From Honduras to India - How I got here and what I'm doing

Many of you have asked about what has brought to me India. The answer, as it often is in my life, is water. Specifically, water and sanitation improvements for developing countries.

AguaClara (http://aguaclara.cornell.edu/)

Since college I have been involved with AguaClara which is a program at Cornell University that works on developing sustainable, gravity powered solutions for small communities in developing countries. When I was at Cornell in 2006 the AguaClara technologies focused on potable surface water treatment plants. These plants utilized flocculation, sedimentation and disinfection to treat drinking water. The plants used only two chemicals, local materials and no electricity. The plant in Ojojona and the plant in Tamara that I worked on can be seen below:

AguaClara Plant in Ojojona, Honduras
 (Originally had horizontal and vertical flocculation tanks.
Horizontal portion is no longer in use)

AguaClara Plant in Tamara, Honduras
(Covered tanks, has since had improved dosing equipment and a filter added)

Since that time AguaClara has built over 14 plants of all sizes. You can find a summary of the timeline here: http://aguaclara.cornell.edu/about/timeline/ . The AguaClara technology and plants in Honduras have been reworked and refined. Last year I got to visit a plant that was just built in Moroceli, see below. 

AguaClara Plant in Moroceli, Honduras

This plant has an automatic chemical dosing capability with variable flow and a filter. The backwash for the filter is gravity powered as well. It is amazing what 10 years and a lot of effort by bright students and amazing faculty can produce. In a world where we worship technology and electronics AguaClara has taken what can require complex controls and provided solutions with plastic pipes, gravity and ingenuity.

 AguaClara LLC (www.aguaclarallc.com)

From the program at Cornell has sprouted AguaClara, LLC a social enterprise and certified B-corporation. This company was founded by Maysoon Sharif who graduate from Cornell with a Master of Engineering in 2011. This company was started to take the technologies developed at Cornell and help get them implemented in the real world by applying for grants, working with other NGOs and developing training programs and operation manuals. AguaClara LLC has focused on implementing its technologies in India. In 2015 they installed six enclosed stacked rapid filters in the eastern state of Jharkhand (http://www.aguaclarallc.com/projects/). This project also included a chemical dose controller that I will discuss further in another blog post.

Rapid Stacked Sand Filter in Jharkhand, India

Currently, AguaClara LLC is working with Gram Vikas to pilot a new and updated version of the CDC. This new version has been built in the lab at Cornell University with funds from the Tata-Cornell Initiative (see below). At this time, I am helping source the materials for the CDC and fabricate the first pilot in India.

Tata-Cornell Initiative (https://tci.cornell.edu/)

Excerpt from their website: “The Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition (TCI) is a long-term research initiative focused on solving problems of poverty, malnutrition, and rural development in India.

We were established in 2013 with a generous gift from the Tata Trusts to conduct cross-disciplinary research, and to bring together the technical capacity of Cornell graduate student researchers with the on-the-ground know-how of academic and non-governmental partner organizations in India. We also provide thought-leadership and engage multiple stakeholders at Cornell, in India, and across the globe on food policy and the agriculture-nutrition nexus.”

Project Background - Water and Development 

In large areas of India, the population is rural and very poor. There are no bathroom or bathing facilities. The closest water source is often used for these activities as well as for washing and drinking. Open defecation is practiced as it in many areas of the world. This setup leaves people “exposed to bacterial diseases like diarrheas, dysenteries and typhoid as well as parasitic worms. Unconfined human waste is also a breeding ground for insect vectors like cockroaches and flies which can increase the spread of excreted pathogens and eye infections.”

“In conservative societies, where women’s modesty is of great importance and significance, open defecation presents a huge moral dilemma for many village women and adolescent girls. The absence of privacy for dealing with natural bodily functions and having to expose oneself in the open, especially during menstruation affects women’s dignity and sense of self-worth. Women face harassment while practicing open defecation; in many areas, they are few options for privacy.“

Additionally, water needs to be carried to houses and in many areas the walk is long, the work hard and it detracts from other activities such as schooling and work. This often falls to the children and women.

Providing water and sanitation facilities promotes health, development and economic growth among other things. It is the single most important factor in eliminating poverty and spurring growth.

(Note: Quotes from book: Water Supply and Sanitation Services for the Rural Poor) 

Current Project in India

Currently AguaClara is partnering with Gram Vikas to bring AguaClara technology to India. The communities where the CDC will be installed are communities where Gram Vikas is working. Gram Vikas (see below for more info) is currently working to provide rural communities with a borehole water well, review of other water supply options, and an elevated water tank. They are currently piloting a project in 2 villages in the state of Odisha (previously Orissa) in the eastern side of India. I had the opportunity to visit the villages and they are described briefly in my other blog post.

Photo of Water Board Members (females) and
Gram Vikas Worker (male) at village near Deojhar

Photo of Water Board Members and
Gram Vikas Worker (left) at village near Deojhar

The two villages serve about 800 people total. On completion, all 800 people will have access to a bathroom, bathing area and clean drinking water for use in their houses.

AguaClara technology will be used in this project as it will provide the disinfection for the water supply. The chemical dose controller (CDC) will be installed above the tanks that are being constructed. These CDCs will have the ability to automatically adjust the chemical flow according to changes in raw water flow rate to maintain a constant dose.

Gram Vikas (http://www.gramvikas.org/)

Gram Vikas has been working to overcome these issues and bring water and sanitation improvements to the rural poor since 1971. It started after a cyclone devastated the state of Orissa. Their mission statement is:

They have 5 core values that are listed and shown below:

These 5 core values ensure that the programs that enter into the villages are not just pieces of equipment and technology. They work with the villagers for cost sharing and to promote social and gender equality as well as sustainability. An NGO such as Gram Vikas understands that many times providing a solution to one issue involves a deeper look into the community as a whole. Providing a location with a bathroom can solve some issues for some households but does not provide a holistic solution for a community. The community must itself be 100% invested and learn and grow as the project is constructed.

Gram Vikas works with the community on not just the infrastructure of the project but also on education, health, livelihood and food security. Gram Vikas also works to begin a saving account for the villages started from village funds that helps with the operation and maintenance of the systems. This empowers the communities to maintain the provided infrastructure and take ownership of the system once it has been installed.

To learn more about Gram Vikas you can also check out the book Water Supply and Sanitation Services for the Rural Poor – The Gram Vikas Experience (link to amazon: http://www.amazon.in/Water-Supply-Sanitation-Services-Rural/dp/1853396540)