this paper

D022 - Penduka (Namibia): Sufficient quantities
of water and safe drinking water for Penduka
1
Introduction:
We have been busy for the last couple of months for this project. It contains a fully working
water purifying system for the Penduka project in Namibia. We chose this project because we
thought it was a very interesting subject and we knew nothing about it. After choosing this
assignment we discovered that purifying water is a complex process.
In our daily life we have no idea how special clean water is. We drink, shower, flush the toilet
and even more with clean water. Have a look at these facts and think again when you shower
for 15 minutes.
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663 million people lack access to safe water. (1 in 10)
2.4 billion people lack access to a toilet. (1 in 3)
More people have a mobile phone than a toilet.
Globally 1/3 of all schools lack access to safe water and clean sanitation.
Nearly 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water related
disease.
(Source http://water.org/water-crisis/water-sanitation-facts/ /
http://thewaterproject.org/water_stats)
Clean water is not self-evident. So reconsider your lifestyle and help the people who really
need it. By investing in clean water alone, young children around the world can gain more
than 413 million days of health
(Source www.who.it/water_sanitation_health/wsh0404/en/ )
According to the World Health Organization, for every $1 invested in water and sanitation,
there is an economic return of between $3 and $34 !
2
Table on contents:
1. Front page
2. Introduction
3. Table on contents
4 – 7. Sam timetable
8. Shane timetable
9 – 14. Namibia general information and climate
15 – 19. Culture and politics
19 – 20. Waterborne diseases
21 – 23. Penduka project
24 – 27. Water composition
28 – 36. Water purifying methods
37 – 47. Building the pre filter
48 – 54. Building the slow sand filter
55. Conclusion
56 – 66. Mail
67 Reflectie Sam
68 Reflectie Shane
3
Sam timetable
10 +- Uur
Week 36
Geen specifieke data bekend.
Week 38
20 minuten
Week 39
3 uur
Week 40
2 uur
Week 40
20 min
-Gebeld met Oase.
-Gemaild met prof. Sibers.
-Ingelezen over UV en chloor reiniging.
-Contact gezocht met H.W.J Damen over onderzoeks laboratoria.
-Met de TOA’s gepraat over het monster.
-Begin gemaakt van deelvraag over
bestandsdelen van het monster.
-Met C. Karssen gepraat over problemen
met World School.
- M. Bikker gevraagd om ons Engels te
verbeteren van de PWS, is akkoord gegaan.
Analyse Lab, Vitens en KWR Watercycle
Research Institute gevraagd voor hulp. Ze zijn
allemaal niet bereid te helpen en sturen maar
wat door.
Niemand reageerde dus ik heb rond gebeld
i.p.v mailen. Ongeveer 10-12 bedrijven /
instellingen. Niemand wilde het gratis doen dus
nog wat aparte locaties gemaild. Vitens
Leeuwarden wil ons helpen en daar hoor ik
meer van in week 40.
(edit 30-11-15) Het enige bedrijf dat misschien
wat wilde doen was Oase omdat ze nu klaar
zijn met de verbouwing (Oase in Lexmond).
Maar omdat het water weg is maakt het nu nog
weinig uit.
Stukje toegevoegd aan deelvraag 1. Dit ging
vooral over manieren om water te filtreren.
(edit 30-11-15) Dit ging vooral over methodes
die we toch niet gebruiken omdat ik veel later
erachter ben gekomen dat die methodes
helemaal niet goed zijn. Je kan ook zien dat
mijn mening veranderd door de PWS heen.
gemaild naar
en Practica.org
en http://practicalaction.org/
ja dat zijn verschillende bedrijven.
Ook nog wat andere bedrijven die meneer
Karssen via de mail had gestuurd.
Ik heb ze gevraagd voor een mail adres voor
hulp met water zuivering technieken.
(edit 30-11-15) Nooit van ook maar 1 bedrijf
een mail terug gehad. Ze lijken allemaal
verlaten en waarschijnlijk kijkt niemand de
4
Week 41
6 oktober 2015
8 uur
26-1 november
6 uur
26-1 november
2 uur zoeken en rondvragen
9 november
5 uur
14 november
5 uur
15 november
5uur
Incl gesprek en lezen.
16 november
1.5 uur
17 november
3 uur
mail en/of boeit iemand het dat wij hen hebben
gemaild. Maar verder gaat alles volgens plan
dus prima. Wel jammer dat we gewoon geen 1
mail hebben gekregen.
Naar Delft voor worldschool. Het was een
lange reis maar het was best leuk daar. We
ontmoette andere leerlingen die worldschool
doen en we hebben met de leerlingen van de
technische universiteit van delft gepraat. Ook
hebben we hulp gekregen met wat we precies
nog moeten onderzoeken.
Deelvraag 1 afgerond omdat niemand ons
wilde helpen om het te onderzoeken.
Uiteindelijk goed contact gekregen met Oase
omdat ze eindelijk klaar zijn met hun
verbouwing. Zij waren bereid om ons te
helpen. Ook verder gegaan met filtratie
methodes. Tevens veel geschreven over
coliforms en hoe je zelf onderzoek kan doen.
Erg interessant en je kan het zelf uitvoeren. Dat
is erg gunstig omdat niemand ons wil helpen.
1 van de TOA’s die het niet toegeeft heeft ons
water weggegooid die wij bij de presentatie
wilde gebruiken. Niemand wil het toegeven en
het is erg vervelend omdat ik een manier heb
gevonden om te onderzoeken hoe vies het
water is en hoe erg. Dat kan je zelf doen maar
helaas kan dat nu niet meer. Maar we kunnen er
niks aan doen dus we gaan verder.
Verder gewerkt aan deelvraag voor de filtratie
methodes. En gelezen over allerlei soorten die
wij kunnen gebruiken.
Verder gewerkt aan slow sand filters en
gezocht naar methodes hoe je zelf water kan
onderzoeken. Daar heb ik ook over geschreven.
Gepraat met een expert in Canada die ik
ontmoet heb ik een game die ik speel genaamd
Elite: Dangerous. Hij heeft meer informatie en
links gegeven over slow sand filters. We
hebben een uitgebreid gesprek gehad en heb er
erg veel informatie uit gehaald. Door hem ben
ik ook dieper gaan na denken of UV wel een
goede oplossing is. Slow sand filters zijn veel
beter om te gebruiken en ga ik ook veel over
lezen.
Gelezen over slow sand filters
Gewerkt aan slow sand filters en na gedacht
over het eind product. Het eindproduct is een
lastig iets omdat het zwaar is en er moet dus
goed nagedacht worden over hoe we dat
aanpakken. Tijdens het nadenken concludeerde
5
24-29
4 uur
30 november
1 uur
2 december
4uur
5-12-15
10 minuten
5-12-2015
10 uur
ik onderander dat we het terplekke moeten
maken of op een erg kleine schaal.
Gepraat met reddit user : W45PN35T. Hij is
een expert op het gebied van rioolwater
filtreren uit Amerika. Ik heb hem ontmoet
via reddit. Ook hij zei dat het veel beter is
om slow sand filters te gebruiken en dan
het inderdaad lastig is om te verslepen
omdat dat het ritme verstoord omdat het
natuurlijk biologisch is. Ook heb ik heel
veel filmpjes gekeken over hoe je een
design maakt voor een water installatie en
het is best lastig. Ook heb ik verder na
gedacht over mogelijke modellen.
Kreeg een mail dat het logboek niet uitgebreid
genoeg is en probeer het aan te passen. Verder
zoek ik nog een stukje op over slow sand filters
en probeer de nodige elementen nog toe te
voegen.
Ik heb nagedacht en uitgelegt hoe we het filter
gaan maken. Ik ben erachter gekomen dat we
gewoon een goedkoop filter moeten maken als
demonstratie. Ik ben bezig geweest met het
plan maken en hoef het alleen nog uit te
voeren. Ook moet ik nog de benodigdheden
zoeken. Dit is tevens de volgende deelvraag :
hoe gaan we het filter maken.
Christien gemaild voor attributen. Dat is leuk
voor de stand op de presentatie avond en de
worldschool avond. Ik heb het over posters,
folders en misschien wel wat die vrouwen daar
maken.
Omdat Shane sinterklaas viert dit en volgend
weekend heb ik besloten om het pre filter alvast
te gaan maken. Anders duurt het te lang. Ik heb
moeten fietsen naar de Lek voor zand en heb
alles gefotografeerd. Ik heb stap voor stap
uitgelegd wat ik doe en hoe ik het doe in de
deelvraag.
Omdat ik alleen was heb ik een statief met een
Canon camera gebruikt en veel timers wat erg
onhandig is. Het kan zijn dat sommige fotos
een beetje uit focus zijn. Maar een Nikon fan
ziet dat waarschijnlijk niet ;)
Ook heb ik een plan gemaakt voor het slow
sand filter. Wat ik nu heb is een prefilter. Ik wil
graag dat dat slow sand filter gesponsord word
door Hubo Meerkerk en daar ben ik nu in
gesprek mee. Het gaat over een 2 tonnen en 1
zak zand + een kraan.
6
7-12-2015
5 uur
13-12-2015
6uur
15-12-2015
1uur
Vakantie
?? uur
3-1-2015
3 uur
Tevens ben ik vaak naar buiten gegaan om de
benodigdheden te halen zoals zand bij de Lek,
grind etc.
Begonnen aan het maken en schrijven over het
process van Slow Sand Filters. Ik ben naar
Biermans geweest omdat het gesponsord laten
krijgen te lang duurt. Ik heb daar 1.5 meter
PVC en 3 kopstukken gekocht. Zelf had ik de
plastic doos al. Ik ben al begonnen met meten
en heb het al in delen gezaagt. Morgen maar ik
het af. Ik heb dit ook weer zelf vastgelegd met
camera + statief. Ben ook al begonnen met het
maken van het do it yourself stap voor stap net
als bij het pre filter.
Shane was bij mij en we hebben alles bij elkaar
gedaan, deel van intro gemaakt, wat dingen
aangepast en het slow sand filter proberen te
maken. Compleet gefaald en de doos is
gebroken. We moeten daarom een nieuwe doos
kopen en het opnieuw proberen. Bij het boren
kwam er een barst in. Daarom gaan we het in
de kerstvakantie opnieuw proberen.
Feiten bij het intro gevoegd en sources bij de
stukjes van mijn deel geplaatsts. Die was ik
vergeten erbij te zetten maar had het in een
apart bestand gezet. Ook begonnen met het ik
naar wij veranderen.
Het project afgerond en het slow sand filter
gemaakt.
Conclusie samen met Shane gemaakt en wat
dingen verbeterd. Ook de reflectie geschreven
en belangrijke emails bij elkaar gevoegd.
Tevens nog meer I’s vervangen en geprobeert
wat subjectief weg te halen. Ook de table of
contents weer vernieuwd omdat die niet meer
klopte.
