Safe Water Ceramics of East Africa
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. ~ Marcel Proust
As much as I have written about impromptu adventures so far on this trip, this is the one activity actually written about for this day in our "Day-By-Day Itinerary" found in the Final Document Booklet. Since I had no preconceived ideas what it would entail, I was open to much learning.
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Unlike the Albino Peacemakers location that is not readily visible from the street, the site of Safe Water Ceramics is clearly marked.
Our visit began with a demonstration how the ceramic water filter works.
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| Dirty water is poured into the ceramic filter which has been inserted into a plastic bucket which has been fitted with a spigot. While the process is not instantaneous, basically it's this: unsafe, dirty water in and clean, drinkable water out. |
The "magic" which makes this all possible are the ingredients and the construction. In addition to using a special kind of clay, colloidal silver is added as a bacterial filter, and pine sawdust burns out to leave a layer of charcoal that also acts as a filter.
Notice the before and after glasses of water.
The history of SWCEA is much like that of the Albino Peacemakers sewing cooperative which began with a chance encounter with an American tourist. In 2005 on a trip to Tanzania,Tracy Hawkins observed a man selling clay flower pots along side the road and thought this would be a good idea to make handcrafted pots to sell to tourists. Her research into this venture eventually had her cross paths with Potters for Peace, a U.S.-based nonprofit that produces ceramic pot filters in Central America. After learning how to make clay filter pots from them in the Dominican Republic, she returned to Tanzania and presented her idea to her partner Mesiaki Yonas Kimirei (aka Kim), who agreed.
And the rest is, as they say, history.
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After the initial orientation and demonstration, we were taken to the production room where we watched one of the workers make a clay pot. After his demonstration, our OAT group was asked if anyone wanted to make a pot. My hand shot up immediately. So the photos below are a side-by-side comparison of the master filter builder and of me.
A special press was designed and built to produce each clay pot. The first step is to take a large ball of pre-weighed clay and form it over the plastic-wrapped cone shape.
The next step was to move the clay cone under the cone press and then lower the press onto the clay cone using an attached ratchet which is a re-purposed a tire jack. To remove the clay cone, the ratchet process is reversed. The result is a hollow cone.
Next the sides of the cone are smoothed with a bit of water and a straight-edged smoothing tool. Finally, the date is stamped on the bottom. It is important that each cone has a date because they only are good to use as a water filter for five years. And VOILA!
Seen below (top left) are a few of the tools used by the ceramic filter makers and other potters who also make traditional clay pots on big kick wheels. The beige clay cones seen in the foreground (top right) are drying and waiting to be fired; whereas, the red pots in the rear have already been fired. The cones are fired in a large kiln (bottom left). Corn cobs are used in the beginning to bring the temperature up quickly, and then wood with a blower is used to maintain the temperature. Near the end they use propane to reach a final temperature of 960 degrees. A correct balance of heat and timing is what produces the correct layer of charcoal as the sawdust is burned. The bottom right photo is of two temperature cones that are designed to melt once a certain temperature inside the kiln is reached. They can be viewed through a peephole in the kiln door.
After the demonstration we were able to purchase water filter kits that we would later distribute to local people who have no source of clean drinking water. Each filter kit costs $40 and lasts five years for a family of eight. One ceramic filter can clean 36 liters per day or one glass of water an hour.
This is the first water filter distribution we made along our drive the following day from Arusha to Tanganire Park. The distributions are totally at random as our drivers see a group of women or people who appear to have no access to safe, clean water.
In addition to the verbal instructions given to the women recipients (as women are in charge of getting water each day), the kit comes with laminated picture instructions that show how to use and clean the clay filter with the brush that is also provided in the kit.
In follow up studies, the cases of typhoid and cholera have dramatically decreased among people who regularly use these filters for their water.
In one study, infant mortality actually dropped to 0%.
For more information about Safe Water Ceramics of East Africa, click on this link:
As a final comment, the printed booklet I referenced at the beginning is a wonderful tool provided by OAT and was handy to have on the trip. However, it has become an invaluable resource after the trip as I write this blog and reconstruct our 21 days in Tanzania. That's because my memory doesn't begin to keep all the names and places straight nor in any kind of chronological order, much less know how to spell some of the local words.
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