Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: West African Technology, Education and Reciprocity (WATER) for Benin
EPA Grant Number: SU833541Title: West African Technology, Education and Reciprocity (WATER) for Benin
Investigators: Striebig, Bradley A. , Maxwell, Alex , Tang, Alice , Luu, Annie , Parrish, Ashley , Fagnant, Christa , Pavese, Christopher , Humphreys, Crystal , Hannafious, Dustin , Brown, Elaine , Nalelia, Gilbert , Hayes, Jamie , Flanery, Jessica , Oddo, Jessica , Smeija, Joanne , Gilliland, John , Meeks, Justin , Latimer, Kayla , Remick, Kim , Cain, Laura , Panasewicz, Lauren , Scarsella, Maleena , Jeannot, Mary , McPherson, Mathew , Benegar, Meghan , Warren, Nadia , Krupski, Paul , Appel, Philip , Longinotti, Pia , Dougal, Renae , Dooley, Sandra , Vacanti, Sarah , Norwood, Susan , Gieber, Terry
Institution: Gonzaga University
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: August 31, 2007 through April 30, 2008
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2007) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Challenge Area - Safe and Sustainable Water Resources , P3 Awards , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
Water for Africa is an interdisciplinary approach to development attempting to balance technology and education while ensuring Reciprocity among project partners. The WATER (West African Technology, Education and Reciprocity) program is designed to meet the needs for a thirsty planet. As part of the WATER program 17 students from eight academic programs and 3 faculty members traveled to Benin in August 2007.
The WATER for Benin Program directly addresses the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The people in Benin suffer health consequences from drinking water that is contaminated with pathogens. The WATER program provides a design for sustainable point-of-use drinking water filter. The technologies transferred to our partner, the Songhai Center in Benin, have provided the impetus for a cottage industry in making drinking water filters and the manufacturing equipment to produce the filters. We hope to expand upon this success by making activated carbon and training health care workers at the Songhai Center as part of second phase of the WATER program. Providing clean water and economic stimulation by using local materials and agricultural waste products will help protect the environment as well as human health.
The market for a point-of-use treatment technology is immense. UNICEF estimates at least 33% of the 8.4 Million people living in Benin lack access to potable water. Therefore, in order to meet the UN MDGs 200,000 people must gain access to potable water each year. Assuming an average of 5 people living in each home, 50,000 drinking water filters are needed each year.
The objective of the WATER program was to make available affordable and sustainable water treatment available for families in Benin.
Relationship and Challenge to Sustainability
The United Nations (UN) has developed the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) program to reduce poverty and improve access to water and sanitation throughout the developing world. The UN has specifically stated a goal to halve the number of people without access to clean water and sanitation by 2015. On March 19th, 2006, a statement by the UN noted this goal was in jeopardy in sub-Saharan Africa due to drought, poverty and political factors. In short, experts in the field of sustainable development believe providing clean water and sanitation for sub- Saharan Africa is one of the world’s greatest challenges. International organizations describe, and on-scene interviews with residents confirm, that these diseases affect more than 50% of those living in poverty in Benin. In other words, the lack of access to potable drinking water is the leading cause of early mortality and disease for more than 1.2 million people in Benin.
Waterborne diseases spread pathogens by the ingestion of urine or feces contaminated water. Typhoid fever, amoebic dysentery, schistosomiasis and cholera are just a few of the diseases spread by contaminated water. Diarrheal diseases are the third leading cause of death in Benin after lower respiratory infections and malaria, respectively. Maternal mortality rates are estimated to be 850 maternal deaths per 100,000 births. It is estimated that 167 of every 1,000 children die before the age of five in Benin. Providing the technology to implement point-source water treatment in the community can significantly reduce the percentage of children under 5 (7.1%) who die due to diarrheal diseases.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The Songhai Center has produced and tested over 300 fully functional point-of-use drinking water filters. The holistic approach of incorporated water treatment, waste reduction, economic development and promoted environmental and health awareness in the community.
The water filters were manufactured in Benin with local resources. Agricultural and industrial waste products such as sawdust, rice hulls, and waste motor oil were incorporated into the filter manufacturing process. The use of renewable energy sources such as biofuels has been investigated to decrease reliance upon non-renewable fossil fuels and decrease tree harvesting required for boiling water upon implementation in Benin.
Transfer of the technology will be most effective where there are existing facilities for manufacturing that already employ trained professionals. The technology can be easily adopted where there are community organizations such as community water boards or school boards. Clearly, the health and quality of life for millions of West Africans may be impacted at very low relative by this simple technology.