7
Tijdpad PWS Namibië
Shane Konijnenberg 5H2
Week 36 + 37 2015
10 uur
27-09-2015
5 uur
Oktober 2015
15 uur
Gemaild over het plaatselijke klimaat naar:
Dr. J. Zeidler van SASSCAL ( 1-09-2015 )
Contactpersoon van Namibian Meteorological
Service ( 2-09-2015 )
Abiatar van world school ( 31-08-2015 )
Contact opgezocht met E. Diggelen over klimaat
Overlegt met S. Vruggink en C. Karssen over
Worldschool en problemen met Worldschool
Begin maken van deelvraag 1 over climate
Maken tijdpad PWS
Verder met deelvraag 1 geschreven over het
klimaat in Namibië vanaf summer in Namibia
tot Winter in Namibia. Veel informatie
opgezocht.
Gewerkt aan deelvraag 1 over klimaat in
Namibië afgerond met de geography.
Overlegt met Sam over hoe en wat we allemaal
precies nog moeten doen.
November 1e week 2015
5 uur
PWS dag op de TU Delft
Verder gegaan met deelvraag 1 begonnen over
agrigulture and herding in Namibia. Geschreven
cropfarming and forestry.
November 2e week 2015
5 uur
Verder met deelvraag 1 over irrigation and
herding. Agriculture afgerond.
November 3e week 2015
6 uur
Begonnen aan culture and politics. Geschreven
over de inheemse stammen van Namibië
afgerond
Gewerkt aan deelvraag 1 over de cultuur ( flag
languages) en over waterborne diseases
Tijdpad bijgewerkt op verzoek van C. Karssen.
Geschreven over waterborne diseases en the
Penduka project in deelvraag 1
November 4e week 2015
2 uur
1-12-2015
2 uur
8
2-12-2015
1 uur
6-12-2015
3 uur
Geschreven over the Penduka project in
deelvraag 1 afgerond ( gender equality
toegevoegt aan culture and politics )
Tijdpad bijgewerkt.
Deelvraag 1 doorgewerkt, typfouten eruit
gehaald, spelling gecontroleerd.
Informatie over de Himba people bijgevoegd.
Namibia general information
Windhoek is the capital of Namibia with a total of 322.500 inhabitants. Namibia has a total of
around 1.8 million inhabitants, with an average of 2.1 people per square kilometre.
Namibia is one of the sunniest countries in the world with around 300 days of sun in a year. It
has an ( semi ) arid climate which can be described as hot and dry so the evaporation is very
high.
Climate:
Between the Kalahari in the east and the Namid Desert in the west lies the Namibian central
highlands with the capital Windhoek in its
centre. With an altitude of around 1700
metres and at Windhoek even 2000m
there are moderate temperatures and there
is an average rainfall in the rain season.
These highlands keep a warm dry climate
with a high humidity. The average day
temperatures lie at 30° C in January to
around 20° C in July and between 17° C
in January and 7° C in June at night. In the
winter the temperature can drop below freezing point.
9
Normally no rainfall occurs between June and September. The downfall average of the last 20
years for Windhoek is 378 mm annually. 296 mm of the yearly 378 mm rain fall from January
until May, 5 mm from June to September and 76 mm from October to December on average.
On average, there is an annual weather cycle that you can put down as follow:
During summer ( December to March ) the
weather is generally hot in the whole country.
Rain season starts mainly in January ( often with
thundershowers ) and the vegetation will
become a brown-green colour
In April and May there is still a little chance of
rain but the temperatures start to drop.
In the winter ( June to September ) no more rain
will fall and the day temperatures are moderate. The nights are cold, and in the inland and
desert frost can occur.
From October to November the dry season is over and the temperatures start to rise
increasingly. In this period rain begin to fall again and the vegetation turns green again.
10
Summer in Namibia:
You can say summer in Namibia starts between November to December and ends in March.
This is also the rain season of the country. After 4-5 months of drought it’s starting to drop
around December, but the season really begins in November. From September to November
the precipitation has a seven-fold increase from 0-5 mm/month in September to 30-35
mm/month in November. When the rain starts to fall, the ground and vegetation will gain a
lush green colour. Around the country
water places will start to form, were native
inhabitants can drink.
Besides the precipitation, the temperature
will also start to rise from a cold 5-25° C in
July to a nice 15-30° C in November. This
huge difference is also a reason why the
ground and vegetation is turning into a
green colour.
Winter in Namibia:
The winter in Namibia start around
April to May and ends at the end of
September.
The winter is the dry season in
Namibia with a downfall of around 05 mm/month and temperatures
between the 5° C and 25° C.
With the end of the rain season most
animals move to other countries, to
find food and water. In the winter the
desert and the savannah are very dry
places, were the temperatures can drop
under the -0° C because of the lack of
clouds. Clouds prevent the heat to
leave earth, so without clouds no heat will be kept on earth
While the temperatures from winter to summer will increase in one month with 10-15° C, the
temperature will decrease with only around 5° C/month. This slow decrease is very dainty for
the native animals. If the temperature slowly drops the animals have the time to travel to
other, warmer, countries. If the temperature would drastically drop in one month the wild
animals wouldn´t have the time to move to other countries.
Geography:
11
Geographically Namibia has different 3 climate zones made by two letters, each letter
standing for a specific criterion.
Namibia lies in the following
climate zones:
1. Aw ( savannah climate
with dry winters )
2. BW ( desert climate )
3. BS ( steppe climate )
Aw climate:
In this Aw climate lies an arid zone
which mean tropical deserts like the
savannah plains, with inhabitants
like lions and giraffes.
The capital A means the temperature
of the coolest month is 18 degrees
Celsius or higher. The w means
winter drought, only rain in the
summer.
12
BW climate:
This BW climate lies in the Kalahari
desert which is in the moderate part of
the arid landscape zone, where is none
too little vegetation.
B stands for the dry climates were more
than 70% of the annual precipitation
falls in the summer, and the W stands
for desert climate.
BS climate:
The BS zone lies more in eastern Namibia,
there lies the Miambo savannah, which is in
the semi-arid zone of the Tropical landscape
zone. In the Miambo savannah grows only
grass and little bushes with now and then a
tree.
The capital S means it is a steppe climate is
were less than 70% of the annual precipitation
falls in the summer.
( source http://www.info-namibia.com , www.google.com , De Grote Bosatlas 53e druk
http://water.epa.gov /www.britannica.com www.klimaatinfo.nl/namibie/ )
Agriculture and herding in Namibia :
Namibia is a country were 5% of the national GDP ( Gross Domestic Product) consists of
agriculture and herding, but 25% to 40% of Namibian inhabitants depend on subsistence
agriculture and herding. Mostly the Namibian agriculture exist in two forms:
- Crop farming and forestry
- Livestock and meat products
Crop farming and forestry.
Because of the high temperatures and little rainfall farming is only possible in some parts of
Namibia, less than 1% is arable. Agriculture exists out of two sectors:
1. Commercial sector
The commercial sector has about 50.000 workers who are producing 80% of the
annual production.
2. Subsistence sector
The subsistence sector is mostly situated in the poorer areas.
Namibian agriculture exists out of a three-tier system:
About 4.000 commercial ranches;
20.000 stock-raising households;
120.000 mixed-farming operations.
When the ranches were build, local farmers
divided in about 120.000 mixed-farms only
got 5% of the arable land, where the ranches
took 66% of the arable soil.
13
Corn is mostly grown in the area known as the Grootfontein-Otavi-Tsumeb triangle, where
the smaller farms are located. But because of the high temperatures and little rainfall Namibia
is dependent on South Africa for corn, sugar, fruit and vegetables.
Other products produced in Namibia are mahango, cotton, groundnut, rice, sorghum and
vegetables.
Forestry
In Namibia, forestry is a very big thing. Forestry is learning and enacting how to maintain all
natural resources and wildlife in forest lands. Forestry is mainly maintaining the nature, but
still win the resources man needs in a broad
range of concerns. Those resources are mostly
fish, timber, wildlife and plants, but also water,
soil and recreation.
Forestry can be carried out in a few ways:
- Monitoring and supervision
- Only old trees are cut down
- New trees are planted
- Tourists are guided and monitored
- Young trees are strictly protected
Irrigation.
Irrigation is a way of farming and making use of a
system to provide water for crops in dry places. In
2000 Namibia had a total water consumption of 300
millio n m³, and 213 million m³ of this was used for
agriculture. 136 million m³ was used for irrigation.
Irrigation is only of use in selected sites along the
borders of the rivers in the north and south, and in
areas with a lot of groundwater and suitable soils.
On the other hand, irrigation has a
negative side. When irrigating
crops, ground erosion will be
increased because when ground
water or river water is used for
irrigation it contains a lot of salt
and other minerals. Because of
high temperatures, a lot of water
will evaporate, leaving the salt
and other minerals behind causing
salinization to occur.
Herding:
Herding or mustering is making a group of herding animals ( sheep, goats, camels etc. ) to
move from place to place to feed. Herding is done all over the world, but mostly in poorer
countries, because richer countries mostly have their own meadow to feed their herd.
14
Herding a cattle is very hard. You require
special skills, expertise and toughness to
become a herder. You have to know the
forest, recognize danger and know the best
grazing spots. Still a lot of people in
Namibia are herders because, next to the
skills, it does not take much to herd a cattle.
Because of this a lot of poorer people
muster a cattle to earn money, and have
food to feed their family.
The disadvantage of herding is land
demotion. This means the land be less
fertile. Salinization is an example of land
demotion, just as desertification.
Desertification is what will happen if an
area or landscape is over herded. If there
are too many cattle’s in an area, they will
irreparable eat all the vegetation leaving the
land fallow. Because there is not any more
vegetation, desertification will rise and also
the cattle’s have a disadvantage of it,
because they will have less to eat.
( source: www.wikipedia.com
www.Knoema.com )
Vulnerability for desertification
Culture and politics
Namibia was a colony of Germany and South Africa from 1884, until it gained independence
on 21 March 1990. In 1966 the South West African People’s organisation ( SWAPO ) and the
People’s Liberation Army of Namibia ( PLAN ) started a guerrilla war against South Africa.
The war started with the first guerrilla attack at Omugulugwombashe in northern Namibia.
The first president of independent Namibia was Sam Nujoma.
In Namibia originally lived nomadic hunters, gatherers and livestock herders. The biggest
ethnic group of Namibia is the Ovambo. This ‘tribe’ is around half of the population. These
inhabitants spoke mainly Bantu languages like the tribes of Owambo and Herero. From the
18th and 19th centuries Nama and Afrikaans speaking livestock herders moved into southern
and central Namibia. These herders came in conflict with the native inhabitants about land
and other resources, but they lived without war with a trade associate.
In the mid 1800s when the German settlers came to Namibia they exploited the natives and
after the wars from 1904 till 1907 almost three quarters of the Herero population, and one half
of the Namas were killed.
