Water Project: Rwanda
by Will Howard
Rwanda
Large Scale Solution
- Coagulants are mixed into the water and cause the large particles to clump together.
- As the water sits in the tank, the particles fall to the bottom and are removed.
- The smaller particles are removed as water is filtered through layers of materials resulting in clearer water.
- Disinfectants are added to shield the water from bacteria, viruses, and microbes that are still alive before it goes into underground reservoirs.
- Alkaline substances are added to maintain the pH levels so that the water distributions system does not corrode.
The cost of building a water treatment plant to supply clean water for the whole country, would be $2-4 million. According to costwater.com, it costs $483,333 per month to run a water treatment plant with an output of 100,000 cubic meters of water
Advantages:
- water treatments plants are able to treat large quantities of water
- water treatment plants use mechanized processes to ensure water safety
- water treatment plants are able to distribute large amounts of water very long distances through infrastructure
- Costs lots of money to maintain and run
- requires skilled laborers to operate
Medium Scale Solution
Ground water is not totally clean, so the well has a filter system with layers of gravel and microfiber to clean out all contaminants in the water.
Water wells cost $2,000-$3,000 to build, but they have no reoccurring costs.
Advantages:
- relatively cheap
- easy to operate
- expensive to fix
Small Scale Solution
The filtered straw is just like a normal straw, but much sturdier and contains layers of microfiber cloth to filter any harmful contaminants in the water as the person is drinking it.
These straws can cost $15-20 apiece, no further cost after that.
Advantages:
- Cheap to produce and distribute
- easy to use
- easily lost or damaged