Assessment of Water Catchment and Filtration Systems
Shirati, Tanzania
Peter Stiver, Michael Flanagan
For community members living in the poor, waterstrickened Shirati region of Tanzania, accessing affordable clean water continues to be an everyday struggle. While humanitarian groups have tried to develop for years a means of clean water delivery, efforts are often unsuccessful in producing long-term delivery of clean water. While in Tanzania over Spring Break, we examined the various methods of water catchment and filtration in the villages of Roche, Burere, and Nyambogo. Using research and design thinking methods, we assessed the usefulness, practicality, and cultural appropriateness of several different methods of obtaining and cleaning water that have been proposed or employed in order to gain a better idea of what systems of water catchment and filtration are the most useful in meeting the needs of water-strickened communities in the Shirati region of Tanzania. After observing and studying the various methods of obtaining and cleaning water, we found that the most successful programs depended on three factors: successful management, replicability, and cultural appropriateness.
For community members living in the poor, waterstrickened Shirati region of Tanzania, accessing affordable clean water continues to be an everyday struggle. While humanitarian groups have tried to develop for years a means of clean water delivery, efforts are often unsuccessful in producing long-term delivery of clean water. While in Tanzania over Spring Break, we examined the various methods of water catchment and filtration in the villages of Roche, Burere, and Nyambogo. Using research and design thinking methods, we assessed the usefulness, practicality, and cultural appropriateness of several different methods of obtaining and cleaning water that have been proposed or employed in order to gain a better idea of what systems of water catchment and filtration are the most useful in meeting the needs of water-strickened communities in the Shirati region of Tanzania. After observing and studying the various methods of obtaining and cleaning water, we found that the most successful programs depended on three factors: successful management, replicability, and cultural appropriateness.