15
The Tribes of Namibia:
San People ( Bushmen );
The San People tribe is the oldest tribe in Namibia. These people
continue using bow and arrow for men to hunt, and the woman
search for edible wild fruits, berries, roots and plants in the
Kalahari desert.
The San made much of the prehistoric art in Namibia. They are
from the southern and eastern because this is where their forefathers came from. The San
People was a nomadic tribe, roaming the country and scavenging for food. they had a
territory, where they knew there was water and shelter to find like caves. This is why there are
so many cave art paintings from this tribe.
The Herero;
This tribe is said to be the most cultural tribe in
Namibia. Traditional Herero clothing is cribbed
from Victorian European fashion. Tight
bodices, ankle length dresses with high neck
lines and long puffed sleeves. The Herero are
from origin nomadic herders with their own
cattle as an icon of their culture. In 1904, during
the rebellion against the colonialists the Herero
stood ruthless. Unfortunately, the Herero were
slaughtered.
Himba people:
In northern Namibia live around 50.000 Himba. This
tribe is semi nomadic, semi pastoral people. This tribe
is distinguished from the northern Herero tribe. This
tribe also live up to southern Angola and the Himba
speak OtjiHimba. This language is a dialect of the
Herero. Until today this tribe is still a nomadic tribe.
Because of the hot climate in the northern semi arid
climate of northern Namibia the boys and girls of the
Himba tribe wear mostly skirt like clothing and
sandals.
The Damara;
The Damara People speak almost the same
language as the Nama people, but just with
a little twist. They are darker skinned,
sturdier and taller. Their believes are that
their ancestors were the true blacks or the
‘pure’. The true blacks would’ve come to
Namibia with the Khoisan. They are from
16
Damaraland and the Skelton Coast. Now you can find the Damara all over Namibia.
The Ovambo;
The Ovambo tribe mainly lived north of Etosha, and the majority of the Ovambo still lives
there, mostly living of the agriculture and natural resources. This tribe were the strong
supporters of independence from South Africa and the first president of independent Namibia
was raised in an Ovambo village.
Languages:
The national language of Namibia is officially English, but most Namibians learn their ‘tribe’
language. Oshivambo ( the language of the Ovambo people ) is the mostly spoken language in
the country. But the Kavango languages, Otjiherero ( the language of the Herero ) and
Khoekhoe, the language of the Nama Damara tribe are also spoken in the country.
( www.our-africa.org )
Namibian gender equality:
After the day of independence in 1990, Namibia had a lot of minorities for a big example
woman. The woman in Namibia, especially in the rural areas are seen as less worthy with less
minimum loans and having limited control over property. There are a lot of organisations and
parties whose fighting for woman rights like the ‘Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Woman ( CEDAW )’ and the ‘Protocol of the African Charter’. But actually in the
Namibian Constitution gender equality is stated as ( quotation ):
- Prohibition of gender discrimination.
- The aim to ensure equal participation by woman in politics, economy and society.
( source: http://www.kas.de/upload/auslandshomepages/namibia/Women_Custom/boesl.pdf )
Flag:
In the Namibian flag every colour has his own
meaning and symbolize one specific thing.
Yellow stands for the sunlight and the desert,
blue stands for the ocean and the rain, green
stands for crops and vegetation, white stands
for peace and reconciliation and red for all the
bloodshed in war.
( source: www.wikipedia.com )
Namibian politics
The Namibian political system is a system with multiple parties
where the President of Namibia not only head of state is but also
head of the government. The multi-party system limit the president
with two five-year terms.
The government exist out of the branches:
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-
Executive branch
Legislative branch
Judicial branch
3rd president of
Namibia, Hage
Geingob
Executive branch.
The executive branch is basically the prime minister together with his cabinet, both appointed
by the president. The prime minister of Namibia is now Hage Geingob, with the biggest party
still SWAPO.
Legislative branch.
This branch is by the Parliament, assembled two chambers. The National Assembly has 78
members all elected for a five-year term. Of these 78 people are six appointed by the president
and the other 72 are elected by proportional representation,
The other chamber is the National Council. 26 members which are all elected by the 13
Regional Councils. Each region can select two representatives to go to the National Council.
This branch’s mainly purpose is to advise.
Judicial branch.
The Namibia judicial structure parallels the South African judicial structure. The Supreme
Court is the highest level of the judicial body. All the judges are selected by the president
when the Judicial Service Commission recommend them.
( source: www.embnamibia.at and www.wikipedia.org )
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Possible diseases caused by bad water quality.
Low drinking water quality carries a lot of diseases with it, most of them are caused by
drinking contaminated water. others are caused by harmful ions like fluoride. Some of the
diseases are also caused by bad hygiene of sanitary. Here are the mostly common infections
and diseases:
-
Diarrhoea
Caused by micro-organisms like bacteria, viruses and protozoans diarrhoea makes you
lose both electrolytes and water. The loss of water can cause dehydration and finally
death. Annually there are over 4 billion cases of diarrhoea, with around 1.8 million
deaths, more than 90% are among children. Also, diarrhoea makes children more
likely to get other diseases. This is the biggest public health problem directly related to
water and sanitation.
This disease can easily be prevented by washing hands after going to the bathroom.
-
Arsenicosis
People only get arsenicosis when they had a long term exposure to low concentrations
of arsenic in drinking water. The effects of arsenicosis are usually noticeable when
exposed to arsenic holding water between 5 to 20 years. Arsenicosis can result in skin
cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer and kidney cancer. A lot of fresh water in the
world contains arsenic, because of this arsenicosis is a big problem around the world.
-
Cholera
Cholera is caused by the ‘Vibrio Cholerea’ (
www.wikipedia.org ) bacterium. This bacterial
infection will cause diarrhoea attacks, vomiting and
muscle cramps. The diarrhoea attacks will result in
dehydration and finally in death. Cholera is treatable
with anti-biotics because it is a bacterial infection,
but a lot of people cannot afford this treatment. The
risk of death is only less than 5%, but without proper
treatment this will rise to almost 50%. Cholera is not
only caused by poor water qualities but also with dirty sanitary and a lack of hygiene.
-
Hepatitis A
This viral disease will affect the liver and is not only caused by bad water qualities but
also by poor sanitation hygiene. Hepatitis A is highly contagious and is not only
transmitted by oral or person to person contact but also by contaminated food and
water. If you are infected with this disease you will suffer from fever and diarrhoea.
For Hepatitis A an vaccine in available.
-
Guinea worms
Guinea worms are known as Dracunculiasis, and this is an infection obtainable by
drinking water containing water fleas infected with the larvae’s of the worm. These
larvae’s will live in the body of the host like a parasite and about a year later the
female worms will come out, mostly somewhere on the lower limbs. This will take a
few weeks, but the worms rarely cause death.
The female worms can grow up to 100 centimetres.
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-
Fluorosis
Fluoride is a naturally occurring particle in groundwater which can cause serious
damage to teeth. An over exposure to fluoride will cause teeth ranging from yellow to
dark brown and big pits in the teeth.
-
Poliomyelitis
Polio is a disease where the nerves are being attacked which will cause paralysis. The
disease can be spread by human to human contact, but also by eating contaminated
food or water. This disease is caused by the poliovirus and can cause death if the virus
reaches the brain or heart nerves. Now a days polio is not a major problem anymore
because of the vaccines. There are two types of vaccines that work against the polio
virus. The first is a vaccine containing a weakened polio virus so the body can build
resistance, developed in 1950 by Hilary Koprowski. The second vaccine is an
inactivated virus developed in 1952 by Jonas Salk.
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Typhoid fever
The symptoms of typhoid vary a lot. High fever to abdominal pain, headaches and
constipation and weakness. Diarrhoea and vomiting are not so common, but they these
symptoms can also occur. In some cases the skin will turn a little rash with rose
coloured spots. These symptoms usually start between six to thirty day after exposure.
Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection caused by the ‘Salmonella typhi’ bacterium.
Typhoid fever is a type of enteric fever just like ‘paratyphoid fever’. The ‘Salmonella
typhi’ bacterium grows in intestines and blood. This disease is not only gain able by
water but also through contaminated food. The risks of getting typhoid fever are
increased by a lack of hygiene.
There is a vaccine to prevent typhoid fever. This vaccine can prevent between 50% to
70% of cases and you have to retake the vaccine every 7 years minimum.
( www.unicef.org www.who.int http://www.indexmundi.com/ www.wikipedia.org
www.webmd.com http://www.lenntech.com/ )
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Penduka project
The Penduka project is located in Windhoek for woman from Katutura and other communities
around Windhoek create a better quality of life. In Namibia woman have a low social status
and because of this it is hard to find a job. This causes a lot of poverty, not only for the
woman, but for the entire family. Also, in Namibia, health care is not as good as in the
Netherlands so there are a lot of woman who suffer from diseases. This also increases the job
finding problem. The core of the project is to create a safe place for woman through work,
mutual care, support and trust. The woman of the Penduka project are crafters and create
products for decoration in houses and a lot of other handy things, all hand made.
There are 550 Penduka members and the woman work in their own homes. Through their
work, the woman they embody their feelings and
stories in to art and other crafting’s. They work
with glass, fur, wood, clay, robe and much more
other stuff and they create a lot of different
products you can buy. The Penduka project not
only makes beautiful products, they also give
workshops in Namibia to tourists. In the Penduka
village you can ‘grind a mahango with a big
wooden pestle’ or you can listen to centuries old
stories from the native tribes of Namibia.
On the internet site ( see source ) the following is
said about the Penduka project ( quotation ):
“Penduka
 provides work for about 660 women, 110 of
whom are on a permanent contract and 550
of whom work as a so called member;
 supports nearly a thousand tuberculosis
patients in nineteen clinics;
 was founded in 1992 and is not dependent on subsidies or donors;
 organises exchange programmes between the Netherlands and other European
countries;
 gives out interest free loans and helps women getting loans for their studies or to buy a
house.”
Partners:
Without partners the Penduka project could not be realised. Because of this the Penduka
project need partners so they have a lot of them. There are also a lot of partners located in the
Netherlands. On the site of the Penduka project ( see source ) you can find a lot of partners:
-
The Penduka Foundation Multicultural
This foundation is a Dutch foundation and supports Penduka by providing advice on
development and product sales to the project. Also this foundation is raising fund to
finance specific project for Penduka Namibia. This is the European place for the
products made by the Penduka woman.
-
Moving Mountains
This company is a big consumer of Penduka’s products.
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-
Centre for International Development Groningen
This Centre is promoting companies in Groningen to do fair trade with the Penduka
project.
-
Blooms
Fabricates a lot of bamboo furniture treated by Penduka woman.
-
House of Design Groningen
Helps designers to get on stage. The Penduka project is a member of the House of
Design.
-
Buro Reng
Designs communication and graphic design for the Penduka project.
-
Design Academy Eindhoven
The Penduka project is cooperating with the ‘Mab and Humanity’ department of the
Design Academy Eindhoven to create an easier life for the Pendukan woman.
-
Namibia Working group te Monnickendam
Promotes Penduka products and raise funds.
