe rope at everymetre and fits per-fectlyinsidethetube.When the rope ispulled up throughthe tube, the wateraboveeachpistonispushedup.Above ground, therope works over awheel,sothatwhenthe wheel handle isturned, the rope ispulled up throughthe tube and goesdown into the wellagain. At the bottom there is a speciallyconstructed guide block that makes theropere-enter thePVCtubesmoothlyassoonastheropeispulled.Theropepumpcanbeusedtoadepthofabout30metres.Thedeeperthewateris,thesmallerthediameterofthetubemust


betoavoidthewatercolumn becomingtooheavy.Thismeanslesswa-tercanbeextractedfromadeepwell.

Two different models

The pole modelThis system is builtwith a handle fixedto two poles - seethedrawing.Work can be madeeasier with handlesatbothsidesof thewell.Thepolemodelcanbe installed in anopenwell,whenthewater is only used

forirrigation.Ifthewaterisalsousedfordrinking,thewellmustbecoveredwithaconcretelidtoensurethatthewellwaterisnotcontaminated.

The “A” model: The A model has a metal frame that is

fixedtoacon-crete lid (seethe drawingabove).It can be in-stalled overopen wel l sorboreholes,andwhenthewater is wellp r o t e c t e dfromcontami-

nationitissafetodrink.

Rope pumps around the world

50,000pumpsinNicaragua,20,000 in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras,Ghana,Zimbabwe,Zambia,Tanzania,etc.RopepumpsareproducedbyDAPP(De-velopmentAidfromPeopletoPeople)inShamva,Zimbabwe,byDAPPinMonzeandChibombo,Zambia,byADPPinChimoioandBilibiza,MozambiqueandsoonbyADPPinCabinda,Angola.

Information and illustrations kindly supplied by:Henk Holtslag, [email protected] Erpf, SKAT, www.skat.chConnect International,www.connectinternational.nlJan de Jongh, Arrakis, www.arrakis.nl

The pole model rope pump

A rope pump

installed in a boreholealso below

A wooden rope pump has been developed and is now made by local carpenters in Northern Mozambique

��

Rota-sludge drilling in Northern Mozam-bique:15-20 m in 3-4 days

�4 - Water - Well Drilling - Introduction

�4 • Well Drilling - Introduction

The Rota-sludge method

The manual excavation method, Rota-sludge, is based on the sludge method,whichhasbeenemployedtodrillmillionsofwellsinsoftgroundinAsia.Recentlythismethodhasbeenimprovedtomakeitmoreeffective on harder ground. By traininglocalorganizationsandcraftsmenitissuc-cessfullybeingusedinNicaragua,Tanzania,Ethiopia,Senegal,Zambia,MozambiqueandZimbabwe.

How it works

Thedrillingmechanismconsistsofabam-booorwoodenlever,a1½to2-inchdrillpipe and an auger (soil drilling bit) withhardenedteeth.Tobegindrilling,astarterhole is dug. The hole is connected to ashallowpit.This hole is then filled with drilling fluid,whichconsistsofwater andclayor cowdung(orbentoniteifpossible).Thefunctionistomakeathickfluidthatcanliftupthesandandclay.Anotherfunctionistoplasterthesidesofthewell,sothatthewaterdoesnotdisappear.Thelevercreatesupanddownmovements.Duringtheupwardmovement,thetopofthedrillingtubemuststayclosed.Youcanuseyourhandtoclosethetopandcreatea vacuum. During the downward move-ment,removeyourhandtoopenthepipeandallowthedrillingfluidtoflowbackintothepit.Theheavyparticlesandsandsettleonthebottomofthepitwhilethe“clean”drillingfluidflowsbackintothedrillhole.As the hole gets deeper, new pieces ofthreadedpipeareadded.

The drillingb e c o m e smore ef f i -cient if thetube is ro-tated45de-greesat themomentthedrilling tubetouches thebottom ofthe hole. This technique allows the drillbittoscrapecompactlayersofsand,clay,sandstoneortuffstone.Itdoesnotworkwithsolidrocks.

