Nepali Water Solutions Inc.

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Nepali Water Solutions Inc.
Point-of-Use Water Treatment in Nepal
Advisors Susan Murcott, Harry Hemond
Group members Heather Lukacs Luca
Morganti Chian Siong Low Barika Poole Hannah
Sullivan Jeff Hwang Xuan Gao Tommy Ngai
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Presentation Outline

1. Project Background
2. Project Goals
3. Arsenic Removal
4. Filtration
5. Chlorine Disinfection
6. Tubewell Maintenance
7. Conclusion

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Project Background
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Project Background
Population 24 million (88 rural) Average
annual income 210 Pop. below poverty
line 42 Access to safe water 90 urban, 30
rural
Infant mortality 75/1000 birth (5/1000 in
US) Diarrheal illnesses 44000 child
death/year Life expectancy 58
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Project Goals
Main objective To investigate appropriate
technology to provide safe drinking water for
rural Nepal population
Criteria
1. Technical performance
2. Social/cultural acceptability
3. Economic viable/sustainability
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Arsenic Remediation
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Introduction

• Arsenic contaminated groundwater discovered in
  Terai region.
• 4 of 5000 tubewells tested have arsenic contents
  greater than 50 ppb (18 have greater than 10
  ppb).
• Arsenic causes
• hyperpigmentation,
• skin and liver cancer,
• and circulatory disorder.

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Goals

• Evaluate Test three different household arsenic
  removal technologies
• Develop a comprehensive map to identify the
  extent of arsenic contamination within Nepal.
• Water quality analysis to determine factors that
  affect arsenic presence and removal.

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Evaluation Criteria

• Effectiveness of unit to reduce arsenic
  concentration below 10 ppb (WHO Standard)
• Appropriateness/Social Acceptability
• - Can it be made with local material by local
  labor?
• - Is it easy to operate and maintain?
• - Can it meet the water demand (40-50 liters per
  day per household)?
• Cost
• - Is it affordable to average Nepali household?
  

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Arsenic Removal withActivated Alumina (AA)

• Promising household unit using AA developed by
  Bangladesh University of Engineering and
  Technology (BUET)
• Adsorption by AA efficiently removes Arsenic (up
  to 98 removal achieved)
• Current cost per unit is 26 (15 per unit
  possible with mass production)

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Prototype Design

• Features
• - Oxidation-sedimentation unit
• - Sand filtration unit
• - AA adsorption column
• Problems with the Current Design
• - Flimsy frame
• - Too tall
• - Inadequate flow rate

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Arsenic Removal with Iron Coated Sand

• Iron oxide adsorbs arsenic from water
• Iron coated sand is more porous and has a higher
  specific surface area than scrap iron
• Can be regenerated and reused at least 50 times
  with out loss in treatment efficiency.
• Has been effective in Bangladesh

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System Design

• Sand preparation
• - Fe(NO3)3 is dissolved
• - NaOH is added, and iron oxide is formed
• - Sand is added to the colloid solution, mixed
  and baked for 15 hours
• Cost US 8
• Flow rate 6 L/h
• 94-99 removal

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Pepperell, MA

• Well water analysis for arsenic contamination
  conducted 20 years ago
• Sample collection and analysis on Industrial Test
  System Arsenic Test Kits
• Arsenic still present in Pepperell, MA well water
  
• Confirmation on Graphite Furnace Atomic
  Absorption Spectrometer
• EPA has lowered the arsenic MCL to 10 ppb, and
  many households are over the new limit
• We will test our technologies in Pepperell prior
  to field tests in Nepal

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How to improve removal?

