How to. make water safer AFRICAN WOMEN UNITE AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE RESOURCE EXTRACTION

Transcription

1 How to make water safer AFRICAN WOMEN UNITE AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE RESOURCE EXTRACTION

2 Main mission WoMin s main mission is to: support the building of women s movements to challenge destructive extractivism propose development alternatives that respond to the majority of African women s needs. AFRICAN WOMEN UNITE AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE RESOURCE EXTRACTION WoMin is an African gender and extractives alliance. We work with more than 50 allies in 14 countries across East, Southern and West Africa. Our approach Our approach to making change happen includes: political education participatory research women-led grassroots-driven campaigning alliance and women s movement building solidarity. Our focus Our focus areas are: fossil fuels energy and climate justice extractivism, militarisation and violence against women women s rights, consent and democratised socioeconomic decision-making. Publisher The WoMin African Gender and Extractives Alliance Postnet Suite 16, Private Bag X4, Braamfontein, 2017, Johannesburg, South Africa Phone: +27 (11) admin@womin.org.za This booklet was published in October 2016 Free to use This is an open access resource with no copyright. Organisations are invited to make use of these resources so long as they acknowledge WoMin as the source. Thank you WoMin thanks these funders and partners: Both Ends, Bread for the World, Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundation. Text and content development: Muna Lakhani, Samantha Hargreaves and Liziwe McDaid Reviewers: Muna Lakhani and Samantha Hargreaves Project coordination: Jayshree Pather and Karen Hurt Editor: Karen Hurt Proof reader: Diane Stuart Design and illustrations: Quba Design and Motion

3 We need clean, safe water A lot of our water has sewage, chemicals from mines and factories, and other waste in it. Sometimes we don t even know our water is harmful because we cannot see all the pollution. Millions of people around the world, and especially in developing countries, do not have enough safe water to drink, wash or garden with. WoMin, together with our allies, is fighting for people s right to unpolluted water. Keep up our struggles This booklet explains simple ways you can purify water to make it cleaner and prevent some illnesses. But we have to begin, and keep up, struggles: to stop mines and factories and farms polluting our water for safe and dignified toilet systems for men to share the work of collecting and cleaning water. Ways to clean water This booklet shows ways to purify and clean water that are easy and do not cost much. We explain the: sun water bottle charcoal filter wood filter sun pit water distiller. Did you know? In developing countries, 80% of illnesses people get are caused by unsafe water and unhealthy sanitation. This affects everyone, but especially babies, the elderly and people who are already sick with other illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and TB. What words mean Polluted water: Water that is contaminated with things like sewerage and chemicals. Sterilise: To boil water to get rid of bad germs. Purify: To clean water and make it safe to drink. Distil: When dirty water evaporates (becomes a gas) and then cools back into a liquid that is clean water. The dirt is separated out. 1

4 Sun water bottle You can use the sun s heat to purify water that has things like mud or plants in it. But it will not purify water with chemicals in it. You need a clean glass bottle with a lid cloth to filter water a bowl or bucket How to make a sun water bottle Step 1 Put the cloth over a bowl. Pour water through the cloth. The cloth will catch mud, stones and plants. 2

5 Step 2 Pour the water you have filtered into a clean glass bottle. Put on the lid. Step 3 Put your bottle where it will be in the sun for at least 6 hours. You could put the bottle on the roof, or on a black surface. Your water is now safe to drink. 3

6 Charcoal filter You can make a charcoal filter to clean water that has things like mud and plants in it. It will not take out all chemicals, but it will remove many of them. A charcoal filter will also take out harmful germs. You need a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off clean sand (but not mud or clay because it is sticky) small stones or pebbles charcoal from burnt wood a cloth a container to catch water that comes through the filter something to cut the plastic bottle with use scissors or a knife to cut the bottom off a plastic bottle cloth charcoal that is made by burning wood small stones or pebbles Filter materials Get a cloth, sand, small stones or pebbles, and charcoal from burnt wood. The charcoal will trap many harmful germs and make your water cleaner. You can get charcoal called activated charcoal. It has been specially treated to improve water filtering. You can also use charcoal from your fire, especially from hard wood. sand Important Make sure you do not use wood from a poisonous tree. Don t use charcoal from burning coal or charcoal briquettes that you buy in the shops. They are poisonous and may make you sick. 4

7 How to make a charcoal filter A charcoal filter will look like this after you have made it. leave enough space here for water small stones or pebbles sand cloth charcoal sand small stones or pebbles cloth Step 1 Choose and use black pieces of charcoal that are left over from your fire. Don t use pieces that still have bits of unburnt wood. cloth Step 2 Make the charcoal pieces smaller. Put them into a piece of cloth and hit them with a hammer, stone or brick to make them about the size of your finger tip, or smaller. 5