“Baptist” drilling

“Baptist”drillingisanotherlow-costdrillingmethod.ItwasdevelopedbyTerryWallerattheHumanNeedsProjectinBolivia.Famil ies are heretrainedandassistedtodrill theirownbore-holes. They drill upto 60 metres downthroughclayandsandwithequipmentmadelocally.Thedifferences fromthe Rota-sludge sys-temare:• thedrillingbithas

avalve• aropeandpulley

isused• onlybottompipes

are of steel. Therest are of thickwalledPVC,makingthesystemeasiertotransport.

Seethephotonextpage.

Information kindly provided by Henk Holtslag

Teeths of drill bit from steel from truck springs


�5 • Ground Water Recharge

Artificial and natural recharge of ground water

Many waterwells in Af-rica,especial-ly hand dugwells, dry upat theendofthe dry sea-son, becausemore wateris taken outthaniscominginbythenatu-ral recharge.

Reasonsforlimitedgroundwaterrechargecanbecompacttopsoillayers,lossofveg-etation,increasederosion,etc.Thereareseveralways to increase the rechargeofgroundwatersuchassmalldamsorbunds,undergrounddams,usingrechargeholesortheplantingoftreesorvetivergrassthathavelongroots.

Testing the need for a recharge system

Before start-ing to set upa groundwa-ter rechargesystem, onen e e d s t ofind out if itwill increaseground wa-ter rechargeand whereit should be

placed.Thestepsare:1. Selectawellthatrunsdryandwhere

peopleknowthatwaterdoesnotpen-etrateeasilyintothesoil.Forexampleplaceswherewaterstaysinpuddles.

2. Findalocationatleast10metresfromthe well, where rainwater runningon the surface can be collected. Thedistanceshouldbeat least10metrestoensurethatthesurfacewaterisfil-teredbeforeitreachesthewell.Iftheareaslopes,theplaceshouldbemadeatalocationhigherthanthewell(“upstream”).

3. Dig a hole ½m round and 30 cmdeep.

4. Filltheholewithwater.5.Checktheholeafteronehour.Ifthere

is still water after one hour, there isa good chance that a ground waterrecharge systemwillmake itpossiblefor more water to reach the groundwater.

Itisimportantthatthistestiscarriedoutafterthefirstheavyrains.Ifthesoilisverydry,itwillabsorbmuchofthewater,andthereforenotshowtheactualflowofwaterintotheground.Iftherechargetestispositivethetubeorvetiverrechargesystemscanbeapplied.

Tube Recharge

This low-cost option combines manu-allydrilledholeswithdrainagetubesthatpassthroughthecompactedtopsoillayer.Rainwater,thatotherwisewouldrunofftoriversorevaporate,canthuspenetrateintothegroundwater(aquifers).Therechargetubesareclosedbyacovertube,whichisonlytakenoffafterthecollectedwaterhassettledforsometime,allowingparticlestosettledownatthebottomoftheholeandthe water to become clear. After havingtaken off the cover, the collected water

Drilling a borehole with the

“Baptist” system in Mozam-

bique

Using a step

auger to make the recharge

hole

��5 - Water - Ground Water Recharge

flowsthroughtherechargetubeandendsupasgroundwater.

How to install

• Drilla2inchrechargeholeinsidethetest hole.Use an auger (soil drill) ormanual drilling method such as theBaptist system. The hole should passthecompactsoil layersandreachthepermeable layers (that the water canpassthrough).Therechargeholeshouldnotreachthegroundwaterlayer(aqui-fer)toavoidcontaminatingthegroundwaterwithsurfacewater.

• Testtherechargecapacityoftheholeafterdrilling2metres.Fillupthesmallholewithwater(asabove-about100l)andcheckafteronehour.Continuethistestforeverymetreuntilallwaterdisappearswithinonehour.

• Cutthedrainagetube(1”or¾”)aslongasthedepthofthehole.Makeafilteratthebottompartbycuttingslotswithahacksawononesideforevery1.5cmonalengthof3m.