Integration of P3 concepts as an educational tool
“More than anything else, I’ve been shocked by how many people seem to brush off the issue of unhealthy water in developing countries. When they hear that we were there to work on a water filter project, they usually ask what I drank while I was there and if I got sick. Then at least half of the people I’ve talked to mention something about how I would get sick since I’m from the U.S. but that the people living in Benin don’t get sick because they’ve built up enough antibodies. They’re surprised every time when I explain that even though they do have some antibodies, they definitely get sick and children live with diarrhea daily. Where do so many Americans get this idea that people in other countries just adapt to living in less sanitary conditions?” (Maleena Scarsella, 2007 after returning from Benin)
The educational outcomes from the water treatment project included developing:
- Increased cultural competence for working in developing countries
- Increased understanding of bilingual education in West Africa
- The ability to develop content-based curricula in science and health education
- Appreciation for political and economic conditions of West Africa
- The ability to apply basic epidemiological concepts to health initiative strategies
- Experience in applying principles of sustainability to engineered systems
- The ability to recognize challenges of engineering in developing countries
Conclusions:
- The Songhai manufacturing facility has produced over 300 cost-effective point-of-use drinking water filters was developed in conjunction with our partners, Engineers Without Borders, Potters Without Borders, and Rotary International
- The filters removed over 99% of potentially pathogenic organisms.
- A recipe for a biofuel made from agricultural wastes has been researched and is under development at Gonzaga University.
- A reactor to scale up activated carbon production for use in a Songhai center type kiln has been designed and demonstrated at Gonzaga University.
- Health and water educational materials were developed at Gonzaga University for implementation and training at the Songhai Center.
- Journals, surveys and external review all provided significant evidence and support that the educational outcomes associated with the WATER program were achieved.
Project Period for Phase II: 05/01/2008-05/01/2009
Proposed Phase II Objectives and Strategies:
Challenge Definition and Relationship to Phase I
Achieving the UN MDGs is extremely challenging. Each of the eight goals is directly or indirectly applicable to the proposed project. Nearly 2 billion people who currently lack access to clean water are depended upon the successful implementation of programs designed to address the UN MDG program. Those who participated in the WATER program can relate a personal story that has motivated them to become personally motivated to take on this challenge.
The Songhai Center Director, Father Nzamujo, has been at the cutting edge of this challenge bridging the educational difference between the developed and developing worlds. He has outlined three points to improve upon the progress made in Phase I:
People: Father Nzamujo Godfrey has specifically requested assistance with health training and education. Gonzaga faculty and students will work with the Songhai Center to train Songhai Staff to provide basic first aid care and help with educational messages about the relationship between water, sanitation and health. The educational process is a necessary step in ensuring that the drinking water filters become widely and correctly used in homes in the communities surrounding the Songhai Centers. The WATER program will not significantly affect people’s health until the technology is widely adapted in homes in the community.
Prosperity: Current agricultural waste products, especially corn stalks and coconut shells can be turned into valuable biofuels and activated carbon, respectively. However, the technology needs to mature and be transferred to the Songhai Center. More work is needed to improve the process for manufacturing both the activated carbon and the biofuels. Once the process is mature, these technologies can be transferred to the Songhai Center following the same successful model that was used to transfer the drinking water filter technology.
Planet: Processes to improve water quality that do not deplete local resources will significantly affect the quality of life and the environment in and around the Songhai Center. Many of the people we worked with at the Songhai Center expressed the desire to obtain clean drinking water, but prior to our trip, the knowledge of how to do this was unavailable. We believe education is the key to improving environmental water quality, the quality of life and significantly improving the measures of human health in Benin.
Innovation and Technical Merit
The researchers, students and partners believe that this is a truly innovative approach to development that aligns with the mission and strength of each organization. The approach to technology transfer is the most innovative piece of the WATER program. Under the supervision of experienced experts, students work in tandem with program partners to identify needs, develop appropriate solutions and transfer these solutions to the community in need.
The objectives of the Phase 2 WATER program include:
- Conducting training on Basic First Aid and the relationships between water, sanitation and health for Songhai staff and interns.
- Developing a marketing plan for the drinking water filters produced at the Songhai Center.
- Hardening the Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) manufacturing process.
- Hardening the agricultural waste biofuel manufacturing process.
- Continuing with the educational outcomes successfully demonstrated in Phase 1 for a second group of students that have applied to the WATER program.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other project views: | All 1 publications | 1 publications in selected types | All 1 journal articles |
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Type | Citation | ||
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Striebig, Atwood S, Johnson B, Lemkau B, Shamrell J, Spuler P, Stanek K, Vernon A, Young J. Activated carbon amended ceramic drinking water filters for Benin. Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Development 2008;2(1):1-12. |
SU833541 (Final) |
not available |
Supplemental Keywords:
Sustainable development, community based, human health, drinking water, biofuel, sub-Saharan Africa,Relevant Websites:
http://web.mac.com/water_dr/ Exit
The 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.