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Tariq Ali Water Issues in Tanzania
Tariq Ali Water Issues in Tanzania
Ms. Collins
Grade 9 Science
27/05/2018
Like many poor countries in Africa, Tanzania struggles to provide its people with
access to clean drinking water. Approximately 26 million people within Tanzania don’t have
access to clean water, that’s about half of the entire population (WaterAid). In a country where
the climate is arid/semi-arid it makes it challenging for people to have easy access to sterile
water (Shore). Even when people are able to find water, the water tends to be contaminated
with bacteria and microorganisms that causes illness through water borne diseases. Many of
the groundwater wells are located near toxic drainage systems, which ends up leaking into
the clean water making it toxic. Water Borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera as well
as illnesses such as malaria have a significant effect on the local population living in the
slums.
The salmonella typhi bacterium that causes typhoid is normally found in the dirty
drinking water consumed by the people (Almeida). One of the main causes of cholera in
Tanzania would be that vegetables and other foods are grown and treated with
contaminated water, when this contaminated food is consumed, the bacteria releases a toxin
in the small intestine which causes severe diarrhea (WebMD). Every year 3,394 children
under the age of 5 die from diarrhea (WaterAid). Finally there is Malaria which is in between a
water borne disease and a normal illness, all though malaria can not occur from drinking
contaminated water, the contaminated water causes a breeding ground for mosquitoes to lay
their eggs which leaves people in the slums more vulnerable to the illness.
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The rural areas is where most of the lower class people tend to settle, these areas
consists of poor sanitation and poor infrastructure leaving the people vulnerable to all these
waterborne diseases and illnesses that especially flourish during the seasonal rains. Every
year around 24,000 Tanzanians die from waterborne diseases, 16,500 of them being
children ("Water Contamination" 5:42). The goal of our project is to try and provide the local
population with water filters that will allow them to purify the contaminated water that they
collect before drinking it. If this is successful it could save thousands of lives every year.
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The water purification process that I have been working on consists of common
methods merged into one. Fist the contaminated water is sent through a filter that I’ve made
using natural materials. Filtration is one of the most effective ways to purify water. The
method of filtering uses chemical and/or physical processes to purify the water so humans
are able to consume it (Kinetico). The prototype filter is made using plastic bottles and at the
top of the bottle we’ve attached a piece of cloth. The materials within the bottle consist of
Fine sand, crushed charcoal, small pebbles and large rocks. As the contaminated water gets
poured into the filter it goes through each layer as shown in the diagram below. Through
filtration the rocks and pebbles in the first and second layer removes both large and small
compounds as well as contaminants that cause diseases. For the third layer we use crush
activated charcoal as it has a large internal surface area full of narrow spaces that trap the
dirt and chemical impurities through a process called adsorption. The next layer in the filter is
fine sand, which consists of very small particles of sand that have a large surface area
leaving minimal space for the water to travel. The sand helps to trap any small bags or
organisms, algae, dirt and any other large particles in the water (Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada). Finally we finish off the filter with a piece of cloth that strains the water leaving us
with the purified and de-contaminated water which drips into a beaker or bucket placed
underneath.
After the filtration process, we continue the water treatment by boiling the water.
Boiling water is an old yet effective treatment for drinking water and is one of the cheapest
and safest methods of purification (Kinetico). The filtered water will be put over a stove or fire
until it reaches boiling point. The water needs to be heated until the first few big bubbles
appear to ensure that it is pathogen free. Parasites and germs are things that the human eye
is unable to see and by boiling water we can eliminate the life threatening effects that they
cause towards humans. After using the two common methods of filtration and boiling it’s
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almost safe to say that the treatment will kill bacteria and parasites and provide clean
→
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In order to check if the water treatment works and does actually purify the water we
conducted an experiment. In the experiment we checked the clarity of the water before and
after the treatment then we compared it to the clarity level of clean drinking water. To
measure the clarity of the water we use a colorimeter which is a device that passes a light
through the water and measures the acidity of the water soluble substances which is the PH
level (BBC).This can indicate to us whether the water is relatively clean or if there are still
some impurities lurking within the water. We first took the dirty water provided by Ms. Collins
and we measured it in the colorimeter, the PH result read 37.60. Then we took clean
drinking water from the water dispensers outside the science room and measured it, it had a
PH result of 100.15. The two results differentiate by a PH level of 62.55 which is quite a
significant number.
For the next part of the experiment we took the dirty water and poured it into the filter.
It took about 15/30 min for all the water to come out again but based on sight it was already
looking much cleaner. After all the water in the filter was out we placed the beaker that had
the water in it on top of a bunsen burner and waited for it to boil. Once it reached boiling
point we switched of the bunsen burner and waited for around 5 min for the water to cool.
