Reducing Water Scarcity in ViÃ§osa: AMANA Project - Rain Water Reuse

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Description

Intro

ViÃ§osa has faced recurrent problems on water supply and decreed Emergency Situation due to water scarcity. The classes at the university were at risk to be suspended which results in loss not just for students but to the great city economy that is based on floating population. A rotation on water supply is applied among the city neighbors and that harms the communities. In schools and day-care centers, children who already live daily with the precariousness of structure are once again undermined as the cleanliness of classrooms, restrooms and the use of sanitary discharge is not possible.

Objective of the practice

This project had as a main objective to promote the water sustainable use through the rain water capitation and reuse as for irrigation, gardening, sanitary discharges and cleaning, replacing the potable water that is in line with the Goal 6: to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation. Furthermore, an awareness campaign was held to discuss the sustainable and rational use of water through speeches in the benefited institutions with the project, educative material was distributed and the installation of gardens to illustrate the water reuse, that is in line with AGENDA 2030 (target 6b) desire to support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management. The water capitation model consists of coupling the chute system, a filter system, discharge system, and a reservoir. The filter is used to remove bigger impurities as leaves, twigs, etc., that are dragged from the chute by the water. The discharge system aims to remove the dust that is dragged by the firsts rainfalls. The reservoir is closed and may be often cleaned. To eliminate pathogens that comes from bird feces and other contaminants, it is recommended the use of sanitary water in a proportional quantity to do the water chlorination. The discharge is calculated within the roof area being that to 1m2 must be discharged 1 litter of water. Also, it is possible to relate the objective of this project to the target 6.4 as we wish to improve water-efficiency and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of water for people facing water scarcity in ViÃ§osa, MG.

Partners

The Beneficiaries of this projects were three public schools placed in ViÃ§osa, MG: Escola Pedro Gomide Filho (380 people directly impacted), Escola Dr. JanuÃ¡rio (900 people directly impacted), Escola Almiro ParaÃso (70 people directly impacted).

Implementation of the Project/Activity

Since our first installation, there is a concern that the system can attend the schools' demand. To make sure the system would work, we first installed a prototype at our headquarters, in 2017. This module had the storage capacity of 250 liters, enough for cleaning our place. The module met expectations and confirmed the projectâ€™s scalability, impacting directly our members besides it motivated partners and the community to finance the project. Still in 2017, after the project validation, we searched the city area to choose our first beneficiary. The Almiro ParaÃso school (AP) was facing major problems on water supply. As it was located in a rural area, the water supply was made through an artesian well from where the water was extracted to be consumed by students and employees. From that, we decide to install a module with storage capacity of 500 liters so it could ensure water supply in drought periods. At the end of 2017, the members of AMANA Project designed and installed our biggest module till now with 4500 L store capacity located at the Dr. JanuÃ¡rio de Andrade Fontes Educational Center where the water consumed was too high as it attended around 900 people. As for the Almiro ParaÃso school, this second project promoted autonomy and water economy for the institution, besides the water storage during drought periods. Lastly, at the beginning of 2018, the AMANA Project planned and executed the rainwater capitation system for Professor Pedro Gomide Filho school, placed at the highest area in ViÃ§osa. The institution faced serious problems as low pressure and lack of water to maintain its activities. So it was decied to install a system with 3000 L storage capacity and the administration verified a reduction of the water lack. This last system, had the best efficacy, of the 3 we installed, costing 40% of the first system installed, indicating that the efficiency raised. Also, it is important to highlight that all the filters, discharges, pipe fittings were planned, designed and executed by AMANA Project members, as well the system maintenance. For all system parts were adopted low income solutions and high efficacy which increases the solution scalability and created a fertile environment for innovation.

Results/Outputs/Impacts

After the systems installment, we came back to the schools to check out the operation and the feedback from the users. We send a survey to get a feedback from the institutions and the results were that 94% described the partnership as very satisfied and 95% were very satisfied with the projectâ€™s benefits. Related to the water quality, lab analysis- based on Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (APHA, 2012)- were made to verify the water use restriction to allow a better sanitary security. For this purpose, the results were compared to NBR 15527/2007 (Brazilian regulation for rainwater capitation and reuse for non-potable uses). The parameters analyzed were apparent color, turbidity, total coliforms and thermotolerant coliforms. Compared to the regulation, all the parameters were as expected, except total coliforms and apparent color for one of the schools. As the analysis was based in just one sample, it is recommended to take more samples and do more analysis to be sure of the results. As a third result for this project, the members of AMANA Project made a Rainwater Capitation Guide that is currently updated that gather information on planning, executing and maintaining the system. The guide is available for free as a way to impact other communities and institutions that may want to receive the project.

Enabling factors and constraints

The biggest problems we faced were related to the bigger systems where it is necessary knowledge on pipes and fittings, besides the need to access difficult areas to install. The school receptivity is also an influence factor because sometimes the beneficiaries are not always committed to help or the agendas do not match to with our. We also had a hard time related to the materials needed to make the project, we tried to get donations but mos of the time we get from members. At last, the lack of specific knowledge also make the implementation more difficult.

Sustainability and replicability

Related to the sustainability and replicability, we realized that theses systems are very sustainable as it allows the water reuse and as a consequence improves usersâ€™ quality of life and they also save money, uniting the three bases of sustainability: social, environment and economy. Concerning the replicability, we first present the Rainwater Capitation Guide as a way to reach other communities and institutions so they can do it themselves. Also, after theses three systems were installed, we were sought to implement the project in two other places. As it is a simple and affordable system, it attracts attention for its importance.

Conclusions

It is possible to conclude that this simple system was capable to improve the water management and to deal with the water scarcity that these places were dealing due to the water crisis in ViÃ§osa. We aim to expand and take AMANA Project to other institutions, schools and communities so we impact more lives and also contribute to water-use efficiency. We hope to find more people interested in investing in our project not just with money but with time, disclosure, recognition and commitment.

Other sources of information

GUIDE - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IvBA0ZLTFwbrsBhkCRGtmFMiC30Q44Tc/view

SDGS & Targets