-
Worldschool
Involves young people with the international development such as the Penduka
project.
-
Partin
Also a Dutch organisation for private initiatives if they are a public benefit
organisation.
-
Satu Miettinen
The Finnish Savonia University for Applied Sciences in Kuopio, Finland. This
university educates the Pendukan woman and organise expositions in the Netherlands
and Finland.
-
Eames Demetrios
New York storyteller and film maker and producer of the kcymaerxthaere stories.
Those stories give another view on the world. The Pendukan woman helped with those
stories.
-
Isandi Konsept
Sells Penduka products in Norway.
-
Wilde Ganzen
www.wildeganzen.nl
-
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs Namibia
Cooperate on the tuberculosis program with the Penduka project since 1998.
22
-
Hospitality Association of Namibia
Provide tourism together with Pendukas own tourist centre for travel reservations and
education.
-
Namibia Craft Centre
Shop for Penduka products in the centre of Windhoek.
The Penduka project also have their own web shop and a store in the Netherlands. This store
is located in Groningen.
( source: www.penduka.com www.facebook.com/stichtingin2afrika/ )
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What is the composition of the water in Windhoek?
Introduction;
Since we do not live in Namibia nor are close to it, we needed a water sample. As shown in
our reader it states that a professor in Groningen has the sample. As we contacted him it
became clear that the water was not representative.
This is because the water was not obtained in a right way. It was probably just a bottle filled
from the lake and sent to us. We do not know what happened to it.
But what is the right way to obtain a water sample?
Time
A sample needs to be delivered to a laboratory within 24 hour. This is for the bacteriological
examination, nutrients (ammonium, nitrate, nitrite), acidity, bicarbonate and carbon dioxide.
After the sample is taken for the location in question it needs to be transported in a dark box
with cool conditions. Not freezing.
Transportation
As stated above it needs to be transported in a dark box with cool
conditions. If you want a very accurate result you need sample
bottles. You can get these bottles everywhere.
(source: vitens.nl)
Our sample
If you let someone else examine your sample you need to give
them information on how you took the sample and where.
How many?
Is it good to take multiple samples because than you can take the
average of them all. If you only take one it will be less accurate.
Nobody knows who took the sample but it is someone who lives
in Windhoek, Namibia. It is taken from the Goreangab Reservoir
after it passed through a rough sand filter to get the first impurities out.
The red circle indicates
where the dam is. It is
probably taken from
that area.
We need to clean the
water to make it drinkable, suitable for
vegetable gardening,
herbs etc.
In the assignment it
states “There is a
reservoir available for
our water supply.
(Distance from water
to storage is 23
metres)”
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The water is still polluted and unsafe due to microbes. We need to filter approximately 500
litres a day.
It is hard to get a good visual on the situation there
since everyone is too busy to help us. But on Google
Maps (earth mode) we saw a lot of slums. we
guessed that they urinate and poop in the water.
They probably also wash themselves in it. So we
can assume that there are intestinal bacteria.
After weeks of contacting companies and individual
people it became clear nobody wanted to help us.
Most websites are not interested in giving a tour in their lab nor wanted to examine it. At this
point it is just too late to play the waiting game and we will continue. We base our starting
point around assumptions from the situation over there. Luckily UV / chlorine kills most
bacteria.
Side note : The water sample we got was frozen for months. Also the sample was not taken the
right way. Even if we examined it, it would not be 100% accurate.
Our starting point will be :
- Contaminated water
- No life threatening bacteria for adults.
- This is because you are allowed to swim in the water. And if you would die from a
little bit of water you accidently swallowed nobody would be allowed to swim or come
near it.
- Most bacteria will die from either boiling at 100 degrees Celsius and/or die from
UV-light.
- There will be junk in the water.
- There will be leaves, branches etcetera
Update 12-11-2015:
We have lost the water sample.
We got in touch with a Canadian wastewater expert and explained me techniques how to
check how many bacteria are in the water. This is a DIY method or do it yourself. This does
not tell you what bacteria are in it but it gives you a really good explanation how
contaminated it is. Relevant bacterial tests will include coliform counts.
The definition of this is: “Alternative measurements of bacteriological water quality can help
you understand general fecal coliform bacteria counts and relate them to the real world.
Understanding water quality can help you design and use systems better.”
Before we start we want to point out this method is not do-able anymore since one of the
TOA’s had thrown our water sample away. This is pure educational for us to learn about.
This is a good method to get an overview but also can be really inaccurate. Since the water is
taking from a river according to Christien it is flowing water. But if there is an animal who
pooped into the river. What is the level of contamination? And what if we just got a lot of
bacteria in one sample but in reality that is not the case but bad luck. This is why this is an
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estimation. This will evaluate the qualities water but does not say what or which bacteria are
in it.
You have a couple indicators when you do this.
- General coliforms: this will indicate that the water has come in contact with animal
or plant life. General coliforms are almost always present. Even in your Spa or O2
bottled water. They are not harmful at low levels. Water from perfectly sealed tubes
with UV light and chlorinated water are the only types of water with zero general
coliforms. If there are a lot of general coliforms this will indicate that there are is a lot
of compost in it.
- Fecal coliforms: this indicates that there are bird of mammal excreta in the water.
- Enterococcus bacteria: this indicated that there are feces/excreta from warm blooded
animal like a dog, elephant or even humans. The more closely related the animal is,
the more likely we get infected.
But the biggest concern are human feces. Because anything which infects a human could
infect another. This method will not show that specifically and there is no method available to
do this on a large scale. Although there are some super expensive genetic studies that can give
a presence or absence.
Contaminated water by human feces is a classic. This will rapidly spread infections. The more
pathogens a human carries the worse the effect is going to be. Research by Oasisdesign shows
that in the United States of America infection rates by human feces are around 5% and in
areas with poor hygiene and contaminated water supplies it goes easily to 100%.
A water purification plant (bio-filtration) removes bacteria and will test safe when doing this.
But in reality it does not remove viruses.
From here we will give an existing research and analyse it. We will also give some examples
with it and some more explanation.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_coliform)
We will take an existing research. It is measured in buttwipes/swimming pool. We have no
idea why this is and why he chose it but we have to do with it.
Human feces are the worst feces and one butt wipe is really bad. We live in the Netherlands
and have a high water quality standard. That is why we are going to look at the sample
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measurements. In chlorinated water there are 0 butt wipes / swimming pool because chlorine
kills literally everything. The river in Santa Ynez is a crystal clear river located in California,
USA. This contain 2500 butt wipes / swimming pool. This gives an indication of how
contaminated the water is. And if we were to test it we could check this table. 3 samples
before the filter it and after we filter it and check if it is safe to drink.
The drinking standard we have is 1 butt wipe per swimming pool. That is 0,001 butt wipe per
bottle.
Additional considerations: It also heavenly depends on what feces you got. Some are worse
than another. Also it depends on yourself. Some people have a much better resistance than
someone else. Also the particles will sink either to the top or the bottom. If we can make a
good system we have to keep this in mind. Also feces can dissolve. That takes around 16
hours. We can’t measure this.
We take water from a river. The river is flowing and will distribute the fecal matter pretty
evenly though the water. If the flow is enough there is less of a danger.
Flow can be estimated with a calculation:
Width x depth x ½ surface speed
(Source: http://oasisdesign.net/water/quality/coliform.htm)
What do you need for this method:
- Sterile collection container / test tube / sterile bottle / sample bottle
- Sterile pipets or sterile transfer pipets
- Sterile petri dish
- Coliscan Easygel
- Incubator set at 37 Celsius
Procedure:
- Label the petri dish with location, name and time of the water sample.
- Wash your hands with antibacterial soap and use gloves
- Use the sterile pipet or sterile transfer pipets and take between 1-5 ml of the water
sample and put it into a small bottle (sterile) and add a little bit of easygel.
- Shake the bottle or use one of those swirl machines.
- Pour the mixture into a sterile petri dish and swirl till it is evenly covered.
- Close the petri dish and wait for 40 minutes.
- Incubate the plate upside down to minimize the condensation at 37 Celsius.
- Count colonies 24-48 hours later. And see a pour plates guide to assist you in
determining which colonies are fecal colonies.
- Colonies can be analysed further with a microscope.
This can be done by anyone.
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What kind of filtration methods can we use?
Introduction:
We will discuss different methods of filtration we can use for our water purifier. We have
contacted multiple companies and people which nobody even responded to. We also
contacted the websites Worldschool suggested in the assignment but after 2-3 weeks we still
do not have a reply from them. This is really bad. We will search the internet to get as much
information as possible.
Side note: We will only discuss methods which are achieve-able for us. Some methods we
just can’t use or are too expensive.
Distillation:
This is the most common method. You first heat the water
to boiling. When it is boiling the vapor goes up and it
collected in the cooler. In the cooler there is a cold liquid
that cools the vapor down and it becomes water again. This
is what you see on survivals shows on TV although this is
not 100% useable water. Some contaminants can be carried
into the condensate and survive it like herbicide and
pesticides. This is called a “carry over”. This can become
concentrated in the final product.
Herbicide:
Herbicide is a collective noun for weed control. You got different types of this substance:
- contact herbicides
- growth substance herbicides
- soil herbicides
- systemic herbicides
It is very toxic for people and plants. There are a lot of different herbicide. It is commonly
used to control weeds but it has some disadvantages. It is negative for the biodiversity, wild
flora and all the insects. When used on a bank it can contaminate the surface water.
Pesticides:
Pesticides are substances meant for attracting, seducing and destroying organisms which are
considered harmful. For example they are used to kill mosquitoes that transmit deadly
diseases like malaria. Insecticides can protect animals against diseases caused by mosquitos or
parasites. Pesticides in humans protect the body against moldy food. Pesticides mostly used
by farmers by preventing big losses in their field. A study found that using pesticides reduce
crop yields by 10% which is a lot! Although there are some studies which found that using
pesticides is bad for humans but there has been no direct evidence. (this is about exposing not
“drinking” it)
(Source: http://www.allaboutwater.org/distillation.html)
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Distillation advantages:
- Removes a lot of contaminants.
- Easy to use
Disadvantages:
- Consumes a lot of energy.
- Does not remove all the contaminants.
- A lot of maintenance.
- Too filter a lot of water at once you need a lot of space.
Conclusion: We don’t think this is a good method for Penduka. It requires a lot of energy and
doesn’t filter all the contaminants away. Even if we could use solar energy, solar systems cost
a lot of money we do not have. Although is it very easy to use and maybe if we find a clever
method to boil the water we can use it.
Reverse osmosis:
Reverse osmosis or RO is also a very common method to
purify water. It removes 90-99% contaminants depending on
the membrane. It is basically a pump with high pressure
which pushes it though the membrane. Those membranes are
capable of filtering practically all the particles, organics and
even bacteria. Reverse osmosis is a technology which is used
by the most leading water bottling companies.