• Both AA and Iron coated sand work best with As(V)
  instead of As(III)
• Arsenic speciation in Nepal varies
• Oxidation of Arsenic can improve removal
  efficiency

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BP/I3 resin

• Benzyl Pyridinium Triiodine
• Developed by Aquatic Treatment Systems
• 100 oxidation in 1 second
• On-demand oxidant
• Very stable, no by-products
• Some ability to disinfect

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Arsenic map of Nepal

• Based on well info from ENPHO and Nepal Red Cross
  Society
• Develop a map to show the extent arsenic
  contamination
• Integrate
• information
• into GIS format

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To develop arsenic map

• Attend GIS class
• Get relevant maps (scale, regions, details)
• Get data from ENPHO/Red Cross
• Obtain field data
• Integrate all data into GIS format
• Perform analysis on data
• Print a big map

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Water Quality Parameters

• Want to investigate correlations between presence
  of arsenic and other parameters
• Parameters of interest
• pH, hardness, alkalinity, turbidity,
  conductivity, arsenic, iron, aluminum, sulfate,
  chloride, copper,
• phosphate, nitrate
• Investigate the effects of these parameters on
  arsenic removal efficiency by our technologies
• Can integrate these data on GIS

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Current Progress

• Accomplishments thus far
• - Literature review
• - Technology selection
• - Contacts made
• - Received some supplies and equipment
• - Test kit analysis
• - Arranged GFAAS analysis

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Next Steps

• Next steps
• - Obtain supplies (e.g. buckets, pipes)
• - Build prototypes
• - Preliminary lab tests
• - GFAAS analysis
• - Field tests in Pepperell
• - BP/I3 Resin tests
• - Water quality analysis
• - Order digitized maps of Nepal

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Terafil Filter
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Terafil Terracotta Filter

• Mixture of red pottery clay, river sand, wood
  sawdust
• Designed by Regional Research Laboratory, India
• Field tested in cyclone affected areas in Orissa,
  India (Oct 1999)
• In-house test verification

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Scope of Work

• In MIT,
• Carry out lab tests on Terafil Filter and Potters
  for Peace Filter (PFP) (ongoing)
• Terafil and PFP Literature Review
• Compare effectiveness of Terafil and PFP Filter
• Research into ceramic manufacturing process and
  local practices

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Scope of Work

• In Nepal,
• Carry out field tests on Terafil and/or PFP
  Filter
• Get involved with local filter manufacture
• Back in MIT,
• Wrap up test results into thesis
• Possible research into other suitable filters for
  use in developing countries

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Work in Progress

• Lab familiarization completed with preliminary
  testing of Terafil filter
• Devise comprehensive lab tests on filter with
  specific goals
• Lab tests on PFP and improvised Terafil filter
• Pre- and Post-Chlorination (Terafil only)
• Colloidal silver coating (both)

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Laboratory Testing

• Physical parameter
• Flowrate, turbidity, temperature
• Chemical parameter
• pH
• Microbial parameters
• H2S bacteria, Total Coliform/E.Coli (P/A tests)
• Total Bacteria (Microscopic Direct Counts)
• Total Coliform (Coliform Counts)

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Presence/Absence test
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Membrane Filtration
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Biosand Filter
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Biosand Filter Features

• Slow sand filtration
• Relatively fast flow rate
• Made of local materials
• Intermittent use
• No chemical additives
• Biofilm (Schmutzdecke)
• Easy to clean
• Economically sustainable

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Biosand Filter Performance

• Laboratory Studies
• Parasite removal 100
• Virus removal 99.9
• Bacteria removal 99.5 (Lee 2001)
• Field Studies
• Bacteria removal 60-99.9

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Biosand Project Goals

• Expand 2001 MIT Biosand work
• Slow sand literature review and applicability
• Global Biosand usage
• Methodology development
• Maintain constant concentration input
• Laboratory study of bacterial removal
• After cleaning
• Following pause time
• Field study in Nepal
• Quantification of fecal coliform removal
• (membrane filtration)
• Turbidity, pH, Temperature

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Chlorine Disinfection
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Chlorine Disinfection

• Investigated Fields
• Household Chlorination (Hannah Sullivan)
• Chlorine Generation (Luca Morganti)

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Safe Water System (CDC)

• Point-of-Use Treatment using locally produced and
  distributed sodium hypochlorite solution.
• Safe Water Storage in plastic containers with
  narrow mouths, secure lids and dispensing spigots
  to prevent recontamination.
• Behavior Change Techniques to influence hygiene
  behaviors and increase awareness about the
  dangers of contaminated water and waterborne
  disease.