8 Step 3 Cut off the bottom of the plastic bottle and hang it upside down. The neck of the plastic bottle must point to the ground, like in the diagram. Put another container under it to catch the cleaned water. Find a place (like a low branch of a tree) where you can hang your water filter upside down, like this. Step 4 Look at the diagram to see which materials to put in the layers. 1. Put a thin layer of cloth at the neck (bottom) of the container. water 2. Put in a layer of pebbles or small stones over the cloth. 3. Put in a layer of clean dry sand. pebbles 4. Put in your small pieces of charcoal. sand 5. Put in a thick layer of cloth. cloth 6. Put in another layer of sand. charcoal 7. Put in another layer of pebbles or small stones. sand 8. Leave room at the top of the container to pour water in without it spilling over. pebbles cloth Important Don t worry if the first drops of water have charcoal dust. It will soon stop. Charcoal from burnt wood will not harm you. Bigger filter You can make a much bigger filter if you want to, using buckets. The filter illustrated here has a tap in the bottom container to make it easier to use the water. 6

9 Wood filter A wood filter is for cleaning small amounts of water only. It helps clean water that may be contaminated with e-coli. E-coli is a harmful germ. It gives people serious bladder infections, tummy pains, vomiting and a running tummy. One of the ways e-coli is passed on is through contact with animal manure or people s faeces (after a bowel movement). You need a soft piece of wood, recently cut (pine is good) plastic pipe wire or a clamp a jug a clean bottle Important Do not use wood from a tree that you know is poisonous. How to make a wood filter Step 1 Cut a thin piece of branch from a tree that is alive. The wood must be soft. Do not use a tree that you know is poisonous. Cut the wood until you have a small plug that you can push into the tube. The wooden plug should be about 2.5 cm long. It should fit tightly. Step 2 Put a clamp or piece of wire around the pipe where the wood is. Tighten it, without breaking the tube. This will stop water leaking past the wooden plug. Step 3 Fit the end of the tube with the clamp into the top of a clean bottle. Step 4 Use a jug to pour water into the top of the pipe. Wait for water to filter through the wood and into the bottle below. The water that filters through is safe to drink, because the wood holds back bad germs. Step 5 After you have filtered 4 litres of water, you will need to put a new plug in. Clean the pipe before you do this. 7

10 Sun pit water distiller A sun pit water distiller uses heat from the sun to purify water. You need a clear (see-through) plastic sheet bags of sand, or rocks a stone a clean container green leafy plants (if you have) How to make a sun pit water distiller Step 1 Choose a sunny place. Dig a hole in the ground at least ½ a metre (50 cm) wide and ½ a metre deep. 50 cm 50 cm 50 cm Step 2 Put a container in the centre of the pit at the bottom of the hole. 8

11 Step 3 Pour the water you want to purify into the bottom of the hole you dug (not into the container). It doesn t matter how dirty the water is. Throw in some green leafy plants, if you have. Step 4 Cover the hole with a plastic sheet. Put sand bags, or other weights, like rocks, on the edges of the sheet. Roll a stone into the middle of the sheet. Step 5 After an hour or so, the sun s heat will make droplets of water underneath the sheet. Because of the weight of the stone on the sheet, the droplets will roll down and fall into the container. This is clean water, safe to drink. Turn back the plastic sheet and take out the container when it has enough water for you to use. 9

12 AFRICAN WOMEN UNITE AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE RESOURCE EXTRACTION AFRICAN WOMEN UNITE AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE RESOURCE EXTRACTION AFRICAN WOMEN UNITE AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE AFRICAN WOMEN RESOURCE UNITE AGAINST DESTRUCTIVE RESOURCE EXTRACTION EXTRACTION Fossil Fuels Energy and Climate Justice Campaign This series of energy information booklets supports a regional womenled, women s rights, grassroots-driven fossil fuels energy and climate justice campaign. The campaign aims to build a women s movement to make deep change in the way energy is produced and distributed in our countries and in Africa more widely. WoMin s geographic focus for is Uganda, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa. The campaign will include more countries in late The booklets We hope the booklets in this series will help women and their communities address energy hunger right now. When we use some of the simple renewable energy methods in the booklets it will help ease the burden of work on women. In the meantime, we continue to organise for the bigger changes we want and need. Ways to keep food cool Let the sun heat your water Ways to cook with less energy