We then took the water and put it into the colorimeter, it gave us a reading of 93.58 PH. This
reading is astounding and tells us that the water treatment process we’ve made does
system
The people will be drinking safer water. Durability of the filter may not be that great.
They walk all that distance to get water that The filter’s resources (Water, pebbles, sand
is normally always contaminated/dirty. They and coal) will have to be changed often in
can now put this water through the order to maintain cleaner water.
It’s very cheap to make. Not all the germs and contaminants are
Filtration helps remove harmful toxins in the Fuel consumption from boiling water on a
Our water treatment process is easy to use. The people who aren’t able to boil their
on their water.
Boiling water is one of the cheapest and Using firewood to create the flame to boil
(Shrestha et al.).
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Boiling water is a very easy process that Filtering the water and boiling it takes some
The system will have a very large impact on the Tanzanian society,environment and
economy in a positive way. The society will be less vulnerable to water borne diseases and
illnesses as the water will be cleaner. This will allow families in poverty to spend the money
they would normally use for healthcare on other things like food and education for their
children. The local women normally walk far distances in order to collect water that is
normally always contaminated and dirty. Now they are able to purify the water through the
filter making their long journey worth it. The government and NGOS are not always able to
reach out and provide to all the lower class citizens. The people will not have to depend on
the government and NGOS as much and will be able to provide themselves with clean
water. The resources used to make the filter (rocks, pebbles, charcoal and sand) are easily
accessible. After a few uses of the filter the materials inside need to be changed to maintain
its effectiveness so these easy materials to find will make it convenient for the locals. The
system costs around $2 which is very cheap and affordable for locals, three in ten
Tanzanians survive on less than $1.25 per day so a cheap water filter is helpful for the
population (WaterAid).
The system does however have a few negative aspects to it. The use of charcoal
makes it not very eco friendly as it’s contributing to the destruction of trees. Charcoal is
made by burning wood without allowing it to receive oxygen, the filter is increasing the use of
charcoal in the Tanzanian society. The charcoal required in the filter needs to be crushed but
many will not be able to make crushed charcoal for their filter. If the charcoal was not in the
filter it will change the outcome of the water as it has a crucial role in the purification and the
process of removing bacteria and impurities. The system is relatively small meaning that a
large sufficient amount of water will not be able to go in at one time. The filter can only
contain small amounts of water at a time, this is very time consuming and frustrating for the
people as it takes a while for there to be a large and sufficient amount of water for ones
family. Although the system is very cheap it’s not very durable as all the materials will need
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changing after a few times of filtering. This constant requirement to replace the resources is
not very time-efficient for most people, people will get lazy and probably won’t change the
materials as much as required which shall reduce the effectiveness of the water treatment.
Finally the boiling part in the whole process is not very safe as there is a high risk of injury
and in order to boil the water one must use a stove which contributes to air pollution or fire
wood which contributes to deforestation (Pure Process Technology). Hot boiling water can
cause severe injuries including first degree burns, third degree burns and some cases even
include death.
After carefully analyzing the pros and cons of this water treatment system, the filter
seems to be a device that will help Tanzania’s water problems in a positive manner. It has
various positives such as, prevention of waterborne diseases, helping the people become
more self sufficient and they are getting value for all their hard work from carrying the water
long distances. Of course there are a few negatives such as the effect on the environment
from the charcoal, the energy used to boil the water and the fact that there is a high risk of
injury from the boiling water but the benefits that the people will get will surely make up for
these negative factors. In conclusion we believe that this product will be successful and will
help save the lives of thousands of Tanzanians through clean drinking water.
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Works Cited
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “Filtration: How Does It Work?” Agriculture and Agri-Food
www.agr.gc.ca/eng/science-and-innovation/agricultural-practices/water/ponds-and-dugouts/f
arm-surface-water-management/filtration-how-does-it-work-/?id=1189695164631. Accessed
27 May 2018.
Almeida, Minoll. “What Is the Link between Typhoid Fever and Dirty Water?” The Asian
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr_pre_2011/chemical_synthesis/acidsal
www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/boiling-water?excludenudity=true&sort=mostpopular&med
Kinetico. “4 Methods to Purify Your Water.” Kinetico Water Systems, Kinetico, 2015,
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Pure Process Technology. “Environmental Effect of Water Purification.” PPT, Pure Process
2018.
Shore, Rebecca. “Water in Crisis - Tanzania.” The Water Project, Water Project, 2008,
www.sswm.info/sswm-university-course/module-6-disaster-situations-planning-and-prepared
2018.