Biosand Filters for Ecuador
Posted by John W Elman
The need for clean water and sanitation is staggering in Ecuador, a country of 14 Million people. Water borne diseases are the major cause of deaths and illnesses in the young population. Infant mortality is 21.35 deaths for 1000 live births. There are few cities with adequate water supply and none with sanitation. The vast majority of the population does not have access to clean water. BioSand filters offers hope to poor families who get water from shallow polluted wells or rivers and streams and must spend a significant portion of their daily earnings to boil their water.
A project has been initiated by the Rotary Club Tsachilas of Santo Domingo de los Colorados,
Ecuador (District 4400), to serve 250 poor families and 70 schools where the Club has already built
restroom buildings. Ron and Carol Cousineau from Bloomfield Hills,Michigan brought the project back from
Ecuador in October 2008. They returned to Santo Domingo March 19 to train the team, producing
20 filters. The Pontiac Rotary Club embraced the project and inducted Carol Cousineau, early
January 2009.
BioSand filters seem to be the perfect solution to provide clean water in this area of the world:
BioSand Advantages
Functional – household size
High User Acceptance
User Friendly – easy maintenance
Durable
Sufficient water quantity – 60 – 80 L per day
Affordable - $42 installed w 2 containers (profit and fixed costs not included)
Limitations – dissolved substances pass through (fertilizer, pesticides, color, salt,)
BioSand filters remove most pathogens from the dirty water:
BioSand Pathogen Removal
>97% e-coli
>99% of protozoa and helminthes
80 – 90% of viruses
50 – 90% of organic and inorganic toxicants
90 – 95% iron
Most suspended sediments
30 – 44% reduction in diarrhea
*Chlorine disinfection improves health benefits
The BioSand filters use the same technology that is used in our city water systems, but
it is miniaturized into self contained molded units for household use for a cost of
$50.00. Once installed these units should last for many years.
The Need: Point of Use Filtration
The Solution: A BioSand Filter
There are a couple of Youtube presentations showing the BioSand filters:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=tv4NDTVQe9w
Here's another:
Another BioSand demo in English:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppN3UJt8xGY&feature=related
Carol and Ron were there when the first BioSand Filter was installed in Ecuador. Now they are
trying to get other Rotary clubs and Rotary International involved. Rotary District 5280 is one
of the districts involved in Ecuador water projects.