Natural osmosis is caused when two different concentrations are separated by a semi
permeable membrane. It works a little bit different with reverse osmosis. Now there is a
pressure pump which pushes the water though the membrane. The water dilutes the more
concentrated solution and the end result is balanced.
This method is super effective in removing several impurities from contaminated water. For
example solids (dissolved), asbestos, toxic metals, radium and chlorinated pesticides.
According to multiple websites and studies this method is highly effective combined with
activated carbon filtration.
Conclusion:
This is a very good method of purifying water. Although this method is
not cheap. As you see on the image on the right this is an installation.
Even with the smallest reverse osmosis systems you still need some
heavy equipment.
(Source: http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water-education/qualitywater-filtration-method-page3.htm )
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Activated carbon filtration:
Activated carbon filtration is using the activated carbon to
filter out contaminants and impurities. It is basically a
block filled with activated carbon and water is pushed
through it. Although there is not a lot of pressure since if it
goes slow though the filter it is exposed longer to the
carbon. Is it using the chemical process of absorption. This
is the process whereby contaminants in the fluid are
trapped inside the carbon. This is why it is used not only in
water purification but also in air purifiers and even in
respirator masks.
Activated carbon is the most effective in removing
sediment, chlorine (which is really nice), VOC and taste. They are not good at removing salt,
minerals and non-organic compounds (dissolved).
Fun fact: Carbon filters have been used for hundreds of years already. There is evidence that
they have been used in ancient Egyptian cultures.
Advantages:
- Removes dissolved organics and chloride effectively.
- Easy to use
- Has a long life
Disadvantages:
- It generates carbon fines
- It does not remove salt, minerals and non-organic compounds
Conclusion:
This is a good method. It is cheap; you don’t need expensive equipment; you can combine it
with other equipment etcetera. We can use this combined with chlorine at first since that kills
most bacteria. And since carbon is really good in removing chlorine it would be pretty cool.
Although we need to test that. Although carbon filters can generate carbon fines (small
particles which are grey/black). This is when new carbon filters are placed. This is why all the
filters should be generously flushed with a couple gallons of water. This will wash away the
carbon fines and make the filter ready to use. This is just to keep in mind.
Side note: Chlorine is a chemical often used in swimming pools to kill bacteria. If you pour
chlorine into water it breaks down into different chemicals. Like hypochlorous acid (HOCI)
and hypochlorite ion (OC-). They both kill microorganisms and bacteria by attacking the
lipids in the cell walls and destroying the enzymes and structures inside the cell.
This works the best if the pH is between 7-8 and 7,4 is ideal.)
Ultraviolet Radiation (UV):
Ultraviolet is a type of energy in the electromagnetic spectrum. It is lying between x-rays and
visible light. UV dangerous to be exposed to. We cannot see UV light or rays but we are
exposed to them every time we step into the sun. When you get a sunburn, UV light is
responsible for causing it. But the reason why we can step into the sun and don’t get instant
skin cancer is because we have an ozone layer. When being near an UV lamp the ozone does
not protect you since it is not near you. This is why you need to have the UV lamp in a closed
section of your water purification system. You can also use glass since glass blocks the UV
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rays. But to be 100% safe most people recommend using UV in a closed section.
Ultraviolet systems use special lamps or bulbs that emit UV light of a particular wavelength.
They generate around 185 nm or 254 nm (when used for water purification). Ultraviolet
attacks the genetic core of a microorganism and rearranges the RNA/DNA. When this
happens the microorganism loses the ability to function and reproduce. This is why the
process is really effective and destroying around 99,99% of the harmful microorganisms
without adding any chemicals. (under ideal conditions)
The quality of the end product depends on a couple factors. The UV needs to have appropriate
contact with the water. The UV bulb also needs to have the correct size. With a larger tank
you need to get a lager bulb. It is also really important to have a good pre-filter. Otherwise the
solid particles block the UV to kill microorganisms. The microorganisms use it as a shield.
The quality also depends on more factors. Like the flowrate. If the flowrate is too fast, the
water will not be exposed long enough to kill all the bacteria. It needs to have proper UV
exposure to work. If the water flow is slow it can damage the UV lamp. If it is too slow the
water will heat up too much damaging the UV lamp. That is why when using an UV lamp it
needs to have a flow.
Although this is really good, it had some disadvantages over other methods. UV rays or units
only kill bacteria at one point in a water purification system. They do not provide a long time
disinfection effect like chlorine does. If only one bacterium passes though at one point, there
is nothing you can do. This is why you need an excellent piping system. Also the bacteria
cells are not removed in a UV unit but are converted into pyrogens (particles which can give
you fever when getting injected). Those are the main food source for bacteria which survive
it. Due to these limitations, again, you need to have an excellent pipe system and needs to be
periodically sanitized with a chemical disinfectant.
(Source: https://www.espwaterproducts.com/uv-water-purification/ )
You also need to replace UV lamps. This is because they do not burn out as normal lamps.
Instead, UV lamps will solarize, reducing their intensity to about 60% of a new lamp after
only one year of continuous use (~8760 hours). If use a new lamp it will generate a dosage of
60000 uW-s/cm2. When the dosage drops to 50-60 % you should replace it. Ot it won't
effectively kill all the bacteria. The lamp life will also be shortened if you often turn it on or
off.
Since a lot of water passes though the tube you should periodically clean the lamp. It will be
covered in debris. If you don’t do this the UV will not kill the bacteria. You also need to
monitor the UV dosage. You can do this will an UV light intensity meter. This indicated the
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penetration of UV light. If there is a low intensity you should replace the lamp for proper
disinfection.
Advantages:
- Effectively removes most bacteria.
- Easy to use.
Disadvantages:
- Will not remove small solid particles.
- Careful maintenance.
- Does not protect the water after the UV light exposure.
- You need electricity (not really a con but worth mentioning in an area like Penduca)
- Proper pipe system
Conclusion:
UV radiation is a good method to remove bacteria. This is fairly easy to setup and it doesn’t
require any technical skill to maintain it. Although you need to be really careful with this.
We will need to think of a proper piping system. And an easy method to test the water if it is
safe to drink. If only one bacterium survives it you can throw away all the water. If we
combine this with a bio-filter this will work out. But a proper piping system is really
expensive and not an viable option.
( Source : https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actieve_kool http://www.watertreatmentguide.com/activated_carbon_filtration.htm )
Update 15-12-2015
We chose for a different approach after we learned more about purifying water. UV is more
expensive and requires more maintaince. We also don’t know if there is electricity (or
enough) to power an UV light.
These are all methods to kill bacteria. But we need a rough filter as well to filter out rough
material. Like small leafs and contaminants that can be filtered out by a method we are going
to talk about below. We need material that is durable and cheap. It also needs to be easy to be
maintained.
Our filter will consist out of a tube filled with different materials. Those
will filter out a bacteria and solid parts. We want to use the down force of
the hill since the water goes down according to Christien from Penduka.
This will ensure we
don’t need a pump to
power the water stream
which is good. When it
arrives at the top (it
goes from top to
bottom, but we build it from the bottom to the top) of the filter it will first
go through gravel or rocks to filter really, really big solid parts. We can
use any kind of gravel there is available. Gravel is not expensive and can
be free in most cases.
Than it goes through fine gravel. This is to filter out smaller parts but which are still rough.
Just to be sure and since it can be easily done why not? Just smash gravel to smaller pieces.
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The 3rd layer needs to be some sort of coarse sand. Most people will know this as aquarium
sand and is mostly 1x1. This can be easily obtained in a river or buy it at any store. It is not
that expensive.
The 4th layer consists out of fine sand that is also easily obtainable. This will filter out the
small impurities of the solid parts. This sand needs to be really fine. So not all sand will
qualify for this one.
The 5th layer we will use activated carbon or charcoal. This will kill some bacteria but not all
of them and since we do not know what is inside it we need to kill the bacteria with something
else. Of course from the methods we discussed above.
Professional help 12-11-2015 :
I searched help on a popular forum called “Reddit” or “The frontpage of the internet”. We
asked help on the subreddit called wastewater. (www.reddit.com/r/wastewater) and made a
thread. This is help for the methods we suggested and made above so maybe there are some
slight changes.
“Safe drink water for Windhoek
Hello!
I am doing a project about safe drinking water for Windhoek (Namibia) and we need to come
up with a cheap efficient water solution. We did a lot of research already.
We were thinking about a big (standard) water purification method with sand, charchoal etc.
But charchaol does not filter out enough bacteria. Any idea how to test the amount of
bacteria? And is there any other method to kill bacteria without adding harmfull chemicals
like chlorine? We were thinking about an UV light but is that a good idea?
Thanks a lot! “
A user called W45PN35T made a large comment full of useful information. He is wastewater
expert located in Canada. He recommended slow sand filters.
Fun fact: Slow sand filters may sound weird but they are used on a large scale! For example
London’s water supply is actually refined by slow sand filters!
He recommended it because this can be used on much larger scale and is really easy to use.
We will discuss slow sand filters and give a brief explanation how it works.
33
Slow sand filters
Slow sand filters are used in water purification and are used for “raw” or contaminated water.
There are used to make a so called potable product. That means that it is safe enough to drink
and cook with. They are usually 1+ meters deep and are primarily used to treat surface water.
Slow sand filters work different than other filtration methods. There work by using a complex
biological film that grows naturally on the surface of the sand. The sand doesn’t really do
anything except letting the water go through slowly. It acts as a substrate.
Biofilm definition: A biofilm is any group of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other
on a surface. These adherent cells are frequently embedded within self-produced matrix.
Biofilm extracellular polymeric substance which is also referred to as slime. Biofilm can form
on living or non-living surfaces and can prevalent in natural, industrial and hospital saetings.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilm
The biofilm is formed in the first 10 – 20 days of operation. Biofilm is also called the
hypogeal layer or schmutzdecke and is located in the top few millimetres of the fine sand
layer. It consists out of bacteria, protozoa, fungi, rotifera and a range of aquatic insect larvae.
The surface biofilm will provide an excellent water purification process. The sand will slow
down the water and particles are trapped.
But you need to maintain a slow sand filter. They lose performance over time as the biofilm
thickens. It than reduces the rate of flow through the filter. And after a while you need to
change it.
There are two common methods to do this.
- Method 1
Scrape off the top few millimetres of fine sand. This will expose a new layer of clean
fine sand. Water is than put back into it and needs to loop a few hours through it to
create a new biofilm. When there is a new biofilm you can fill the tank up again and
get it back into service.
- Method 2
Let the tank go half empty and wait a little bit and stir the sand. This method is called
wet harrowing. This means that the sand is gently agitated. This will result in to
causing partial break-up of the biological surface. This is the easiest way to clean a
slow sand filter.
You cannot just pour in contaminated water and hope it will come out clean. There are some
really important things you need to keep in mind. We will not discuss things we cannot build
or measure. Those are small details and are meant for extremely professional water
purification slow sand filters like in London.
