Himalayan

Water Project
A ceramic filtration system created
for nomadic and agricultural
communities in Western China.

Floreena Delgado
Annemarie Gugelmann
Louie Rigano
Felipe Sarmiento
Worldwide Waterborne Diseases

17% of world’s population does

not have access to safe water

18% of all deaths in the world are

caused by waterborne diseases

2.2 billion people in developing countries die from diseases associated with poor
water and sanitary conditions

6000 people die from waterborne diseases every day

42,000 people die every week due to diseases relating to low quality drinking water
Contamination of Water
Water Stored Drinking Water

Feces Hands Utensils Mouth

Food
What is in the water?
Bacteria Parasites

Viruses

Protozoa
Local Water Issues
Symptoms
• Diarrhea and digestive ailments
• Skin, ear and respiratory problems

Contaminants
• Fecal pathogens (E. Coli & Coliform)
seeps thru ground into wells & river
• Metals such as: iron, arsenic, nickel

Local Perceptions
• Perceptions about water and health
Daily Water
Routine
Daily Water
Retrieval
Current methods
of pathogen
removal

Limitations of Boiling
Water
High Altitude

Abundance of pathogens

Time consuming process

Limitations of Solar
Cookers
Vast amounts of sunlight

900 W/m2: W. China

105 W/m2: Boston

Small focal point/ Difficult to

focus

Portable

Expensive

Difficult to repair
Innovations in Filtration
Clay Pot Filter (Tony Flynn)
• Can be made with local materials
• Kills ~98.5% of pathogens
• Does not kill viruses

Lifesaver Jerrycan
• Can process up to 20,000 liters
• Will remove bacteria, viruses, cysts,
parasites, fungi and all other
microbiological waterborne pathogens

Lifestraw Family
• Provides safe drinking water for a family
for three years
• Filters a minumum of 18,000 liters

Potters for Peace

• Costs $15 – $25 for the whole unit
• A basic facility can produce roughly 50
units per day.
Our modifications to existing
filtration programs

•Eliminate plastic

• Use local materials

• Lower cost of implementation

• Use less fuel in creating filters

Preliminary Ideation
Forming
Ingredients: Clay,
Organic Materials
(coffee grounds, tea
leaves, rice hulls)

Half clay + half organic

material

Hand-formed into
desired shape to fit into
iron stand
Applying dung and firing
Cover in yak or sheep
dung

Leave out to dry

Fire in dung fire

Must glow orange for at

least 30 minutes to
sufficiently fire
Inserting filter into stand
Place filter into stand
and ready another bowl
to hold filtered water
Pouring water into filter
Filter can hold roughly 2
gallons of unclean water
Retrieving filtered water

98% of pathogens are

removed

1 hour to filter 1.5 - 2.5

liters of water

Water is now ready for

cooking or drinking
1) RAISING AWARENESS 2) EDUCATION
• NGO collaboration • school presentations
• community meetings • how-to manuals
• other sanitation methods • training sessions
• local government &
religious leaders

IMPLEMENTATION
in local communities

3) USER FEEDBACK 4) TESTING

• 6 & 12-month testing
• 6 & 12-month follow-up
• surveys • water quality
• interviews • filter production
• sustainability
LOCAL COMMUNITY
research

CLAY WATER DAILY ROUTINE

local source testing sanitation
local kiln source type cooking/boiling water
quality of clay source location cultural customs
Limitations encountered
• distance

• cultural context

• limited research opportunities

• material investigations

• logistics of operation

•funding (World Bank Small Grants Program,UNESCO)