Project description

Problem definition

In the Amazon region of Colombia clean drinking water is a short supply despite sufficient water resources (Centre for Environmental Research, 2002). During rainy seasons, the problems are relatively small, because the rainwater is clean enough to drink directly. The hard part is to get enough clean water during the dry periods. The water for drinking and cooking is then obtained from rivers polluted from upstream communities (Erdtman, 2013).

In the Amazon rainforest region the access of water is over the year very good (Jonsson, 2013). Heavy rains occur during the entire year but from December to May the rain is more common and the duration is longer. During this period, called the rain period, problems with water access are less occurring. The annual amount of rain is between 2000-3000 millimetres (Brazil Travel News, 2013) and 50-80% of the humidity in central Amazonas comes from transpiration (Jonsson, 2013). Leaves and other plants produce water vapour, which form rain clouds in the atmosphere. Due to this natural water cycle a major part of all water is bound and never leaves the area.

A foundation working for increasing the living standards in the Amazon region is Ancla, founded by the Swedish man Börje Erdtman about 20 years ago (Ankarstiftelsen, 2013). He has during his time achieved great success with construction of schools and water treatment systems. Ancla has over the years been highly praised for their low costs, efficient way to work in close collaboration with the population and for entirely relying on volunteer efforts. The construction methods used for schools and water treatment systems have been developed together with Swedish entrepreneurs who have contributed with their knowledge without any costs.

When choosing recipient community several different aspects are taken into evaluation. The fundamental criterion is access to a sufficient water source and the Amazon River is not to recommend (Brauer, 2013). If the ground water is of good quality a drilled well is preferable. If not, a water treatment will be installed and in this case following aspects are taken into consideration with the most crucial first. If Ancla previously built a school in the community, if the inhabitants show a great interest in getting treatment systems and if they can provide their own water master.

Ancla started a water treatment program in 2010, but the first steps were taken already in 2006 when two Swedish students from Uppsala University developed a water treatment system, referred to as ‘the plant’, in a SIDA-funded Minor Field Study (Brauer, 2013). The water is led through four tanks and one stair placed between the first and second tank (Andersson & Erlandsson, 2006). The stair is for aeration, flocculation and sedimentation take place in the second tank and the third is for filtration. The fourth tank is for storage of the purified water. In their conclusion they wrote:

‘To introduce a new method, like a water treatment plant, in a developing community with a different culture, is always connected with the risk that the method will not be maintained properly. But since Ankarstiftelsen are visiting the area, and this specific community, twice a year, and two inhabitants are made responsible, educated and given a salary for the maintenance of the plant, there is a great chance that the treatment plant will be kept used and well maintained.’ (Andersson & Erlandsson, 2006)

Since then, the systems have been developed for simpler maintenance and construction (Brauer, 2013). The aeration and flocculation is removed, which led to the ‘two-step system’. It is a small-scale water purification system containing only sedimentation and filtration and is customized to produce enough water for one household, but can be expand for a school as well. The maintenance is easier if each family gets responsibility of their own system. Maintenance of the three-step system has been inefficient because of economical problems, construction defaults and lack of motivation from the communities.

To create a sustainable collaboration in Leticia Ancla invested much resources in teach and get the locals to run their own water systems (Erdtman, 2013). The idea is that the foundation itself only will have to keep an education showing how a system is constructed and then let people maintain the systems by them selves. A motivated and driven person, from each community wanting a system, is chosen to take a training course in how to construct and maintenance a system. Ancla organizes this training course and when finished, each participant receives the title ‘water master’ (Brauer, 2013). For the two-step system, it has been proposed that if the women in the communities can construct the systems by themselves, with some help from experts the first time, they will get a higher knowledge and interest in keeping them effective.

From 2006 to 2013 about 140 households and six schools have received a water treatment system from Ancla (Brauer, 2013). Their vision is that all communities who wants will have water treatment 2016 and the goals for 2014 are:

‘Ancla will provide treated water for drinking and cooking for all communities along the Amazon River in The Leticia - Puerto Nariño area.
     - By installing small scale treatment plants in schools and households
     - By monitoring water quality (approved bacteria level).’ (Brauer, 2013)

To reach these goals Ancla is of a great need for a thorough evaluation.

Aim and purpose

The aim of this Bachelor thesis is to implement and test the two-step system and compare this technique with the three-step system, as well as wells constructed in the surrounding area. The following aspects will be taken into account in the comparison and analysis of all treatment methods: Economic sustainability, environmental impacts, feasibility, surrounding sources of pollutants, usability and health aspects and obtained water quality. The goal is to find milestones for construction maintenance and possible developments for the system.

Another goal is to provide enough lessons to the inhabitants for them to be able to handle everything from purchasing to construction. Only financing systems and tutorials electronically from Sweden will be necessary.

Project description

To get the knowledge of the existing construction and function of the two-step system several systems will be constructed in the community 12 de Octubre. This community is chosen because Ancla has constructed several systems in the neighbour community Puerto Rico and there has been a great demand for getting systems in 12 de Octubre as well. The produced water quality from the two-step system, three-step system and the wells will be compared to detect the differences between the systems. A big focus will be on teaching the knowledge of the two-step system to the women getting the systems.


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Bibliography

Andersson, S., & Erlandsson, K. (2006). Water treatment Puerto Triunfo, Colombia . Bachelor, Uppsala University, Aquatic and environmental engineering, Uppsala.

Ankarstiftelsen. (2013). Bakgrund & Historia. (Ankarstiftelsen, Redaktör, & Ankarstiftelsen, Producent) Hämtat från Ankarstiftelsen: http://www.ankarstiftelsen.se/www/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=28 den 2 February 2013

Brauer, I. (january 2013). Engineer. (J. Ringsby, & K. Blad, Intervjuare) Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia.

Brazil Travel News. (2013). Brazilian Climate. (B. T. News, Producent) Hämtat från Brazil Travel News: http://www.braziltravelnews.com/climate.html den 2 February 2013

Centre for Environmental Research. (2002). The world's water crisis. Centre for Environmental Research. Centre for Environmental Research.

Erdtman, B. (january 2013). Bricklayer and founder of Ancla. (J. Ringbsy, & K. Blad, Intervjuare) Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia.

Jonsson, M. (2013). Brasilien, Klimat. (Nationalencyklopedin, Redaktör, & Nationalencyklopedin, Producent) Hämtat från NE.se: www.ne.se den 2