Drinking Water School Ban Nalau

Clean Drinking Water for Children, N-East Thailand

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Project updates

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CLEAN!!

2009-12-12 05:34 by ruben van beek, HOAT, via web

a token of gratitude

Finally! The children in the school drink CLEAN water. The installing of the whole system has been finished and the children are very happy. Everything looks great but most important is access to clean and safe drinking water. As a bonus for this school the water is even cold thanks to the old water cooler that has been repaired and integrated into our system. HOAT and all the children would like to thank with all our hearts the sponsors who made this project possible.

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Almost done

2009-12-05 02:16 by ruben van beek, HOAT, via web

Drinking place constructed

The work goes well without any mayor unexpected negative surprises. The drinking place has been constructed and looks very attractive with HOAT's blue and white ceramic tiles. Self closing faucets have been installed so no precious rainwater can be wasted by left accidentally open faucets. The large rainwater storage tanks are being painted white at this moment and the whole underground piping system that leads from the tanks towards the filters has been installed. The water cooler has been repaired so it can be integrated into our system. Soon the filter system will be installed and the children will have access to clean, safe, potable water. 6 goats have been delivered to the school of which the children and teachers will take care. There is a lot of grass land around the school, so no money needs to be spend on food. The offspring will be sold and the money generated with this must be used for the replacement of filter cartridges when necessary. This way we keep the project sustainable and at the same time create a feeling of awareness and responsibility among the children. In general people take better care of something when they feel responsible for it than when something is just a gift. Along the way we explain the children what we are doing. It's clear to see they understand it and they are very happy with it. More pictures can be seen at our website in the photo album: Ban Nalau

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Working on it.....

2009-11-25 12:34 by ruben van beek, HOAT, via web

Construction-, reparation- and installment activities have been started and are going well. Gutters have been installed already as well as downspouts and leaf filters. The large rainwater storage tanks are being repaired and connected to the down spouts at this moment. New rooftops are being constructed on the tanks leaking bottoms and walls are treated with concrete and special substances to make them watertight . The drinking place will be situated at the outside of an old small building at the schoolyard, close to the place where the children eat their lunch. We always prefer to place the filter system inside one of the schools buildings to reduce the risk of theft to a minimum. ( It should be said that the Thai are very honest people. In 3 the years time we work here now, nothing has ever been stolen! Not even a screw) An old water cooling system was found in the shed that was once donated by old students who have jobs now. Although we normally provide only clean water and not chilled water we will see if we can ad this water cooler to the system since the thing is just sitting there anyway. The cooling system will at the same time function as clean water buffer tank. More photo's can be seen in the photo album : ban Nalau, at our website.

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The existing situation

2009-10-29 06:02 by ruben van beek, HOAT, via web

drinking unsafe water staight from the storage tank

Gutters are broken, plants growing out of the downspouts, tanks are leaking. Lids to close the large storage tanks are broken or not present at all. Dead animals like lizards float around in the storage tanks, but also live animals like tree frogs, cockroaches and mosquitoes. Together with the dirt, droppings and leafs that flush down from the roof it makes this water a dangerous mixture of bird-and rat droppings, leaves, decaying animals and pathogenic bacteria. Children depend on rainwater as their main source of drinking water. At the bottom of the large concrete tanks there is a small faucet from which the children drink directly. There is a groundwater connection as well, but this water is definitely unsafe to drink. It is not water from a deep well so it also contains pathogenic bacteria in combination with pesticides and heavy metals. This water can be used for washing hands and dishes. Rainwater is a good source of drinking water if collected, stored and treated well. The annual rainfall in this region is around 1200 mm per year, which is more than enough to provide this school with sufficient drinking water.

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