Water Purification help in the Amazon

SF_BHT · 05-28-2008, 16:34

Situation: Nurse working in a remote village in the Amazon Jungle.
This village does not have a well and they collect rain water to drink and to take a bath in. The village only has electricity for 4 hours each day.

I have a lot of knowledge of individual prep for my drinking water for Opns but I need help with recommendations on how I can help 2 nurses to have safe drinking water for the next year of their job in the jungle. The only source is a running brown river at the edge of the village no wells.

My dilemma is what is the best cost effective way to prepare drinking water for 2 Nurses working in a remote Jungle Village. It takes 2+ days by boat to get there and the final leg is bu small boat. Individual pumps like I use are not practical or cost effective. Lister bags are great to store water after it is made drinkable but I need a workable process (SF Field-craft type) that will give them a workable cheap way to obtain drinking water for them at their clinic.

I have a 50 gallon Plastic drum with a water tap and sealed lid for them to hold their water on site as they use clorox and strain out debriet........

I need some good old 18D and 18C help with this solution. Their clinic will benefit from this solution.

I am willing to put a system together for them and transportation if I can find a good way with local items and add on filters shipped from the US via APO.

PS: The Nurses are Locals and yes they are Hot

I have known them for 3 years and they have to do 1 year before they are certified by the national health system. I already gave them a Tazer so some drunk Indian does not assault them. A lot of girls that do their 1 year in remote areas get raped and the government does not seam to care.

Thanks Bryan

**Team Sergeant** · 05-28-2008, 17:32

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...cation&page=17

Theres a few water purification theads such as the one above.

I know there's a few better gagets on the market and I guess it would depend on how much water you are looking at purifying.

TS

SF_BHT · 05-28-2008, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/...cation&page=17

Theres a few water purification theads such as the one above.

I know there's a few better gagets on the market and I guess it would depend on how much water you are looking at purifying.

TS

TS, I did a lot of searching and saw that one but none of the threads gave me a good solution for the long term.

1st We in the big city use DURASTILL and that boils the water and filters it OK for pre treated water. Down side is they do not have the energy to support it and it will not make enough in a short period of time.

2nd Something to process River Water to a point that a filter system can then treat it for drinking. Filters are going to be a premium and hard to get to them.

3rd Boiling it would have to be with a wood fire and would be a labor intensive process and hard to do so you would have enough.

My thoughts were some process to strain and filter the batch with possably a 2 drums process then treat it with Clorox and I could get them a filter like passably the PUR Dispenser for the final product. I am looking for one of those Medics or 18C's who can advise as to a field expedient process that will make sure they will not get some jungle bug with their process.

You know how those medics are they can scare you with all those Little bugs that get in you and make your health all F&%$d up for long periods of time.

Getting out the sediment seams to be the big issue to hurdle 1st and it needs to be done with local obtainable items.

My good old Kentucky field craft was to build a still and condense a good pure drinkable drink that would quench your thirst and kill all those little bugs as you drink. If all else fails you would be soooo drunk it would not matter...

But it is really hard to get the Copper to build the Still to prepare the water.

**Peregrino** · 05-28-2008, 18:50

SF BHT - VITA, Village Technologies Handbook. I got my copy from a teammate in 3/7 back in the 80s. This and other useful info is available at:
http://journeytoforever.org/at_link.html

The sediment filters they discuss will go a long way towards prolonging the life of any ceramic filters used for final purification (technically micro-filtration vs. purification).

HTH

SF_BHT · 05-29-2008, 07:41

Looks good Hope to get a good read from it.

Hope to get a lot more options from this thread to compare.

**The Reaper** · 05-29-2008, 08:33

I knew about VITA, but had not seen the old books Peregrino provided the link to. Looks like a great read, well done!

Personally, if I were in that situation, I would look to set up a multi stage system (probably in the ubiquitous 5 gallon buckets) with the water being poured through a cloth or paper filter to catch all of the big chunks, into a layered sand and charcoal filter in the first bucket with holes in the bottom dumping into a cleaner bucket with the ceramic filter in the bottom that fed into a final stage, where I would consider adding a hypochlorite (powdered pool chlorine solution) treatment, depending on a good look at what bugs, if any, made it that far.

