Rainwater Harvesting Implementation Network (RAIN)

Location: Burkina Faso, Mali, Ethiopia, Senegal
Years: 2003-Present
Founder: Plan Netherlands and AIDEnvironment



Rainwater Harvesting Implementation Network (RAIN) has supported projects in Nepal, 375 projects were for drinking while 200 projects werefor agriculture, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Ethiopia, and is hoping to expand in Senegal where contaminated or inaccessible groundwater make rain-water harvesting an attractive option for the community. RAIN itself is not a resistance oriented organization but rather a larger, umbrella foundation for fundraising and awareness about the potential of rainwater harvesting. However, in addition to standard efforts to provide clean water to developing communities, it supports radical implementations of rainwater harvesting as well. One of its most recent projects: Be Buffered has an attitude of resistance to installing its Recharge, Retention, and Reuse strategy.



The 3RBook explores best practices and radical practices in rainwater capture implemented around the globe. The group has used riverbank infiltration, artificial groundwater recharge, and sand storage dams. Be Buffered wants to tackle those water situations that have been deemed too difficult or challenging for ordinary means and provide an excess water buffer in times of drought.

Solar Watercones

Years: 1999-present

Developer: Stephan Augustin

Manufacturer: Wisser Verpackungen and Mage-Watermanagement, Germany

Funding: Hans Sauer Stiftung

Cost: $60-100

Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises, p.285

WorldChanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century, p.193

http://www.watercone.com

The Solar Watercone uses the sun’s heat to evaporate seawater, which then condenses on the inside of the cone. When the cone is flipped, the water can be poured out into a container. The Watercone can purify about 1.6 quarts of water per day (enough to meet a child’s daily needs), killing waterborne pathogens, removing particulates, chemicals, and heavy metals.

The Watercone is a conical, self-supporting and stackable Unit made from transparent, thermo-formable polycarbonate (same as water dispensers) outfitted with a screw cap spout at the tip and an inward circular collecting trough at the base. The polycarbonate Watercone is UV-resistant and can be used up to 5 years daily. The material is non-toxic, non-flammable and 100% recyclable. The black pan for the saltwater is already made out of 100% recycled PC.

The manufacturers of the Watercone argue that “many peripheral, de-centralized small units will ensure a better supply of freshwater than one central big generator. If the big one fails, there is no water generation for anyone. If a small one fails, the other ones still keep on working.”

5 reasons for the global distribution of the Watercone:

1. Much cheaper than bottled water. Average Price of 1 liter of bottled water in developing countries: $US 0.50. One liter of water from the Watercone costs just between two and five cents calculated over a lifetime.

2. Easy to use. As opposed to other types of solar stills which feature electronics, photo-voltaic cells, tubes, filters, many parts, etc. the Watercone concept is understood with absolutely no need for academic background.

3. Perfect for coastal dwellers. Hundreds of millions of people live in nearest proximity to water but cannot drink it or use it for agriculture, because it is saltwater.

4. Perfect for medical purposes. There are thousands of hospitals in developing countries, field and mobile hospitals, first aid and emergency medical units around the world that are located in sunny climates and lack condensed water. Outfitted with just a dozen Watercones, a little field hospital could harvest 15 liters of condensed water per day.

5. Creates jobs. Based in the vicinity of salt or brackish water and outfitted with a minor credit line, vendors could invest in a dozen Watercones and sell 15 liters of water a day and have their investment returned in no more than half a year.

Pour salty / brackish Water into pan. Then float the Watercone on top. The black pan absorbs the sunlight and heats up the water to support evaporation.

The evaporated Water condensates in the form of droplets on the inner wall of the cone. These droplets trickle down the inner wall into a circular trough at the inner base of the cone.

By unscrewing the cap at the tip of the cone and turning the cone upside down, one can empty the potable Water gathered in the trough directly into a drinking device.

Klean Kanteen

Location: Chico, California/ Global

Year: 2004-2009
Founders: Jeff Cresswell & Michelle Kalberer

http://www.kleankanteen.com/about/about-klean.html

http://www.kleankanteen.com/news/kanteen-press.html

Klean Kanteen is the first company to market stainless steel water bottles as a lightweight, re-usable, durable, and bisphenol A (BPA) free alternative to disposable and reusable plastic bottles. The company also possesses a strong social conscience, joining the 1% For The Planet initiative, through which it donates 1% of its gross annual sales for environmental and educational efforts of non-profit organizations such as the Breast Cancer Fund, Healthy Child Healthy World and NatureBridge. In five years it has become a leader in the stainless steel beverage bottle industry, receiving a significant amount of positive press from publications across the United States, notably appearing in feature stories by Time and Reader’s Digest magazines.

