[AguaClara Summer Internship 2014] Subteam Spotlight: Foam Filtration

This week, we are featuring the foam filtration subteam that is composed of four students: Skyler Ericson '16, Abby Brown '17, Ethan Keller '15, and Ji Young Kim '16.

The team is working on foam filtration which is a team focused on constructing and perfecting a water filtration unit targeted at smaller more isolated communities, places that may not be practical to build full scale water treatment plants. The design consists of many layers of porous plastic foam layered inside of a large cylindrical tank that can treat up to 1 liter of water per second. The design also incorporates a way to clean the foam which involves compressing the foam to expel the caught particulates. The main focus of the summer team is perfecting this cleaning system.

Check out the interview to get a sense of their team and get a glimpse of some of their research!

[AguaClara Summer Internship 2014] Introduction to AguaClara

With the summer session already underway, the basement of Hollister Hall is already abuzz with activity as 15 summer interns and their advisers work on 4 different projects. Under the direction of Monroe Weber-Shirk, these interns, ranging from undergraduates, graduate students, and even recent alumni, are volunteering 40 hours per week to work on these projects through June and July. This intensive summer program aims to bridge the gap between school years effectively without any loss of productivity and to set the stage for a successful new school year. With a full work week to devote to this project team, these students can discover and answer questions that may require intensive research and focus.

 

The teams that are working this summer are the Design team, Low Flow Stacked Rapid Sand Filter team, Foam Filter team, and the Tube Flocculation team. From now until the end of the summer session on August 1st, this blog will feature the subteams that are working together this summer and anything else happening within the project team.

Expectations are high this year for AguaClara in general, with two new plans expected to be put into operation as well as four Cornell engineers eager to join the engineers of AguaClara LLC working in Honduras and India. Expectations with the research groups back on campus are just as high with the projects on the tails of a productive 2013-2014 school year, and the students are eager to see how their research will translate to real applications in sustainable water treatment, sanitation, and health.

 There are real consequences to the research done on campus with real communities being affected. This video gives a glimpse of the problems we face in terms of clean water, and the next few blog posts will expound some of the solutions that the project team is developing this summer.

If you want to stay up to date with our upcoming achievements, check out our website and various social media accounts:

Official Website - http://aguaclara.cornell.edu/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CUAguaClara

Twitter - https://twitter.com/CUAguaClara

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXq9V81yyUOTQYokfp5wXfw

Honduras Health Centers: Atima

Health Center of Atima

Atima seemed like a very progressive city. The treatment plant was built in 2012 and had an effluent water turbidity of about 0.2 NTU. That’s a pretty big step considering just over a year ago, they didn’t have a water treatment system.

Carmen Mendoza who has worked at the Atima Health center for two months spoke to us about changes in health since the treatment plant was built. They’re trying a new “decentralized” health model that aims to prevent unhealthy practices rather than simply treating the symptoms. The model also targets children under age 5, pregnant women and women who have recently given birth. I think it’s great that they’re trying to educate people about the importance of clean water. (Before going to Honduras, I hadn’t even realized what an issue this was!) They’re also building a new maternity ward that should be finished in March and they will hire new doctors for this.

The health center at Atima also treats water for surrounding villages, which is where most of the diarrhea cases come from for a variety of reasons, among them being the fact that the people in the villages haven’t followed health advice and to them clear water is clean water. It must be pretty frustrating to understand how important it is to have clean water, and to tell others about it, only to have them ignore you.

Within the first six months of 2012, there were 250 cases of diarrhea (so a projected yearly number of 500 cases), and in 2013 there were a total of 405 cases. Hopefully it’s not just coincidence that there was a decrease of almost 20% in the cases of diarrhea, but we would need more data to see if this trend continues.

There are probably a number of reasons that there wasn’t a greater change in the number of diarrhea cases. Even if people are getting clean water, they could be practicing unhygienic habits which can also make them ill. Also turbid water is not the only reason people get diarrhea. But even a small change is better than no change!

To be honest, I was really impressed with Atima. The treatment plant was obviously well run, and they are taking great strides towards improving health education. It’s crazy to think that just over a year ago, they didn’t even have a treatment plant and now they probably have some of the cleanest water in Honduras.

- Felice Chan

Honduras Health Centers: San Nicolás

We went to the health center in San Nicolás on a cloudy Wednesday morning. It was toward the edge of town, off of a cross street from the main paved road. The health center here is a CESAMO, a health center run by doctors, as opposed to a CESAR, which is run by nurses. When we got there, we found that the two doctors who run the health center were on vacation. In their place was Guillermo Flores, a capable nurse who was heading the center for the time being (and looking very busy doing it). He had little time to talk, but in the moments he had, he gave us a fluid narrative of water-related health in San Nicolás.

He emphasized how interconnected the problem is, with both social and practical factors. For reasons of poverty, people are not able to afford bottled water, so they will use untreated tap water, and sometimes river water. Water from rivers is especially dangerous due to contamination resulting from poor sanitation. Further, people store rain water during the dry season, which provides a breeding ground for mosquitoes that carry dengue and malaria.

Sr. Flores was quick to point out that, while water is clearly a problem, health problems like diarrhea have a broad array of sources. He cited, for example, that parasitic worms can be transmitted from the soil into the body through bare feet. Likewise, food can also be a route for infection, and it is difficult to differentiate.

In all, he was excited about the treatment plant, and felt that it would be a benefit to the community. He cited many cases of Hepatitis A due to water contamination, as well as less visible effects. For example, mothers preparing formula for their babies will sometimes use dirty water, causing them to fall ill. Hearing about the many issues related to the lack of clean water, we are delighted that the AguaClara treatment plant was recently inaugurated in San Nicolás.

The social aspect of health seems to be taking on greater importance in the approach of Honduran health workers. It seemed that all of the health centers we visited had active outreach and education programs, with San Nicolás being no exception. As we were leaving, Sr. Flores asked us if the people of the municipality had welcomed us well. We were a little surprised by this question, but he explained that the health center puts on a local television program to educate the community about various health issues. Most recently, they had aired a program on welcoming foreigners. If the incredible welcome we received in San Nicolás had anything to do with the television program, then we have good reason to be exceptionally hopeful about the effect of the program on the future of health in San Nicolás.

- William Pennock