• Connectthedrainagetube(calledpres-suretubeonthedrawing)witha0.3mlongtubeof1½”.

• Makea0.5mcovertubeof1½”.Expandoneendofthecovertube(byheating),sothatthetwo1½”tubescanbejoined.

• Placeafilterinthe0.3m1½”tube.Thefilterismadeofaslotted1”tubewithaclothorsockinside.Thisclothcanbecleanedwhendirtyorbereplaced.

• Placethesetoftubesintheboreholeinsuchawaythatthetopofthetopfilterpart is justabovethebottomleveloftherunofforpond.

• Fillupthespacearoundthetubewithfinegravelorcoarsesand.Sealthetoppartwithclay.

• Coverthedrainagetubewiththecovertubeanddigastoragepitaroundthe

tube. Thevolumeofthis stor-a g e p i tshould bea t l e a s t3,000 l i-t r e s ( 3m3) - forexampleapitwith adiameterof3mandadepthof½m.Makesurethatthetubeisplacedsothatitcanbereachedwhenthepitisfilledupwithwater.

• When it rains the storagepit fillswithwater.Leaveitforsomehoursorlongeruntil thedirt andsedimentshave set-tled.

• Take thec o v e rtube of fand t hewater inthe pondwill flowviathedrainagetubeintotheground.

• Whenthepondisempty,checkthefilterclothfirst,putbackthecovertubeandwaitforthenextrain.

Materials:

• Drainagetubesmadeofpolypropylene(blackhardplastic)orPVCwithdiam-etersof20mmormore.Lengthof3mormoredependingonthedepthofthehole.

• Cover tubeof1½”.1pieceof0.3mand1pieceof0.5m.

• Filtertubeof1”.1pieceof0.3.

A com-plete system before installation

PVC pipe fitted to plastic pipe with heat


Using the tube recharge system

Every time itra ins sometencubicme-tresofwaterwillflowbackinto the aq-uifer. If thepondismadebigger, morewater can ber e c h a r g e d .T e s t i n g i sn e e d e d t o

findoutthemaximumcapacityofrecharge.Whenthedrainagetubebecomesclogged,itmaybeopenedagainbyswapping(movingastickwithaclothupanddownthedrain-agehole).Dependingoncapacityandflowpatternsofthegroundwater,partoftherechargedwatercanbepumpedupduringthedryseason.

Cost

The cost ofdri l l ing de-pendson thematerials andtime neededand the timeof drillingwilldepend onthe geologi-cal situation.Inmanycaseswhere therearenostones

orbouldersa10mholecanbemadeinonedaywithanaugerorwithaBaptistdrill.Iftheholesaredrilledbythefamiliesthemselveslabourcost canminimised.TheequipmentforBaptistdrillingto12metrescostsaround

US$75.Thisequipmentcanbeusedformanyholes.Depending on the materials used (blackhose is normally the cheapest) and thedepthofborehole,thecostofthematerialsforacompletetuberechargesystemwillbebetweenUS$5andUS$25.

Vetiver Recharge system

Groundwater recharge is needed wheretherearehardsoil layersorrocksinthesoil, so that it is impossible to make arechargehole.Otherareaswill nothavethe tools or the trained persons to drillrechargeholes.In such situations the vetiver rechargesystem can be used. The advantages arethatit ischeapsincetheuseronlyneedstoacquirevetiverslips(plantingmaterial)andsupplythelabour(moreonvetiverinSection23).Thevetiver grasshas rootsof 2-3metreslengththatcanpenetrateevenveryhardsoillayers.Therootsarealsocalled“livingnails”.Whenvetiverslipsareplantedclose-15or20cm fromeachother - they formaclosed barrier that stops or slows downwaterrunningonthesurface.Thetopsoilcarriedwiththewaterthensettlesinfrontofthevetivergrassandgraduallybuildupasmalldykeorbarrier.Muchofthiswaterwillpenetrateintothegroundbecausethewatercanflowalongthevetiverroots.Thevetiverrechargesystem isestablishedinthesamelocationasonewouldmakethetuberechargesystem.Thismeans“upstream”andatleast10metresfromthewell.Theideaistogetwatertoaccumulateinstoragepitsandsinkintothewateralongthevetiverroots.Astoragepitisdugintheshapeofahalfcirclewithadiameterofatleast3-4metres.Thepitshouldbeabout1metredeep.ItisOKtoleavelargestones

