SODIS at Sud Academy

Since the introduction of the water tank at Sud Academy, students have enjoyed (on most days) the free flow of water for washing & drinking. Because we want to ensure the overall health of the students, we want to make sure that the water they are drinking will not give them diseases like cholera, typhoid, or even diarrhea, the #1 killer of children in Africa.

We have introduced the idea of SODIS- purifying water by leaving it in the sun's UV rays for a full day. Easy-breezy. Since the end of the year was nearing, we thought we'd first train teachers, help them understand the science behind SODIS and demonstrate to them that the simple process works when done correctly. For the last 2 weeks of school we held many meetings and testing sessions with the teachers, and they went very smoothly! Just as we'd imagined, there were impurities in the rain water (but none of the very harmful e-Coli that one finds in most water sources here), and when we left the water in the sun for a few hours, those impurities & bacterias were killed. The teachers were very excited and most said they would practice this at home over the holidays. It's my hope that when the students come back from their holidays, the teachers & I will be able to launch SODIS with the students and get them in the routine of purifying their water and being free from bacteria.

Please see a few pictures of collecting water samples from around the school's property, testing original water sources, and the SODIS samples we eventually found to be clean- every time!

**UP & DOWN: Testing handwashing puddle- results showed it was extremely contaminated with e-coli.**

**UP & DOWN: testing water post- SODIS--- came out sparkling clean, without impurities or bacteria!**

 

**UP & Down: Collecting samples from sewage trench water flowing from apartments above**

 
Please click here for more information on SODIS and London's "The Water School", an organization we've partnered with to bring this life-saving technique to the staff and students at Sud. We appreciate their help, materials and advice!

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