During the dry season (9 or 10 months!) many wells, even if they don't actually run dry, become contaminated, neccessitating even longer walks to find clean water. Often this becomes next to impossible and sickness results. People have to drink something, and even contaminated water is better than nothing. Cleaning and covering the wells and installing hand pumps will help, and we are working on getting that done, but even so, it would be safest to sterilize the drinking water.
This can be done by boiling, but that requires firewood or heavy gas bottles carried all the way up from the town (if they can afford them). Firewood is very scarce, and getting scarcer. Cutting down trees only exacerbates the erosion and water run-off in the rainy season, and brings the desert closer.
Solar purifiers
There are a lot of information sources on the www about methods to sterilize water using sunlight. Basically all you need is a clear container that won't stop UV rays and some kind of filter to make the water clear if it isn't already. A few hours in the sun and the UV will kill all the pathogens leaving good drinkable water that won't make anybody sick. Wikipedia has a page about them and Sodis have more info.
Our project needs funding and more research. It will need to supply the following:
- A design for a filter system that people can make themselves with local materials.
- Clear containers made from a material which will not itself contaminate the water (e.g. platicizers).
- Finance for someone to take them there and show how to set up, and to test water for safety before the system is put to use.
