bionicaarquitectura:

An invisible frontier _ Nouakchott, Mauritanie
Photography: Steve McCurry National Geographic August 1987

oxfamgb:

‘My dream is that my family and I will one day have a toilet or go and live in a decent area. To live a decent life, I don’t want to die in poverty’.

Oxfam works in the slums of Monrovia, Liberia to build biofil latrines. The latrines are connected to an outside tank called a digester. The digester then drains away liquid and earthworms are used to break down the faeces. Over time the waste is converted into compost, which people will be able to sell or use in their small vegetables gardens. We’re also educating people on how to maintain the latrines so that they can be sustained in the long-term!

UNICEF says hardest part yet to come in providing drinking water to millions

“Within countries, there is an almost universal disparity of access in rural areas compared to urban areas.  Overall, 80 per cent of the world’s urban population has piped water connections, compared to less than 30 per cent of people in rural areas. The rural-urban divide is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa where the gap is 29 percentage points. In LDCs ninety-seven out of every 100 rural dwellers do not have access to piped water.

The principles of “The Human Right to Water” endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 2010 state that drinking water should be affordable, reliable, safe, accessible and available in a sufficient quantity to meet basic needs.” WaterPort will be able to provide an independent and sustainable means of potable water to rural locales throughout the world. Effectively equalizing the water disparity between urban and rural communities in developing nations. 

Bacteria in tap water can be traced to the water treatment process. 

Waterport System, prototype development. 

Haiti Outreach

“For most Americans, the threat of cholera is as remote as the threat of polio, tuberculosis or any other formerly catastrophic disease. If you live in Haiti, however, the story is different. More than 7,000 Haitians died from a recent cholera outbreak, and thousands more continue to fight this infection that literally starves the body’s cells of life-sustaining water.” With waterport systems to supplement the wells being constructed in Haitian neighborhoods, the country would be able to provide a means of sustainable purified water to every community, leaving noone behind. The design of the waterport system allows it to operate with out plugging into an electrical grid or utilizing any pre-existing infrastructure, such as plumbing. The waterports’ multi-filtration system is currently in the final stages of prototype development which will insure 99.9% water purity. With the proper funding , WaterPort will be able to speed the research and development process and begin to provide systems for the 1.1 billion individuals living in communities with poor or no access to potable drinking water around the world.

Water Shortages Driving Growing Thefts, Conflicts in Kenya 

“Police statistics show that in Kibera – Nairobi’s largest slum with over one and a half million inhabitants -  there are as many as 75 reported incidences of water-related theft daily.” “…What we are witnessing in the slums is very serious. Some think that water theft is petty, but we are living with a time bomb,” said Makumi Mwagiru, a professor at the Institute of Diplomacy Studies at the University of Nairobi.