Sand: When building a slow sand filter you need the right sand. The best you can get is
0,15mm sand solids. This will let the water go through but in a good flow. You can get away
with play sand or just bagged sand you buy at your local shop (Karwei, Fixet etc). But having
the sand is not enough. You need to clean it with preferably clean water. The sand depth and
diameter is also very important. A small filter will not remove much contamination. This is
why when you make a DIY or do it yourself filter you need a big barrel. Do not forget that
when you put sand and water in a barrel it will be extremely heavy.
34
Container: As said above you need a wide diameter. Otherwise there will not be enough
purification. Because if you decrease the diameter, the flow rate must also be decreased.
When obtaining a barrel you need to make lines with a sand paper in horizontal or random
lines but not vertical. Otherwise water can slip through.
Flow rate: You need a slow water flow to maintain good purification. The slower the better.
This is why you better have a huge storage because this is not something you put on and off
like an UV bulb. There are two types or ways of flow rate. One is by using numbers to
indicate how fast the water moves through the sand. The other one is how much volume of
water flows out the filter in a given amount of time. For a 55 gallon or 65 gallon barrel (1
gallon is 3,7854 liters) 0,15 is the effective sand size. And of course the longer water goes
through the bigger the schmutzdecke gets and the slower the water goes through.
Turbidity: Water that is muddy, cloudy or has a lot of solid particles in it will clog the filter
within days. This is why you need a pre-filter which we already discussed above and we will
use that.
Recirculation: This does not apply for the situation because there is enough water in every
season. But water must run through the barrel continuously. Otherwise you need to start over
with it.
Temperature: These filter will not work if they are frozen. Luckily the temperature in
Windhoek is pretty high so it’s fine.
Sand: When putting one of these filters together put water in the barrel first and then add the
sand. Otherwise you get air bubbles. This will prevent air bubbles from forming in the sand.
Always keep the sand wet.
Location: First get to the location before doing anything because water + sand is extremely
heavy. Be sure to place the filter somewhere it is secure. The supports must be able to handle
at least 2000 pounds safely. Moving the filter will disrupt the sand and cause the filter stop
functioning.
(Source: http://www.enlight-inc.com/blog/?p=2139 )
(Source: http://oasisdesign.net/water/treatment/slowsandfilter.htm )
“
Know the basic reasons these filters work:
A slow sand filter works 3 ways: Biological action, Physical straining, and adsorption.
Biological (action) predation: All water, with the exception of medically sterilized water,
and distilled water, has microscopic life in it. These microbes will grow in the slow sand filter
if they are kept under water and oxygen and food are available. There is a mini-ecosystem that
lives in these filters. This system results in the formation of a biological film, called a
Schmutzedecke (German for dirt blanket) on top of the sand and to a lesser amount, further
down in the sand. Disease causing bacteria, and viruses (bad bugs) are literally eaten by this
collection of microbes in the filter. All that is left is harmless minerals. Most, if not all, of the
small number of bad bugs that happen to slip by the schmutzedecke will die off as they move
further down in the sand layer due to lack of available nutrients.
Physical straining: Particulate matter is strained out by the sand and the biofilm on the top of
the sand.
35
Adsorption: This is a fancy way of saying that the sand grains actually can attract small
particles and cause them to stick to individual grains of sand. This is similar to but, not
exactly like , the way water actually sticks to itself due to cohesion and adhesion.
“
( Source: http://www.enlight-inc.com/blog/?p=2139 )
Overall conclusion: After all the research we have done about filtration we need to make a
system. We need a pre-filter and a slow sand filter since that is the cheapest solution. The
assignment said it should filter around 500 litres a day but that depends on the size of the slow
sand filter. We will make a small one on scale otherwise we can’t move it. In the next section
we will show our progress upon making one.
36
The water purification system design
- Pre-filter
Introduction:
Before building a purification system we need a plan. This is about how we combine all the
different components and how we make this work. The system needs have a couple important
elements.
- Cheap. Not only the build needs to be cheap, to maintain it as well.
- Easy to use for everyone
- Work in a hot environment.
What will we be using?
We have choice of a wide variety of filtration methods. To start we need a rough pre filter.
This will contain different materials to filter out the rough stuff.
Pre Filter
The pre filter will be located on the hill near the slow sand filter. For the demonstration we
will be using a “ghetto filter”. This is the cheaper version of the final version. The final
version will contain higher quality plastic. And materials which will last longer. Also in the
sun. What we are designing at the moment is for pure demonstration. The real one will look
way more professional and does not use most of the things in here.
We will make a separate plan for the real filter. Although it is quite
similar to this one.
What do we need to make a rough pre filter?
 A plastic bottle with a cap on it.
 A hammer and a nail or a drill with a small bit.
 A piece of cloth or a coffee filter
 A big glass or something else to put the bottle into (it is upside
down)
 Sand, size doesn’t really matter at the pre filter.
 Gravel, not too big
 A container or a pipe to the next stage which for us is a slow
sand filter.
 A craft knife
37
 Step 0 Cleaning the bottle
Before doing anything you should clean the
bottle. You should also use soap and clean it out
with a lot of water. This is because some sugars
or other chemicals are still in the bottle. You
can get rid of the glue on the outside with a
little bit of turpentine. Gloves are optional but
safe. Clean the bottle with soap after using
turpentine!
 Step 1 Cutting the bottle
We will be cutting open a plastic bottle. Probably a large Coca Cola or something
similar to it. We cut the bottom off to get inside the bottle. we cut it open with a craft
knife. It should be around 2-3 centimetres from the bottom. Save it because we might
need it again. You should also strip the bottle and clean it very well.
38
 Step 2 Make a hole in the cap
Use the hammer with a nail to punch a hole in the cap. We will make it slightly bigger
because it goes to the next stage. You should be careful with this and put a piece of
wood underneath it.
A small edge
After using drilling or smashing a hole in the cap. You will see a small edge appear
around the circle. This can stop the water from going in properly so you should get rid
of it.
Using a sander
We used a sander to get rid of the edge. You can also use other tools but this is the
most convenient. It is a small sander with switchable types of sanders. We also made
the hole a little bit bigger. Do not forget to wear safety glasses, and if you decide to
put it in a vise like me don’t fasten it too much!
39
 Step 3 Cap filter
After we punched a hole in the cap with the put a piece of cloth or coffee filter in the
cap and screw the cap back on again. The cloth or coffee filter should be sticking out.
If the cap doesn’t go on, use a less thick piece of cloth.
Type of cloth
We took an old shirt and cut a little bit off. This was cotton. Don’t get something
which is too thick. And also don’t cut too much. You only need a little bit. (10x10 +-)
Screw it on
Put the cloth over the cap and screw it in.
Make sure the cotton is tense on the
inside. Otherwise you might not have
covered all the areas in the cap. Screwing
should be no problem. If it is, get
another cap.
40
 Step 4 Put it in a glass
After this is done we put the bottle in a glass. You can also use a vise or something
like that. If you decide to put it in a vise, don’t fasten it too much!
 Step 5 Adding charcoal
For this you want to wear
gloves. You want to fill the first
layer with activated charcoal.
They most likely come in large
pieces. A good way to make it
smaller is to put it in a towel
and smack it on a hard object.
You can also use the hammer to
punch it into smaller pieces. A
small reminder, the towel is
going to be covered in charcoal.
So you might want to use an old
towel. If you smashed the
charcoal into smaller pieces (not
too small of course) you should
fill the bottle with 1/4 or 1/3 charcoal.
The charcoal you see on the right it the one we used. It was small already. With one
hand We kept the sack and with the other one (with a glove) we gently filled the
bottle.
Update 15-12-2015.
You should wash the charcoal first! We did not do it and the filter is stuck now.
41
Charcoal
When doing this make sure you wear at least one glove.
 Step 6 The sand layer
Fill the next layer with sand. We will be using sand from the river (de Lek) in
Lexmond. We did clean the sand a couple times because it was very dirty. This should
be around the same amount as the charcoal. The best is using different types of sand
sizes. For example fine grained sand and a coarse grained sand. This way the water
goes through multiple layers and will help to make it cleaner.
Cleaning the sand
42
Put the sand in a bowl and start filling it with clean water. Stir a bit and the filth will
come off. The sand was way dirtier than we thought. Proceed to carefully empty the
water and refill it again.
The result
After cleaning the sand you should see something like this. Empty the left over water.
This sand is clean now!
43
Make the next layer
Carefully put the sand from the bowl into the filter. Make sure you put something like
Glass under it because the sand is still wet. Some water will go through the filter
already. Make this about 1/3 or 1/4 of the bottle. When finished try to put pressure on
the sand with your hand to straighten it out.
 Step 7 Gravel
The rest should be gravel. Don’t fill it
to the top. We will use gravel from my
garden. It is better to use multiple
layers of gravels with different sizes.
This is mostly for filtering big solid
pieces from it. Multiple layers equals
better water quality.
44
Cleaning the gravel
This works the exact same way as cleaning sand. From it outside it looks quite clean
but it is actually really dirty. Always clean your materials first before using. Above a
before and after shot of the gravel.
Gravel time
Put the gravel inside the bottle. We started with the small stones and ended with the
larger ones.
Put them in carefully and don’t fill it to the top. You still need some space for water!
45
 Final
For our presentation we will be hanging it on a tripod or something else. This is the
best for a demonstration. It will be above the slow sand filter. This is all on scale and
we need to find out how much this filters per time unit. Of course this does not filter
500 litres a day. But when you use a big barrel and fill it with sand it should be good.
We will calculate how big it should be. We had put some water in it to test it out and it
worked! Next project is to make a slow sand filter! This is only the pre filter.
(Source: www.Wikihow.com / http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Water-Filterout-of-a-Waterbottle/ / http://www.wilderness-survival-skills.com/how-to-make-awater-filter.html )
46
47
The water purification system design
- Slow sand filter
How do we do it?
First of all, we are going to build a scaled down version. This is because there needs to be
flowing water otherwise the schutzdecke cannot develop. This is fine when you build a scale
model of the “final model”. But imagine a barrel filled with water and sand, which will weigh
a ton. And we need to transport it as well.
What we wanted to do is take a small water tank and use that. But we need to make holes on
the side (near the bottom) so a bucket is more useful. But if you have experience making
something water-proof, that is really hard. But we have no other option. We will make one
hole and connect that to a small pvc pipe or something similar. The gravity will push the
water down through the water and clean it. This will be pretty hard.
We gathered the stuff we need and started working.
 Step 1 Acquire the materials
You can use multiple materials for a slow sand filter.
But this is what we used.
- A plastic box, you can also use a barrel or a bucket. A larger bucket can filter more.
My box is not that big / high. But we will use it for demonstration. This is because a
large barrel filled with water and sand is extremely heavy.
- PVC pipe. We got a 1.5 meter pipe. If you have a larger barrel or diameter you want
to adjust that.
- Connectors. You will need these for the pvc pipe. My initial thought was to make it
an n shape. The blue pieces are connectors, red is the pipe.
