Fight childhood disease with safe drinking water

 Over the years Agua Pura Para El Pueblo has been in many different environments and met and dealt with a variety of problems. We always are invited and we always work with community leaders to help them have safe drinking water and sanitation in their communities. Sometimes though, just making the drinking water safe is not enough, we have to look at the whole sanitation environment. Here is what Agua Pura found last January during a visit to Peru.

SONYA’S STORY
Sonya, a young Peruvian woman was concerned that her two children seemed to be sick frequently and were falling behind in school.  She with other families worked in flooded rice fields all around her home, spending long hours wading in knee deep water. The fields were flooded most of the time and the local water table is always just below the surface.
 Her drinking water came from a deep community well in the fields and was pumped to all the families in the area. The inside lining of the well was old and may be cracked and there was no cover on the well. When tested the water showed signs of potential contamination.
Her home has no toilet or latrine because whenever she tried to dig a pit it filled with water. Worse still, because she has no toilet she and her family have to use the surrounding fields to go to the bathroom.

THE SURVEY
Agua Pura spent several days in the area talking to Sonya and the other families about the problem. All of the families are connected to the same water system with the same risk.  If the well became contaminated due to the high water table many of the families would become sick at the same time.  It’s difficult for people to think that organisms invisibly small can make them sick, so we always show them the results of our testing with bacteria growing on a petri plate. They can then see what is in their drinking water. (picture 2)
Agua Pura has always felt that each family ultimately is responsible for their own children’s health. Government help may never come, well meaning non profits may help for a while but then leave without any plans or help for the future.

THE COMMUNITY MEETING
After several days of discussions and testing we had a community meeting with Sonya and the other families. We invited the local Lions clubs to participate because they wanted to know more about the problems and they wanted to help.

At that meeting the first thing we did was to give each family a water pasteurization indicator  (WAPI) and demonstrated it’s use. It’s a simple thermometer like device that shows when water has been heated enough to kill all pathogens. we have distributed many thousands of these reusable indictors as a families first line of defense against contaminated water. Whatever else happens to their supply they can protect their own families drinking water. We also provided a water filter for the school.(picture 3)

Next, because many families have no latrines we recommended that they should provide a space to wash hands with soap outside before entering the home, that way hand contamination won’t reach their food as easily. Since most families have running water it should be possible to create a wash station. These steps should be a first start and something each family can do for themselves.  The local lions club can help with this step. (picture 4)

The third item was the water well. It serves the whole community and it’s the whole communities responsibility to make it safe. The first step is to close the top of the well so that contaminants cannot fall in. We are encouraging families to come together and develop a plan to cover it.  There may be some expense involved and Agua Pura may be help with the costs but the community will be responsible for implementation. The covering should be done soon before contamination worsens. (picture 5)

THE FUTURE
This last step that  we discussed with the families will take longer and require more effort to accomplish but will be the most helpful of all - building above ground sanitary latrines so that each family will have a safe place to go to the toilet that will not further contaminate the water. There are many types of designs that can suit different families needs, are easy to build and are not too expensive. It is a source of pride for families that they have a safe, sanitary latrine.These latrines have been successfully built in many areas of the world and  will be an important part of improving the health of the families in that community. (picture 6)