Add gravel along the tube and

clay on top to seal the system

The dirt must set-tle before

the plug is lifted

�5�5 - Water - Ground Water Recharge

inthepit,iftheyaredifficulttogetout.Thesoilthatisdugoutisplaced“downstream”ofthepittoformadykeorbarrier.Thevetiverslipsareplantedinrowsonthebarriersthat formhalfcircles.Thewaterthenseepsthroughthesoilofthisbarrierandwhenitreachesthevetiverroots,runsalongtherootsintotheground.Itcanoccurthatfinesoilparticlesfilltheporesinthebarriersothatthewaterdoesnotdisap-pearfromthestoragepit.Onesolutionistoremovethefirst10-20cmofthebarrierandaddnewsandyorloamysoilsothatitisporousagain.Onecouldalsomakeanextrapit,asdescribednext.

Double Pit Recharge

This is a simple system developed by afarmerinAurangabadDistrict,Maharashtra,India. It became very popular because itgavethefarmersmorewaterforirrigationataverylowcost-aboutUSD25-30forlabour(3-4mandays)andapipe.Thereisverylittlemaintenance.Twopitsaredugnexttoawell.Thelargepitisapproximately2.4x1.8x1.8metresandthesmalloneis1.2x1.2x2.4metresandisbuiltalongtheslopeofthelargerpit,about3metresaway fromthewell.Thesmallerpitisfilledwithstones,gravel,andcoal or charcoal,which act as a filter. AlargepipeofcementorPVC(8”ortwoormoresmallerones)fittedwithawiremeshfilterisfixedatthebottomofthesmallerpit.Thispipeopensintothewell.Rainwaterthatcollectsinthelargerpit,flowsintothesmaller pit and is filtered clean before itflowsintothewellthroughthepipe.Thesiltthataccumulatesinthepitscanbeputbackonthe fields. Inthisway,soil isconservedaswell.

The system can also be combined withTubeRecharge,sothatthewaterfromthe

large pit runs to thesecondpitintowhichtheTubeRechargeisfitted.This is recom-mendableifthewaterinthewellisusedforhumanconsumption.

Drawing and information on the last system from Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) recorded on www.farmingsolutions.org/successtories, where there are many other good examples to learn from.

Other information and photos in cooperation with Henk Holtslag, [email protected] Jan de Jongh, Arrakis, www.arrakis.nl


�6 • Subsurface Dams

Introduction

Subsurfacedamsbuiltofsoilacrossriver-bedshaveprovedtobethemostreliableandinexpensivewatersourceinaridandsemi-aridareas.Subsurfacedamspreventfloodwater,whichhas filled the spaces between the sandparticles inriverbeds, frombeingdraineddownstreamtherebydryingupthesandinriverbeds.Subsurfacedamsletrainwaterpasswithoutreducing the flow topeople livingdown-stream. Subsurface dams do not requireanymaintenance.Theycannotbeerodedorcloggedwithmudorsand.Evaporationlossisalmostnon-existentsincethewaterisstoredinthesand.Where can it be placed?

A subsurface dam should, preferably, beconstructed on an underground dyke,becausethatprovidesagreatervolumeofwater.Adykeisahardlayerunderthesand,

thatalreadyactsasadam.Subsurfacedamscan be constructed in riverbeds with nodykes,buttheymightproducelesswater.Itisalsoimportanttoobservethefollow-ing:1)Coarsesandcanstoremorewaterthan

fine-grainedsand.Riverbedscontainingcoarsesandarethereforepreferable.

2) Subsurfacedamsshouldnotbelocatedwhere waste from villages and otherplacescancontaminatethewater.

