A Human-Centered Approach to the Global Water Crisis

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that water related diseases cause more than 3.4 million deaths every year across the globe (Berman 2009). Children are the most susceptible to becoming ill over contaminated water. Cases of childhood diarrheal disease, a common result of consuming contaminated water, are estimated at 1.7 billion every year, killing over 500,000 children under the age of five (WHO: Diarrhoeal Disease, 2017). Preventing consumption of contaminated drinking water is a complex issue. The process of identifying and purifying contaminants from water sources is an in-depth and costly endeavor. Often, communities do not receive ample support from municipal entities and are left to deal with the issue independently. This causes a lack of adequate resources and training for communities around the world dealing with contaminated water supplies. The ultimate result is the consumption of contaminated drinking water that creates foundational barriers to growth in areas like education, health, and overall quality of life. The primary purpose of this thesis report is to outline the proposed approach and technological elements for improving the usability and effectiveness of community-wide chlorination systems to remove bacterial pathogens to prevent consumption of contaminated drinking water.
While it may be complex, the prevention and treatment of contaminated water is possible. Founded in 2010, 33 Buckets is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based out of Tempe, Arizona who partners with vulnerable communities and local partners to provide sustainable access to clean drinking water and WASH (Water and Sanitation for Health) training. Prior to 2018, 33 Buckets had completed drinking water projects in Bangladesh, the Dominican Republic, and Peru. In the summer of 2018, the 33 Buckets team returned to the Cusco region of Peru in an effort to assess more communities in need of clean drinking water infrastructure. In Cusco, 33 Buckets works closely with the Peruvian university, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola (USIL). The primary purpose of this partnership is to identify communities in the Cusco region with contaminated water sources and a strong interest in improvement of current systems. Throughout this assessment trip, two communities were initially identified as potential partners, Occopata and Mayrasco. The results of bacteria tests showed a presence of Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli. When consumed, especially repeatedly, select strains of E. coli will cause severe diarrheal illness. Interviews with community members confirmed that common symptoms of water related disease are prevalent, especially in children. In Occopata and Mayrasco, there is an absence of support for water services from the municipality. Consequently, there is a volunteer-based water advisory board known as Junto Administración de Agua Sanitemeniento (JAAS). JAAS, in most nearby communities, currently utilizes a drip chlorination system in an attempt to disinfect bacterial pathogens from their water source. However, chlorine disinfection requires a precise dosing in order to be effective. In excessive amounts, chlorine will taste and smell of chemicals, likely producing negative feedback from community members. As a result, chlorine levels often are below the necessary level for disinfection. Chlorine tests performed by the 33 Buckets team confirmed that chlorine levels were insufficient to disinfect E. coli.
During the assessment trip, the 33 Buckets team provided a temporary solution to make chlorine disinfection more effective. Following the 2018 assessment trip, 33 Buckets formed a team of student engineers with the primary goal of furthering the technological development of a chlorine disinfection system to be implemented in communities with bacterial infected water sources. This student team was formed through the EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) program at Arizona State University. The purpose of the program is providing a platform for undergraduate engineers to design solutions that create positive impact the greater community. From August of 2018 through April of 2019, the team developed the design for a continuous chlorine disinfection system that automatically tests for residual chlorine levels at multiple points throughout a community. The system is powered entirely from a low-cost solar panel, requiring a minimal amount of sunlight for full functionality. Moving forward, the goal of project development is to create an autonomous feedback loop that will adjust the amount of chlorine exposure to incoming water flows based on the results of the automatic residual chlorine test. The team also hopes to implement automatic data collection for remote monitoring of water quality in addition to onsite test results. The vision of the proposed solution is a network of chlorine disinfection systems around the Cusco region that ultimately will provide access to clean drinking water, indefinitely. This model of user-friendly purification, automatic testing, and data collection can be adjusted and applied to any region around the world experiencing health issues from consumption of contaminated water. A low-cost, scalable, and reliable water disinfection system has the potential to make significant increases in the quality of life for millions of people.