- Sand. Depends on the barrel you use how much. Sand does not cost a lot and you are
forced to buy big bags of sand anyway.
- Drill, is very handy to use but optional.
- Marker or something else to mark certain distances,
- Tape-measure to measure distances
48
 Step 2 measuring your materials
Measure first before doing anything! The golden rule is “measure twice, cut once”.
We have a very large diameter so we want to spread the pipe across the box. This way
we get the most water out of it.
 Step 3 Cut the pipe
After marking it with a marker or leaving a small cut. Proceed to cut the pipe. We used
a handsaw because it was late already. Cutting straight with a handsaw requires more
than just 5 senses. Unfortunately We did not have the 6th sense and cut it a little bit
oblique. It is way easier with an automatic saw. Be sure to fasten it. If it is too loose
like mine you end up with a small deviation to the right.
49
 Step 4 Scrub your pipe
When you are done cutting it. You should carefully scrub it with sandpaper or a
sander. We used sandpaper (coarse) and it went great. Using a sander might be a little
bit of an overkill. Be sure to rough up the edges a bit for the glue. Scrub the inside and
the outside.
 Step 5 Cut a hole in the box and assemble
This step was done with help of my neighbour. He drilled a hole in the box with a drill.
This should be done carefully otherwise the plastic will break. Although you won’t have
this problem if you use a big barrel. In our first attempt the plastic broke because of
vibration. This is why we now used a piece of wood behind it to minimize the vibrations.
We put a coupler between it so it won’t leak.
50
The holes are on the bottom side of the tube to keep the sand to a minimum. There is a
panty on it to keep the sand out even more. It is a bit loose at the moment but we will
fasten this with cable ties.
51
The inside is roughed up. Don’t forget this step because
otherwise contaminated water will go down on the sides.
Just do it in all directions and it will be fine.
Because of the water pressure it will try to find a way out. So with the pressure the water
will start going up and with another bend it will go to a reservoir. We have not yet
assembled it for the simple reason that we first need to make the biofilm. This is a long
process and will start it around 2 weeks before the presentation.
This is not on scale
1 : This will make the biofilm. This way you don’t have to add water constantly and don’t
have to monitor it. The water needs to flow and that is the reason this is the best option.
Unfortunately this won’t work without a small motor. That is why we will get one or do it
like normal and refill it.
2 : This is the final product with the pre- filter on top. It will lead to a reservoir (sealed not
like in the picture) and is safe to drink. It is extra safe to add a little bit of chlorine to kill
52
bacteria that might occur but we don’t think this is necessary. 1 teaspoon of chlorine will
disinfect 3,8 litres. Although you can add a little bit less because it is already purified.
We will attach a small motor on the top to push the water through it. If that is too much
trouble we will just do it manually and re-use the filtered water.
This is the final product. We know the water is coming from a pre-filter over there. There are
two options to get water in the filter. Do it manually or by installing a long PVC pipe to a
separate barrel higher than the filter barrel. That way the water will go into the barrel and you
can open up the tank and water will flow. Keep in mind that it needs to be a slow flow!
53
When we are a week prior to the presentation we will start the filter up. The first layer is a
gravel layer. It should cover the tube. Then add clean sand with water to remove air bubbles
and let the filter do its work. The biofilm should start building up.
We don’t do it now because water + gravel + sand is extremely heavy and requires
maintenance.
Of course Penduka should take a bigger barrel but once set you can’t move them! Moving a
filter is bad and really heavy.
54
Conclusion
During this project we have experienced positive and negative experiences. We have learnt a
lot from this project but faced some difficulties. Overall we are happy we have experienced
the World School project and we are grateful that our school gave us the opportunity to do
this.
What we have learnt:
 We have learnt about the climate of Namibia. For example the differences in
temperature and landscape between Namibia and the Netherlands.
 We have learnt about the culture of Namibia. Also we have learnt about the culture
and politics. We did not know Namibia was a colony of Germany. Also the number of
inhabitants was much lower than expected.
 We have learnt a lot about waterborne diseases and the effects of them.
 We have tried and examined many different ways of purifying water.
 We have made a working system to purify water in a cheap way. We also learnt a lot
from building it.
After investigating in the different ways of water purification we came to a conclusion that a
slow sand filter, in combination with a pre-filter is the best way of purifying water in this
situation. We chose for this option because it is cheap, good working, and not too difficult.
The only thing that needs to be adjusted is the size of the barrel and the corresponding tube.
And that is the beauty of it. It’s super simple!
55
Important mail.
Only these people have responded and/or was worth putting in. We did not record any phone
calls.
dag Sam,
een tip: mail niet alleen, bel!
veel bedrijven/ overwerkte medewerkers worden gek van de honderden mails die ze krijgen ...
waarschijnlijk kom je al snel in de spam.
bel, stel je voor, beschrijf wat je zoekt, maak dan de afspraak om per mail meer info te geven,
of bezoek ze ...
vriendelijke groet,
Frits
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2015 12:41 PM
To: sibers
Subject: RE: Water sample
Hallo,
Wij gaan morgen naar de TU Delft en kijken wat daar uit komt. Harstikke bedankt voor uw
hulp. Mocht Vitens niet meer reageren mail ik u even om te vragen voor een ander bedrijf.
mvg
Sam Vruggink
From: f.n.sibers@xs4all.nlB
To: samvruggink@live.nl
Subject: Re: Water sample
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2015 10:56:34 +0200
dag Sam,
vergeet niet ook naar de diverse ‘beta-steunpunten’ van de TU’s en de U’s (zoals de WU) te
mailen/ bellen, ze zijn bedoeld om profielwerkstuk-leerlingen te ondersteunen.
van Erik Vos van Worldschool begreep ik verder dat er deze week allerlei studiedagen zijn:
gaan jullie daar ook heen?
zelf heb ik goede ervaringen met waterbedrijven/ waterschappen qua toegankelijkheid.
met vriendelijke groet,
Frits Sibers
56
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2015 7:42 AM
To: sibers
Subject: Re: Water sample
Hallo,
Hartstikke bedankt. Ik heb al tientallen bedrijven gemaild voor hulp maar of ze willen het niet
of ze reageren niet. Vitens wilde ons helpen maar hoor ik nu niks meer van dus daar moet ik
ook achterna. Die link die u stuurde zal ik ook even contacteren. Het is lastiger dan gedacht
om hulp te krijgen van bedrijven.
Mvg Sam
Verzonden vanaf mijn Huawei mobiele telefoon
-------- Oorspronkelijk bericht -------Onderwerp: Re: Water sample
Van: sibers
Aan: sam vruggink
Cc:
dag Sam,
nog even een nagekomen bericht, Alterra Wageningen zou ook de moeite waardb kunnen zijn
voor jullie onderzoek(opzet), zie b.v.:
Alterra Wageningen : http://www.wageningenur.nl/nl/ExpertisesDienstverlening/Onderzoeksinstituten/Alterra/Faciliteiten-Producten/LaboratoriaEnvironmental-Sciences-Group/Laboratorium-voor-Aquatische-ecologie.htm
vriendelijke groet,
Frits Sibers
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2015 8:10 PM
To: sibers
Subject: RE: Water sample
Hallo meneer Sibers,
We willen het ook zelf gaan onderzoeken maar ik bedoelde dat er hulp bij is van
professionals. Ook had ik een vraag over het afnemen van water. Ik kan nergens op het
internet vinden hoe je dat op een goede manier afneemt. Kunt u mij daar iets over vertellen of
57
een artikel / boek naam sturen via de mail. Onze TOA's op school wisten het ook niet, en
sinds ik geen email adressen heb van andere professoren vraag ik het maar aan u.
Water afname voor onderzoek moet op een bepaalde manier maar ik kan nergens vinden hoe.
Ook al vind ik dat weet ik niet hoe het een afstand van Namibia naar Nederland zou moeten
gaan zonder het in te vriezen. Want het lijkt mij dat er veel bacterien/organismen dood gaan
tijdens dat proces. Kunt u hier iets over vertellen of misschien een email adres van een collega
die ons wil helpen.
Echt hartstikke bedankt voor alles!
Mvg
Sam Vruggink
From: f.n.sibers@xs4all.nl
To: samvruggink@live.nl
Subject: Re: Water sample
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2015 17:43:38 +0200
veel plezier er mee .... zelf onderzoeken is leuker dan laten onderzoeken....misschien kunnen
jullie ergens aan de slag met goed uitgeruste labs ( microbiologisch/ chemisch ...)?
vriendelijke groet,
Frits Sibers
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 4:36 PM
To: sibers
Subject: RE: Water sample
Dag meneer Sibers,
Hartstikke bedankt en dat zullen we zeker doen. Ik ben al opzoek naar een laboratorium zodat
ik het met mijn partner professioneel kan laten onderzoeken.
Mvg
Sam Vruggink
From: f.n.sibers@xs4all.nl
To: samvruggink@live.nl
CC: k.pajcin@worldschool.nl; info@worldschool.nl
Subject: Re: Water sample
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:15:06 +0200
dag Sam,
het monstertje is verstuurd naar de eksterlaan, komt denk ik morgen aan ( via DHL);
58
BELANGRIJK!! werk met handschoenen, was je handen met ontsmettingszeep e.d. als je
met dit water gaat werken, je weet immers niet waarmee dit oppervlakte water is besmet
LET OP!!! het flesje was diepgevroren, de envelop werd echter wat vochtig ( condens?lekje?)
ik hoop dat een en ander goed overkomt
veel succes,
met vriendelijke groet,
Frits Sibers
opm. het is maar een klein monster, dit betekent dus ook, dat als je iets niet meet, dat dit dan
ook overeenkomt met de werkelijkheid .....
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 1:29 PM
To: sibers
Subject: Re: Water sample
Eksterlaan 48
4143AC
Leerdam
Op naam Sam Vruggink worldschool
Dat is het school adres. Hartstikke bedankt voor alle moeite!
Mvg Sam Vruggink
Verzonden vanaf mijn Huawei mobiele telefoon
-------- Oorspronkelijk bericht -------Onderwerp: Re: Water sample
Van: sibers
Aan: sam vruggink
Cc:
dag Sam,
een adres zou dan wel handig zijn ....
ik weet niet of dit vandaag nog gaat lukken, daar ik zoals gezegd morgen in de vroegte
vertrek.
eventueel gat het lukken via dhl
met vriendelijke groet,
Frits Sibers
59
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 9:54 AM
To: sibers
Subject: RE: Water sample
Hallo,
Misschien een rare vraag maar kan het op de post? Of kan dat niet i.v.b dat het ingevroren is.
Als ik dat namelijk heb kan ik universiteiten benaderen om het samen met ons te
onderzoeken. Ophalen zou eventueel kunnen maar word wel een gedoe, maar het kan in
principe wel als het niet op de post kan. Ik wil het zo snel mogelijk hebben omdat we niet
zoveel tijd hebben i.v.b onderzoeken, prototypes etc.
