Location
Kedougou, Segou, Koboye and Pellel, Senegal
Community Description
Kedougou is the capital of the region of the same name in the far southeast of Senegal, bordering Guinea and Mali. Although there is a municipal water system in Kedougou, over half of the 15,000 residents still get their water from wells, many of them unlined and inadequately protected from rainwater infiltration.
Kedougou has a major asset in the Unite d’Apprentissage Polyvalente (UAP) a local vocational school which teaches metalwork with a strong emphasis on creating appropriate technology solutions.
Segou, Koboye and Pellel are rural villages an average of 30 km from the capital. None have running water and most wells are unlined. Pellel in particular has a severe water shortage in the dry season with villagers sometimes resorting to drinking extremely muddy water from unlined wells.
Project Description
This pilot project will utilize the talents of a local UAP graduate metalworker to fabricate a mold for casting concrete bio-sand filters. Biosand filters use gravel and sand, plus a biological layer, to filter out harmful pollutants in drinking water.
With the completed mold, 4 pilot filters will be fabricated for use in the test villages. Volunteers in each village will train the villagers on their proper use and maintenance.
There are two parts to the process for the fabrication of the filter:
1) Fabrication of the mold. This involves local metal workers bending and welding sheet metal into two concentric cylinders and a bottom plate.
2) Fabrication of the filters. The filters themselves are made of concrete which is poured into the mold around a thin rebar frame for strength. A PVC pipe is embedded in the concrete to pass the filtered water. Above the water line a diffuser plate of plastic mesh is installed so that pouring water into the filter will not disturb the biological layer.
The filters will be fabricated at the individual sites so that transportation will be needed only for the mold and cement, and not the significantly heavier finished filter.
The sand of the grade and type needed for the various layers of the filters will be sourced locally at each village. In the Kedougou region, the requisite sand is fairly plentiful.
Project Impact
The initial run of pilot project filters will benefit about 80 people.
When the demonstration project is scaled up, it will have an impact on hundreds to thousands of people.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Matt McLaughlin
Comments
Upon a successful showing of the capability of producing filters at a reasonable cost, and a demonstration of their durability, a follow-up project can scale up the production of the filters to supply other villages in the region. This could serve as a model for Peace Corps Senegal to use to extend the technology for use by volunteers posted in other regions.
Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00
Donations Collected to Date
$500.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of the Elmo Foundation.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Matt McLaughlin of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by him and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.