Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Integrating Improved Sustainable Technologies into the Heart of the Home-the Kitchen
EPA Grant Number: SU835295Title: Integrating Improved Sustainable Technologies into the Heart of the Home-the Kitchen
Investigators: Bormann, Noel E , Chelini, Zac , Hamke, Tyler , Phillips, Davis , Reiling, Allie , Ueki, Ryder , Zentner, Daniel , Zucca, Anthony
Institution: Gonzaga University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Phase: II
Project Period: August 15, 2012 through August 14, 2014 (Extended to August 14, 2016)
Project Amount: $90,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet - Phase 2 (2012) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
The area surrounding the villages of Chitokiloki and Zambezi in the Northwest Province of Zambia is similar to many other areas of central and southern Africa. There is a lack of potable water, coupled with insufficient sanitation, and widespread use of stoves burning biomass for cooking, which causes unhealthful indoor air quality within the kitchen.
The project goal is to improve the health Zambezi communities via two measures: (1) improving air quality by using fuel-efficient stoves, and (2) by implementing systems that enhance safe access to clean water with measures that include improved water sources and water filters for point-of-use filtration.
This field season of the project was influenced by the input from community partners gathered in previous years. The field team again had a period where local Zambians attended trainings dealing with water contamination, water filtration and secondary contamination in the home, as well as construction of the refined cooking stove using compressed earth blocks. Many of the efforts are focused on improving the acceptance of technologies demonstrated and incorporating suggestions from local users in changes to both the water supply and stove construction. The changes suggested by local users improves the “ownership” of the ideas and encourages users to continue the refinement and adaptation of stoves and water improvements.
The team included both civil engineering, mechanical engineering and engineering management students. During the field season, the team faced many challenges related to sourcing required construction materials, and working to construct artifacts with members of the community having different languages and life experiences. The team experienced the rewards and some success from cross-cultural learning that greatly enhanced US educational experiences.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The team members who traveled to Zambia in the 2015-2016 field season were educated in a semester long cultural appreciation course within the Gonzaga Comprehensive Leadership Program. This pre-trip education is very helpful in giving students tools to better communicate ideas to and understand the local community members both during training sessions and during the times of construction and problem solving the applications of the methods and technologies introduced into the villages into Zambia.
Water Quality:
During the initial design phase of the 2015-16 project, Wezi Kumwenda, who acted as a community contact in Chitokiloki, made strong requests that the project include ways to make the supply of water safer. Several people collecting water from the Zambezi River had recently been killed in crocodile attacks. (Reported by Dr Ros Jefferson a volunteer doctor at the Chitokiloki Mission Hospital at: http://www.wallingfordchristianassembly.org.uk/zambianews26.html .) The request was to include an analysis of filters in conjunction with a system to pump water from the river so exposure to crocodiles was reduced. This request initiated examination of pumping platforms, filters attached to holding tanks and other “community” solutions. Because the groundwater is near the surface, the preferred alternative was drilled boreholes in combination with bio-sand filters in the Zambezi community. This led to a field effort to visit and examine the performance of the filters installed in 2015 at Lashepa, Mize, and Falconer Orphanage. These filters are able to improve water quality of the water dipped from shallow hand-dug wells and from surface water sources that are contaminated but also offer safety from crocodile attack.
Figure 1: Bio-sand filters installed in 2015 functioning with appropriate water containers.
The team worked with the Chitokiloki Mission Hospital drillers to construct two water wells that are free from bacteriological contamination and that are not subject to crocodile attack. These water sources make the communities much more willing to work in conjunction with the project goals than if an artificially imposed water solution was selected by the team but never implemented in the community. The boreholes are equipped with India Mark II pumps and a surface slab to prevent erosion. Groundwater in the area is typically 3-6 meters below the surface near the villages, located away from the river banks. This makes boreholes a feasible option with the locally available drilling equipment and hand pumps.
Figure 2: Small well drilling rig used by the Chitokiloki Hospital for boreholes
Figure 3: Well constructed in previous seaosn by same driller, still operating with no contamination
Air Quality:
A second training session on stove performance and construction was presented. Community feedback included a request to see how stove concepts could improve a fruit dryer so that ripe mango could be preserved instead of being lost to rot. Stove improvements implemented included less material in the compressed earth blocks (CEB) used and the removal of the thermal-electric-generator (TEG) module. Community members felt that the cost of the TEG at approximately $25 USD (238 ZMW), made the purchase of a TEG impractical. A group of Zambian users assisted in construction of the improved stoves. Users like the CEB stoves used outside and they would consume less fuel and not require the mounded wood to fire bricks or filters.
Table 1 offers a comparison of the performance of the latest version of the stove and a Zambian brazier.
| Test | Brazier | Brick Rocket Elbow Stove |
| Time to boil 2 liter of water | 40 minutes | 17.5 minutes |
| Fuel consumed | 400 g charcoal | 400 g charcoal |
| Cost | 25 ZMW | 18 ZMW |
| Transportability | Good | Poor |
| Safety | Poor | Good |
| Likely Use | Likely inside | Likely outside |
Table 1: Brazier vs. Brick Shortened Elbow Stove
Figure 4: Shortened Elbow Rocket stove inlet side and top view.
The drying oven is similar the stove with three levels of drying racks made with corrugated metal with holes punched into the metal. The walls and inlet are constructed using the same CEB blocks as the stoves, so the fruit dryer can be implemented in the community easily. Having spinoff uses of the stove design is thought to improve the chances that stoves will be used and thereby improve more homes indoor air quality.
Figure 5: Fruit Dryer construction.
Figure 6: Fruit Dryer inlet side.
Technology Training Efforts
The efforts to provide a formal training of Zambian community members provides a powerful motivation for adoption in the wider community. Those Zambian trainees gain prestige and are incentivized to help others adopt stove and water quality methods. The Gonzaga students presented reasons why water must not be allowed to be contaminated in the home after a “clean” water source is provided and methods to prevent contamination.
After the training sessions the proud students received certificates of completion for the 2 weeks of instruction.
Figure 7: Zambian technology class after training on stove and filter construction.
Conclusions:
A multi-disciplinary team of students produced a fourth generation of working prototypes for cook stoves and applied construction methods to a fruit dryer to increase adoption of stoves for air quality improvement. Bio-sand water filters inspected and found functional in most of the original installations. Two drilled borehole wells were constructed near Chitokiloki to provide access to uncontaminated water for villages without exposing water carriers to crocodile attack. This accommodation increased the community acceptance of clean water methods and built trust in the project efforts. This year’s students in the capstone design course sequence achieved valuable educational benefits, performed training in Zambezi for water quality and air quality technologies and presented the project results at the annual Gonzaga Center for Engineering Design Project Exposition in May 2016.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 3 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Indoor air, rocket stove, water supply, water filter, training for adoptionProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractP3 Phase I:
Integrating Improved Sustainable Technologies into the Heart of the Home — The Kitchen | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.