Mvg
Sam Vruggink
From: f.n.sibers@xs4all.nl
To: samvruggink@live.nl
CC: k.pajcin@worldschool.nl; info@worldschool.nl
Subject: Re: Water sample
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 2015 15:50:44 +0200
dag Sam,
Jullie zouden het volgende kunnen doen:
a. als ik begin oktober weer terug ben, kunnen we afspreken hoe we het watermonstertje bij
jullie zouden kunnen krijgen; dan is het misschien mogelijk om een kwalitatieve indruk te
krijgen van een aantal relevante abiotische en biotische factoren van dat meegebrachte
monster; welke dat zouden kunnen zijn, en hoe je iets dergelijks bepaald ( geavanceerd
gebruik makend van een professioneel lab, minder geavanceerd, gebruik makend van de
mogelijkheden van een schoollab, dan wel middels in het veld bruikbare methoden die ook ter
plekke in Namibie uitgevoerd zouden kunnen worden ( kunnen de benodigdheden +
instructie(filmpjes/ youtube?) opgestuurd/ meegenomen worden om ter plekke de bepalingen
te doen?,; leve het internet!). De waarden die eventueel te meten zijn in het meegebrachte
watermonster zijn niet ‘zwaar’/ betrouwbaar genoeg om daarop een aantal beslissingen te
baseren denk ik, maar het geeft misschien wel iets aan.
b. uitzoeken welke effectieve, goedkope, makkelijk te onderhouden, enz. zuiveringsmethoden
er zijn m.b.t. microben, giftige stoffen zoals zware metalen, koolwaterstofverbindingen enz.
die bovendien een voldoende capaciteit hebben
c. nabouwen van een prototype ( welke dat is wordt na een gedegen voorstudie bepaald)
waarmee een gestandaardiseerde testserie gedaan kan worden m.b.t. zuiveringseigenschappen
t.a.v. diverse mogelijke typen vervuiling. En zijn er verwante voorbeeldprojecten waar iets
van geleerd kan worden?
60
d. zoals gezegd een gedetailleerd beeld krijgen van de ‘probleemsituatie’ ( kaarten,
vervuilingsbronnen, neerslaghoeveelheden, periodes van droogte, mogelijkheden wateropslag
gezuiverd water, hellingshoeken, google maps, enz. )
met vriendelijke groet,
Frits Sibers
opmerking: zoek deskundigheid en ondersteuning daar waar die is: vervolgopleidingen,
waterlaboratoria, e.d.
opmerking: houd altijd rekening met het feit dat het probleem zich afspeelt in Namibie en niet
in Wieringerwerf , de mogelijkheden aldaar lijken niet op de mogelijkheen hier ...
opmerking; hoe je van sterk vervuild water weer bruikbaar water kan maken is een
wereldwijd, steeds groter wordend vraagstuk, ik hoop, dat jullie met slimme oplossingen
komen!!
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2015 11:01 AM
To: sibers
Subject: Re: Water sample
Hallo,
Hartelijk bedankt voor de snelle email. Super informatief!
Aangezien de waarde zijn veranderd moeten we er van uitgaan dat het vooral darmbacteriën /
vuilnes en mogelijke middelen die ze daar gebruiken? Of is het beter dat we het monster
onderzoeken en die waarde gebruiken?
Wij zitten op het Heerenlanden Leerdam. Ver van Groningen af. :(
Mvg Sam Vruggink
Verzonden vanaf mijn Huawei mobiele telefoon
-------- Oorspronkelijk bericht -------Onderwerp: Re: Water sample
Van: sibers
Aan: sam vruggink
Cc: Koviljka Pajcin ,Erik Vos
dag Sam,
Fijn dat jullie voor de organisatie van Christien Toxopeus aan het werk
willen!
Ik kan jullie niet vertellen wat er in het watermonster zit: ik kreeg enige
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tijd geleden een meegenomen watermonster in een plastic fles. Ik heb dit
ingevroren.
Hier moeten een paar kritische kanttekeningen en opmerkingen bij geplaats
worden.
a. als je een te onderzoeken watermonster neemt van een bepaalde plek, dan
moet je daar allerlei ( wetenschappelijk gefundeerde) protocollen bij
volgen, dat is hier denk ik niet gebeurd.
b. het water is neem ik aan ook niet gekoeld meegenomen: o.a. allerlei
biotische waarden zijn daardoor tijdens het transport veranderd, zoals
zuurstofwaarden, gehalte aan bacteriën, e.d.
Maar naar wat ik begrijp uit de omschrijving van de lokale omstandigheden en
de mogelijke vervuilingsbronnen van het te gebruiken water mag je er van uit
gaan, dat er met name sprake kan zijn van een bacteriëel besmettingsgevaar
( darmbacteriën). Bij regenval wordt de neerslag via droge beddingen naar
het stuwmeer gevoerd, deze droge beddingen worden echter ook als latrine en
vuilstort gebruikt door bewoners van de krottenwijken langs die droge
beddingen. Dus wat zou er in het slechtste geval nog meer in kunnen zitten?
Met andere woorden:
a. ik heb een ingevroren flesje water, die kan eventueel op de een of andere
manier naar jullie toe, voor eventueel nader ( chemisch, biologisch)
onderzoek ; van welke school zijn jullie, in welke stad? Ik woon onder de
stad Groningen. De maand september vanaf komende week dus) ben ik overigens
niet bereikbaar ( in het buitenland).
b. wat zijn belangrijke criteria voor schoon water en hoe controleer je die?
c. zijn er kleinere, simpele maar wel zeer betrouwbare watertesten (
eventueel te ontwerpen) voor in het veld die aldaar te gebruiken zijn?
d. hoe ziet de lokale situatie er exact uit, welke gegevens zijn daarbij
van belang voor jullie onderzoek en hoe is daar achter te komen? En hoe zit
het met gebruik van bestrijdingsmiddelen aldaar?
e. wat zijn zuiveringsmethoden voor waarschijnlijk sterk vervuild water (met
bijvoorbeeld E.coli, chemicaliën zoals ....), hoe controleer, meet en
monitor je de effectiviteit van het zuiveringssysteem, , wat bepaald de
capaciteit, hoe zorg je voor een doorstroming, gebruik je helophyten,
verdampingsystemen, enz. ; een soort vergelijkend onderzoek naar ervaringen
met diverse systemen en principes.
welke zouden voor situaties zoals in Namibie het meest geschikt zijn? zijn
er prototypen te bouwen, uit te testen?
veel succes met het opstarten van jullie onderzoek!
met vriendelijke groet,
Frits Sibers
62
-----Oorspronkelijk bericht----From: sam vruggink
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 9:11 AM
To: f.n.sibers@xs4all.nl
Subject: Water sample
Hallo meneer Sibers,
Ik (Sam Vruggink) en mijn partner Shane Konijnenberg doen worldschool. Ik
had naar Christien gemaild voor een water sample van het water in Windhoek.
Kunt u ons misschien vertellen wat er in het water zit zodat wij verder
kunnen met het onderzoeken hoe we dit moeten zuiveren.
Hartstikke bedankt
Met vriendelijke groet
Sam Vruggink
Verzonden vanaf mijn Huawei mobiele telefoon
===================================================================
===============Hello Sam,
My name is Christien and I am the founder of Penduka in Namibia.
I do live in Groningen and I have The Dutch nationality so you can write to me in Dutch if
you like.
to answer your questions: last year a water sample was taken and given to Worldschool tutor
and biologist in Groningen Mr Frits Sibers f.n.sibers@xs4all.nl
You can contact him for more of that information.
The name of the waterdam is Goreangabdam and you can even try to approach the
Municipality of Windhoek ( Gemeente Windhoek) to obtain more information of the water
from then. Up till now they have not been very helpful with info concerning the water but it is
worth trying again.
Please make your report in English.
Thank you for choosen Penduka as your project,
Wishing you goodluck and good learning scope while working on it.
Kind regards,
63
Christien Roos
Penduka founder/advisor
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2015 5:47 PM
To: christien@penduka.com
Subject: Samples
Hello Christien,
I am Sam Vruggink and I am doing worldschool together with Shane Konijnenberg and Chris
Karssen (teacher)
We have some questions.
How do we obtain a sample from the water there? Or is there a overview with what is in the
water?
Do we need to make the PWS in English or in Dutch?
Thank you in advance
Kind Regards
Sam Vruggink
Beste Sam,
Dank voor je mail en jullie betrokkenheid bij het Penduka project.
We waarderen het dat jullie de presentatie volgende week zo goed als mogelijk willen
voorbereiden en het er mooi willen uitlaten zien.
Dit heb ik vaker gedaan en ik moet zeggen dat het altijd tijd en geld koste om spullen te
pakken en weer heen en weer te sturen , er vaak wat weg raakt en dus heel vaak
een beetje nare bijsmaak geeft terwijl er heel veel informatie over Penduka op het internet
staat.
Jullie mogen onderdelen van de Penduka website, www.penduka.com gebruiken en als je
wilt kan ik nog wat gerelateerde foto’s doorsturen die te maken hebben met water en het
belang van de zuivering.
HIerbij sluit ik een booklet bij die we op de Penduka locatie gebruiken als ‘gids boekje’
hoor graag of dit afdoende is of dat je nog wat extra info nodig hebt,
64
groet en succes,
christien
penduka
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Saturday, December 05, 2015 12:02 PM
To: christien@penduka.com
Subject: Worldschool
Beste Christien,
Wij doen het water zuiverings project voor Worldschool. Is het misschien mogelijk dat wij bij
de presentatie op onze school en de presentatie voor Worldschool wat attributen kunnen
lenen.
Ik heb het over posters, folders over Penduka en misschien wel wat die vrouwen er allemaal
maken. Dat zou de stand een stuk leuker maken.
Is dit te regelen? De twee presentaties duren nog even maar dan is het alvast geregeld.
Mvg
Sam Vruggink
===================================================================
===============
Re: Water transportation
christien penduka
Dag Sam,
Het water komt vanuit omliggende rivieren die via berglandschap allemaal uiteindelijk in het
laagste punt terecht komt.
Dit laagste punt is de Goreangabdam, die jij op de foto hebt aangegeven.
65
sorry, ik weet niet hoe ik met een stippellijn dit kaartje moet bewerken.
Het water moet gebruikt worden bij Penduka, (wat op de kaart als Penduka Crafts aangegeven
staat) daar is de nederzetting die het nodig heeft.
hoop dat het duidelijk is,
succes,
groet,
christien
penduka
From: sam vruggink
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2015 11:29 PM
To: christien@penduka.com
Subject: Water transportation
Beste Christien,
Wij hadden een vraag over het water dat naar het dorp toe moet. Wij begrijpen niet precies
waar het heen moet.
Zou u misschien deze afbeelding willen downloaden en daar een stippellijn op aangeven.
https://gyazo.com/c13a691bd1e2d999dc9c5f446e955b45
Met vriendelijke groet,
Sam Vruggink
66