Welcome to Wastewater Wednesday with Andrew!
In the more arid regions of the world, simply collecting enough clean water to drink is a challenge. Some folks are forced to walk three hours in each direction to find a reliable clean source of water. Time spent gathering water is time spent away from families, farms, and school, and can lead to conflict over water availability.
Makueni County in Kenya has found a potential solution for mitigating water scarcity through the construction of sand dams. Sand dams are wall-like structures built across riverbeds that allow sand to collect on one side and form artificial aquifers that can store water from seasonal rainfalls, which raises the surrounding water table and prevents water loss through evaporation and runoff.
Construction of these dams is primarily done by the communities that the dams will serve, with guidance and materials (like concrete and building tools) provided by non-profit organizations such as the Africa Sand Dam Foundation. This non-profit has built over 680 dams in Kenya since starting in 2010, with the goal of providing clean, safe, reliable fresh water to these communities and more. What an ingenious way to make use of water that would otherwise be lost down the river!
We have a lot of seasonal runoff water here in the United States that disappears into the ocean that we could benefit from collecting. Perhaps we can draw some inspiration from these sand dams?
Read more about sand dams.
Related Posts
BIO ENERGIZER® Reduces Sludge at a Small Municipal Facility in Utah
A small municipality in Utah (pop. 1,800) had a wastewater system with a flow rate of 192,000 gallons per day. The system included a series of four lagoons, although at this time only Ponds 1 and 2 were being evaluated for treatment. The influent consisted of domestic waste as well as septic. Pond 1 was...
Are You Using Wastewater Bioindicators?
By Jael Batty Water quality can be evaluated quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively through the use of bioindicators. The presence and activities of microorganisms can indicate changes in system operations and point to the source and magnitude of an issue.1 Protozoa Approximately 4% of the microorganisms in wastewater are protozoa, which are single-celled aerobic microorganisms. Protozoa...