A few minutes with a good welder/carpenter/fabricator could probably yield a nice rack or stand for the four buckets, the last bucket (as supplied by the filter manufacturer) has a spigot on the side for dispensing.

All of this, minus the ceramic filters and HTH, should be available at almost any remote site, produce a reasonable quantity of treated water for two people to drink and cook with, and would be easy to maintain in the boonies.

Just my .02, YMMV.

TR

**Peregrino** · 05-29-2008, 08:35

Sounds like they need a Team to do a MEDRET with some CA stuff thrown in FTFOI.

The VITA manual is oriented towards 1960s era Peace Corps goals/resources. Success is directly correlated to leadership provided by the "volunteer". I don't know how successful the nurses will be if the village is as primitive as it sounds. (People have to want change before anything positive happens.) My recommendation is a dug or driven well with a hand pump. Wells solve the sediment problems. An electric pump into a water tower takes advantage of the four hours of power and allows reserve capacity for extended outages plus dwell time for chlorination. USAID should have grants to help with the infrastructure. Can't have too much water at a health clinic.

**Team Sergeant** · 05-29-2008, 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peregrino

Sounds like they need a Team to do a MEDRET with some CA stuff thrown in FTFOI.

The VITA manual is oriented towards 1960s era Peace Corps goals/resources. Success is directly correlated to leadership provided by the "volunteer". I don't know how successful the nurses will be if the village is as primitive as it sounds. (People have to want change before anything positive happens.) My recommendation is a dug or driven well with a hand pump. Wells solve the sediment problems. An electric pump into a water tower takes advantage of the four hours of power and allows reserve capacity for extended outages plus dwell time for chlorination. USAID should have grants to help with the infrastructure. Can't have too much water at a health clinic.

That was going to be my next recommendation, get a well dug, especially if it's going to be a long term or reaccouring mission.

**The Reaper** · 05-29-2008, 08:50

Just a thought here.

I was on my umpteenth deployment to Latin America and we were doing our usual assistance missions with fixing up local schools, med facilities, etc.

It was a Saturday morning and we had a bunch of American soldiers down at the local school painting it.

I looked around outside during a break, and the school grounds were full of the kids' parents, watching the gringos paint their kids' school.

Now don't get me wrong, I think assistance to the indig is a big part of what we do, and the kids certainly deserved it. But if the parents of the kids didn't think the school needed paint badly enough to grab a U.S.G. purchased brush and pitch in on a day off, I am not sure that we should.

In the future, we agreed to do the technical and major mechanical work, and to purchase materials for a "community day", if the locals wanted to help clean up and paint, then we would work alongside them. If not, it was no big deal.

Probably back to the old "teach a man to fish...." line.

Just my .02.

TR

SF_BHT · 05-29-2008, 09:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Just a thought here.

I was on my umpteenth deployment to Latin America and we were doing our usual assistance missions with fixing up local schools, med facilities, etc.

It was a Saturday morning and we had a bunch of American soldiers down at the local school painting it.

I looked around outside during a break, and the school grounds were full of the kids' parents, watching the gringos paint their kids' school.

Now don't get me wrong, I think assistance to the indig is a big part of what we do, and the kids certainly deserved it. But if the parents of the kids didn't think the school needed paint badly enough to grab a U.S.G. purchased brush and pitch in on a day off, I am not sure that we should.

In the future, we agreed to do the technical and major mechanical work, and to purchase materials for a "community day", if the locals wanted to help clean up and paint, then we would work alongside them. If not, it was no big deal.

Probably back to the old "teach a man to fish...." line.

Just my .02.