Each year nearly 200 billion disposable water bottles are consumed around the world, 25% of which in the United States alone, out of which only 20% are then recycled. Considering that the great majority of these bottles end up in landfills or in waterways and oceans, and that the concept in itself of a water bottle is to some extent an aberration as it costs about 100 times more than tap water and has to meet less stringent regulations than the latter, participating in the shift to move towards reusable bottles is in itself laudable. However, with recent concerns arising over the potential health hazards posed by Bisphenol A (BPA), Klean Kanteen’s stainless steel bottles stand out from its competitors whose plastic and aluminum bottles contain BPA and other chemicals that may leak into the liquids they carry

PlayPump Water System

Location: Southern Africa

Years: 1989-present

Developer: Ronnie Stuiver

Manufacturer: Roundabout Outdoor, South Africa

Cost: $8500, including maintenance (advertising on the tank reduces the cost)

Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises, p.283

http://www.inhabitots.com/2009/03/05/play-pump-the-merry-go-round-water-pump/

The PlayPump was designed to bring clean water to South Africa’s rural communities. Children, who are often responsible for water collection, spin on the roundabout, forcing 318 gallons of water per hour from 130 feet below ground into a 568-gallon storage tank, tapping enough water to meet the daily household needs of a small community. The PlayPump has been installed in rural villages and primary schools where kids can easily access the fun, all the while pumping clean, potable water from underground. A few hundred yards away, a spigot supplies fresh water for the whole community. The water is then used for drinking, cooking, sanitation and even growing vegetables.

PlayPumps come with 10 years of guaranteed maintenance supported by the advertising space on each water tank. Two of the four panels are sold to local advertisers promoting only products and services appropriate for primary school audiences. The other two panels are reserved for public service announcements. These provide information on hygiene, HIV, AIDS, and other health-related issues.

The implications of bringing fresh water into a community go far beyond drinking and sanitation. Many women and girls in rural Africa can walk for hours each day to fetch water passing through vulnerable and unsafe regions. A local pump allows them to stay home and care for younger children, work a job, attend school, grow vegetables or build a business. This opens up immense opportunities for women and girls in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve their greater potential. Fresh water also means that it doesn’t need to be boiled first, which drains precious resources such as gas or firewood and degrades the environment. Families with access to clean water are also much more able to achieve self-sufficiency by growing their own produce and maintaining local businesses. The PlayPump system has created dozens of jobs locally and continues to spawn social and economic development

The PlayPump system has introduced positive play activities in places where many schools not only lacked clean water, but also toys or playgrounds. At Regiment Basic Primary School in Lusaka, Zambia a vegetable garden is now also in the works. Produce from the garden is sent home with the children most in need. In time, the school hopes to sell surplus vegetables in the community so they can provide books and supplies to students who can’t afford them.

So far, over 1,000 PlayPumps have been instilled in South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia. PlayPump International plans to bring that number up to 4,000 by 2010, supplying as many as 10 million people with fresh water and a fresh start.

Anti-Bottled Water Campaigns

Name: Anti-bottled Water Campaigns

Location: Throughout the US, mostly in major cities

Years: 2007-present

Funded by: City governments--mostly New York City and San Francisco

Starting in 2007, there has been a movement against bottled drinking water, and it has been gaining momentum ever since. One of the most effective parts of the campaign is a website called “Tappening”. This website provides a host of articles and information that support the theory that people should drink tap water. They provide statistics about how safe and good for you tap water is, and they also provide information about how wasteful bottles of water can be. In addition to Tappening, there is also a sister website called “Start A Lie” where people can email fake ads to their friends along the lines of “bottled water is the main source of restless leg syndrome” or “bottled water: 98% melted polar ice caps, 2% polar bear tears”. These funny and untruthful ads encourage people to think more carefully about their water drinking habits.

The anti-bottled water campaign has also had help from municipal governments across the United States. For example, in San Francisco, California, Mayor Gavin Newsom passed legislation in 2007 that outlawed the purchase of any bottled water with city money. Similarly, in 2007, New York City launched an ad campaign called “Get Your Fill” that encouraged New Yorkers to drink tap water rather than water in plastic bottles. They bragged that New York tap water is like the champagne of all tap water—i.e. that it tastes wonderful and is perfectly safe. The overall campaign cost $700,000!

I think it’s great that cities are taking a stand against bottled drinking water. Here in the United States, we are so fortunate that we actually do have tap water that is clean and safe to drink, yet sadly so many people choose not to take advantage of it. I think it’s a great idea to encourage people to consider the alternatives, like carrying a metal canteen around with them that they can continuously fill up with safe, healthy tap water.

http://www.tappening.com/

http://startalie.com/

http://pieandhammer.com/?p=10

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21214017/

LifeStraw

Years: 2005-present

Developer: Vestergaard Frandsen

Cost: less than $4

http://www.lifestraw.com

Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises, p.208

The European-based international organization Vestergaard Frandsen develops emergency response and disease control products. With the invention of LifeStraw, Vestergaard Frandsen aims to reduce the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by half. Currently, more than one billion people lack access to safe drinking water and nearly 6,000 people, mostly children, die from waterborne diseases every day.

LifeStraw is a drinking straw that contains filters capable of killing bacteria, such as E. coli, Shigella, Salmonella and microorganisms that cause diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, and cholera. With each sip of water, two textile filters catch large materials and clusters of bacteria; next, a chamber of iodine-filled beads kills smaller bacteria, viruses, and parasites; finally, a chamber containing granulated active carbon catches any remaining parasites and rids the water of the iodine smell. It removes 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria and 98% of waterborne bacteria. One LifeStraw can filter about 185 gallons (or 700 liters) of water, which is about one year’s worth of water for one person. Currently, the average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect water is 6 km. LifeStraw is only 31 cm long and includes a string to hang around one’s neck, so it’s easy to carry around. Thus, LifeStraw will make safe drinking water much more accessible.