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Promising Results

• Implemented World-wide
• Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Guatemala, Bolivia,
  Ecuador, Peru, Pakistan
• Reduces levels of bacterial contamination
• Low Cost
• Annual cost of 1.17 - 1.62 per household
• Reduces incidence of waterborne disease

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Lumbini Pilot Study

• Pilot Study of Household Chlorination
• March 2001
• Modeled after CDCs Safe Water Systems
• Experimental Group 50 Families 10 Schools
• Control Group 50 Families 10 Schools

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M.Eng Project

• Review of CDCs Safe Water System Program
• - History, Types of Programs, Costs,
  Sustainability
• Evaluation of Lumbini Pilot Project
• - Point-of-Use Testing
• - Chlorine Residual,
• - Bacterial Analysis (H2S and MF)
• - Health Survey
• - Social Acceptability Survey
• Recommendations for Lumbini and Nepal
• - Is the Safe Water Systems Approach Appropriate?

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The Problem

• Chlorine is not readily available for
  disinfection
• Chlorine disinfectant (Piyush) is produced from
  imported bleaching powder (calcium chloride)
• Dependence
• Limited availability
• Export of money

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The Solution

• PRODUCE CHLORINE LOCALLY
• Self-sufficiency
• Easier supply
• Generation of income for local people
• HOW ?
• Chlorine Generator (CG)
• (Nadine Van Zyl, M.Eng.2001)

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Chlorine Generator Specs-1

• Electrolytic cell NaCl H2O -gt NaClO H2
• Batch system easy regulation

Amount/day equivalent Cl2 6.0 Lb 2.7 kg
Salt consumption per 24 h. cycle 30.0 Lb 13.6 kg
Water consumption per 24 h. cycle 120 Gal 455 L
Specific energy consumption 2.5 kW/Lb 5.5 kW/kg
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Chlorine Generator Specs-2
Diameter 17.8 cm
Length 102.6 cm
Weight 4.1 kg
Cost US 2000
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Purpose of the study

• Identify performance influencing factors (water
  and salt quality)
• Define CG set-up procedure
• Learn CG use and maintenance procedures
• Test CG performance (concentration)
• Train local personnel
• Outline a micro-enterprise program

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CG Sustainability

• Economically
• Cost of materials, energy, labor
• Reasonable price
• Environmentally
• Energy source (solar energy)
• Socially
• Actractive business?
• Reliable business ?
• Expanding market ?

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Tubewell Maintenance Program
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Tubewell

• Ground water is the main source in the most of
  the Terai areas
• Ground water hand pump device
• 5 to 10 households share 1 tube well
• Tubewell water is better than dugwell water or
  surface water

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Problem with Tubewells

• Past study has shown that over 70 of the tube
  well water in Lumbini is contaminated by
  bacteria.

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Possible Causes of the Problem

• Poor Sanitary Conditions
• Sludge drilling which uses a slurry of cow dung
• Inadequate sealing or protection of the well
• Improper drainage that causes accumulation of
  wastewater in the pit nearby
• Flooding during monsoon

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Tubewell Maintenance Program

• Determination of the sources of tubewell
  contamination
• Development of a plan to eliminate the
  contamination and maintain the wells properly
• A study of the suitability for shock chlorination
  of wells
• One-time introduction of a strong chlorine
  solution into a well.

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Progress and Future Work

• Progress
• Laboratory Testing at MIT
• Contact with FINNIDA
• Literature Review
• Future work
• More literature review
• Pilot study in Butwal, Nepal

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Conclusion
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Conclusion

• Project Goals
• Technologically sound, socially acceptable, and
  economically sustainable solutions
• Improved health through safe drinking water
  supply to Nepali people
• Future work
• Literature Review
• Laboratory studies at MIT
• Field studies in Nepal
• Nepal in Jan, 2002!