TR

TR you are so right. We would also go in down here and the local military or the locals in the Pueblo would stand and watch. I would then go get them and say if you want to make you home nice you have to work and help us. Usually they would pitch in. One time in Honduras the Locals said we were there to do the work as promised by the MAAG a month before. Well we stopped what we were doing and packed up. They were outraged. We went back to the hooch and I got the MAAG on the phone and had a discussion with the Idiot that said the we were doing all the Painting/digging/etc and told him that he had F$#@d it all up and he had no right to make such stupid statements. He was some dumb FAO. He actually came out 2 days later and talked to the Mayor and School Master and got the village involved. They will not value the help if they do not have a hand/stake in it. Just look at the Projects in the US. They could care less about most of them and they are in a disastrous state.

TS/Peregrino
I am thinking about working with passably AID to get a well for the village. I have dropped off a message for the POC on the other building.

You guys are making those cobwebs shake and bringing up memories that were a little foggy.

If anyone else has ideas I am open for more to make the best decision for the girls. Thanks

greenberetTFS · 06-07-2008, 12:06

[QUOTE=SF_BHT;211427]Situation: Nurse working in a remote village in the Amazon Jungle.
This village does not have a well and they collect rain water to drink and to take a bath in. The village on

JJ_BPK · 06-14-2008, 14:33

Just stumbled on this at one of those joke sites,,

Has anyone tried these new Lifesaver Bottles,, may be a bit expensive, but they look like they would fill the position??

http://www.lifesaversystems.com/techinfo.html

Quote:

It will remove bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi and all other microbiological waterborne pathogens without using chemicals like iodine or chlorine which leave a distinctive foul taste.

LIFESAVER bottle produces filtered sterile drinking water quickly and easily.

It incorporates LIFESAVER systems’ unique FAILSAFE technology (another world first) which shuts off the bottle’s cartridge upon expiry, preventing contaminated water from being drunk.

With LIFESAVER bottle there is no need for tablets, boiling, chemicals, tubes, shaking, scrubbing, waiting or effort.

LIFESAVER bottle produces clean, sterile drinking water with no foul taste - fast!

Costing £230 ($460), the Lifesaver is not exactly cheap, but it is a world first, and we’re sure the price reflects the genuinely innovative R&D that went into its development.

The unit uses replaceable filters, which can treat about 4000 liters of water – five and a half years of usage if you drank 2 liters every day.

The filter is speedy, too - 750ml of water can be prepared in just under a minute.

And users can rest safe in the knowledge they’re getting maximum life out of the product without poisoning themselves, as the unit has a unique feature to shut itself off when the cartridge has expired.

Not only was it featured at Well-tech, it won ‘Best Technological Development for Future Soldier System Enhancement’ at Soldier Technology 2007.

D9 (RIP) · 06-23-2008, 22:16

My 0.02, until you get a more permanent solution in place, like verified clean well-water, I think bleach is the best solution to your problem.

1.) It works.

2.) It's always available and cheap.

3.) It's something you can show the LN that they can use later b/c it's easy and available. If they don't choose to, their problem. But you've shown them an alternative.

Filter out the debris by some simple conventional means: fine wire strainer, cheesecloth, cotton, filter paper, etc.

Add bleach and let it sit. You get two 55 gal drums, fill one and treat it. Use it 24 hrs later while you're using the other one.

In very austere environments like that I would be wary of depending on a complicated system b/c of the availability of power or parts. Esp w/ expensive equipment that will likely be stolen if it is not continuously guarded.

Bleach works, is simple, cheap, and available. I would use it in the scenario you describe until something more permanent could be established. Sometimes the simple solution is the good solution.

**The Reaper** · 06-24-2008, 06:58

Best way to make chlorine in a remote area is to use the STB like pool shock, as mentioned in one of the survival threads.

A LOT less weight, more compact, no "scent" or "fresheners", no serious shelf life issues like chlorine.

TR

Paslode · 09-13-2008, 19:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK

Just stumbled on this at one of those joke sites,,

Has anyone tried these new Lifesaver Bottles,, may be a bit expensive, but they look like they would fill the position??

http://www.lifesaversystems.com/techinfo.html

I saw the Lifesaver Bottle on the Fox News website today. Impressive to say the least! The $300 dollars was shocking until I saw the volume it produces and the contaminents is capable of removing.

I add that to my wish list for Santa.