Blog

Day: October 10, 2009

Welcome to the CWS Family Jarigu!

Posted on by communitywatersolutions

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After two weeks of visiting many rural villages in Northern Region Ghana, we have selected Jarigu to be the next site for a CWS water treatment business. Not only does Jarigu meet all of the CWS village criteria (the only source of water is a dugout, the dugout does not dry-out in the dry season, the village is the right size, and there are no current water treatment projects), but it is also about 10 minutes away from Nyamaliga, which will make monitoring the two villages much easier Peter (our project manager). I met with the village elders today to explain the project and they were very eager to work with us and seemed to really understand the idea of a water treatment business. Over the next two weeks Peter and I will be working with members of Jarigu to build the water treatment center, distribute safe storage containers to every family, and select and train two women to work at the center. We are really excited to start implementing in this village and look forward to updating everyone on our progress. Thank you to Volunteer Shredding, LLC, Greg and Susan Gintoff for sponsoring this CWS water treatment business! Your donation is providing a permanent source of clean water for ~750 people!

Jerigu
Jarigu
The Jerigu Dugout- a shallow, stagnant, mad-made pond. This is their only source of water.
The Jarigu Dugout- a shallow, stagnant, mad-made pond. This is their only source of water.
Close up of the Jerigu dugout. People frequently ask us what water the people villages were drinking before we got there, well, this is it.
Close up of the Jarigu dugout. People frequently ask us what water the people villages were drinking before we got there, well, this is it.
Getting a water sample from the dugout- the water tested postive for E.coli. which indicates fecal contamination.
Getting a water sample from the dugout- the water tested positive for E.coli. which indicates fecal contamination.
Children in Jerigu
Children in Jarigu

Safe Storage Containers

Posted on by communitywatersolutions

I spent the beginning of this week in Accra, the capital of Ghana, meeting with The Melcom Group, the company that manufactures the buckets that CWS has been using for our safe storage containers. Safe storage is a key component of the CWS water treatment model because it helps to prevent re-contamination of the water in the home. In the past, we have purchased these buckets from a retailer in Tamale, and installed taps in them ourselves. This was a very long, arduous task that involved heating a metal pipe on a gas stove and punching holes in hundreds of plastic buckets.

Were we based elsewhere, like in Australia for instance, we could speak to other experts (like those from https://shop.storemasta.com.au/collections/bunded-storage) to help us out with these options. Safe storage of chemicals for water treatment is important, after all. Still, we made do with what was available to us in this circumstance, and all in all we were hopeful for a good outcome.

Well, the meetings in Accra were a huge success! Not only did Melcom sell us the buckets and taps at the wholesale price, but they also punched holes in the buckets for us and shipped them to Tamale for free. The buckets arrived in Tamale today, only two days after I ordered them!

Excited and still a little surprised that the buckets arrived on time
Excited and still a little surprised that the buckets arrived on time
Trying to fit all of the safe storage containers in one taxi...we almost did it!
Trying to fit all of the safe storage containers in one taxi...we almost did it!