3)Theareaofthesubsurfacedamshouldnotcontainsaltysoilorsaltyrocks,be-causethatwillmakethewatersalty.

4)Thedamshouldnotbebuiltonbouldersor fractured rocks, because they willcauseleakage.

Identifying the presence of dykes

Undergrounddykes areeasiest to locateacoupleofmonthsintothedryseasonbylookingforthefollowing:a)Waterholes inanotherwisedryriver

-becausethereisalwaysoneorseveraldykesdownstreamofwaterholes.

b)Drystuntedvegetationonriverbankswith taller evergreen trees just up-stream.Adykesituatedatthedryplace

�7

trapsthewater,whichthegreentreesareusing.

Thedykescanalsobe locatedbydiggingtrialpitsand/orprobingwithanironrodhammered into the sand and/or diviningwithbrazingrodsorsticks.

Design of the dam

Dam wall 1.Thedamwallmustbewellconnected

tofirmsoilatitscompletelengthandatthetwobankstopreventwaterfromseepingthrough.Thisconnectingarea(key)shouldbeatleast60cmwideand60cmintotheclaysoil(thedyke).Thiskeyandthesubsurfacedamwillbebuiltwithmoistlayersoftheleastporoussoilthatcanbefoundinthearea.

2.The porosity of soil can be found byobserving the same amount of waterseepingthroughsamplesofthevarious

The soil in the bottle at the left is best suited for dams since less water seeps through

�6 - Water - Subsurface dams

soil samples takenat adamsite.Thesoil samples are filled into transpar-entplasticbottlesturnedupsidedownwiththeircapsandbottomsremoved.The soil samplesshould measure20 cm. They aresaturatedwithwa-ter and10 cmofwater is added.The sample withthe slowest infil-trationrateisthemost suitable soil for building a damwall.Thisisthesoilthatwillallowtheleastwatertoseepthrough(leastpo-rous).

3. Thethicknessofthedamisdeterminedbytheamountoftimeittakes10cmofwatertoseepthrough20cmofsoil.Iftheinfiltrationtimeis60minutes,theminimum thickness (measured at thetop)ofthedamwall is100cm.Ifthewaterseepsthroughthesoilfaster,thenthecrestshouldbemade5cmwiderforeveryoneminuteittakeslessthanthe 60 minutes. For example, if theinfiltrationtimeis50minutes,thenthe


thicknessofthedamshouldbe150cm,because100cm+(60-50)x5cm=150cm.4.

Construction

1.The sand overlaying an undergrounddykeisremovedinastretchthatis2metreswiderthanthebaseofthedamwall.

2. Thewidthofthebaseisexcavatedtoadepthof20cmintotheclayofthebottomoftheriverbed.

3.Akeyatleast60cmwideand60cmdeepisexcavatedintothefirmsoilalongthemiddleofthedamwallandreachingtothetopofbothendsofthedamwallinthetwobanks.

4. Thekeyanddamwallarebuildoftheleast porous soil, which is moistenedandcompactedinlayersofabout20cmthicknessuntilthetopofthedamwallisreached.

5.Thesidesofthedamwallarecutsothattheyslope45degreesoutwardfromthetopandsmoothened.

6.Theupstreamsideof thedamwall iswaterproofed by compacting a 5 cmlayerofclayorcow-dungmixedwithsoilontothedamwall.

7. Uponcompletionofthedamwall,sandisback-filledagainstbothsidessothatthetopofthedamwallisequalwiththelevelofsandintheriverbed.

Extraction of water

Water can be drawn from a subsurfacedam through a well dug in the riverbed.Itisalsopossibletoconnectawelldugintheriverbanktothedamreservoirwithatube,sothatthewaterrunsintothewell.Inthiscasethewatermustbetreatedbeforedrinking.

Information and Illustrations by “Kenya Rain-water Association”, Erik Nissen-Petersen, and the book by C. Burrow “Water Resources and Agricultural Development in the Tropics,” 1987.

2 - safe and sufficient water (3 of 8)

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sufficient water

manualthis manual