Water purification system at secondary school in Tanzania

For the last weeks two volunteers from EWB have been working on a water purification system for a secondary school in Karagwe region in northwest Tanzania. The project has to this date made good progress and we are almost ready to start the big installation at the school with the materials we now have ready.

This means that we have solar panel and battery that will supply the system with the required electricity. We have all the pipes and fittings needed to drain the water from the tank, through the system and finally to the tap. We have with the good help of a local carpenter designed the wooden box that will fit the entire purification system and this work is now finished.

In addition to this we have also started with the workshops/education programs about water management, health risk related to water and hygiene, which is an associated part of the project. We have had one workshop together with the teachers at the school where we focused on discussions about usages of water and how risks in different contexts are avoided in the best possible way. We have also had interactive lecture with the students where we ask questions and let the students answer as well as ask their own questions. Through this course, we want to raise awareness about water issues. It also gives us volunteers a good insight into different problems you find here in Tanzania regarding water.

The weeks ahead of us involves instalment of the water purification system along with solar panels and battery. We will make sure everything works as we intended and we will also continue education with more students. There will also be a separate workshop on how to use and maintain the purification system with those responsible at the school.