Monroe Weber-Shirk
AguaClara Technology is Perfectly Positioned to ...

AguaClara Technology is Perfectly Positioned to Improve the Lives of Thousands of People in Latin America (and Beyond)

English Translation:

The AguaClara plant in Tamara, Honduras, which was built in 2008 and continues to provide 11 liters per second of high-quality water suitable for human consumption.

AguaClara technology is the key to providing safe water to thousands of communities in Latin America because it is designed from the foundation to the roof to provide quality water for these communities.

AguaClara Reach is a unique NGO that makes a network of alliances to ensure that towns and small cities have water suitable for human consumption. We invent technologies to develop an innovative water treatment plant that is designed for the communities they benefit. The AguaClara plant does not use electricity, is built with local materials, and produces very high quality water. Within our network of partners, our role is to leverage our years of research to provide detailed hydraulic designs and technical support to our implementation partners. Together with our partners, we implement projects and build capacity to benefit more communities.

“For me, AguaClara [plants] are the best plants in the world right now. They have already made quite a few plants in Honduras. It’s good that we know them. They are the only ones who continue to investigate how to improve treatment processes. And each time, the advantage is that it is a continuous learning process and they are getting better and better.”
— Pedro Ortiz, Technical Coordinator of the National Water and Sanitation Committee (CONASA) and specialist in purification in his introduction at the Bimonthly Assembly of Para Todos Por Siempre of Honduras on 8/11/23

Visit to AguaClara Plants in Honduras

In July 2023, we, a delegation from AguaClara Reach, returned to Honduras, where there are 21 AguaClara water treatment plants. We went to share ideas and dreams face to face with current and potential partners. Representatives of four organizations from different countries participated in the trip with the goal of disseminating the technology to more countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

During the trip, we visited an AguaClara plant under construction in San Francisco de Becerra. The urban area of ​​Becerra has 6,000 inhabitants and is supplied with water from a stream that comes from the mountains located a few kilometers south of the city. In the winter, the stream runs fast and carries sediment. The water with all the sediment passes through the conduction line, the supply tank, the distribution network and finally reaches the homes of the citizens of Becerra.

Engineer Yellin Benitez Nuñez shows how raw water arrives in San Francisco de Becerra.

Until now, the only water treatment for Becerra has been the drip application of calcium hypochlorite into the storage tank.

The storage tank for San Francisco de Becerra with the chlorine tank, which is currently the only treatment given to the water.

Chlorine is not capable of eliminating the pathogens carried by cloudy water. Even so, because it is piped according to the sustainable development objectives, this water is categorized as “water from an improved source” but it is not water suitable for human consumption since it is still contaminated with particles and pathogens.

Starting in January, our partner Agua Para el Pueblo, a Honduran NGO, has been leading the construction of an AguaClara water treatment plant for Becerra. Becerra will be the twenty-fifth community with an AguaClara plant in Central America. The project began with excavation, bringing construction materials to the site, and then the foundation.

Excavation for the AguaClara plant in San Francisco de Becerra.

When we arrived in Becerra, we saw incredible progress in construction and could imagine what the finished plant will look like.

A feedback discussion between the foremen and engineers about the construction processes at the Becerra plant.

The Becerra plant, like all AguaClara plants, is designed from the foundation to the roof to be suitable for cities and towns in Latin America, to provide high quality water, and to be easy to operate. It is also designed to use local materials, which reduces costs and makes the plant easy to repair. The San Francisco de Becerra plant will have the capacity to treat 36 liters per second. The project is financed by SEDESOL, the Ministry of Social Development of Honduras.

We also visited the twenty-fourth AguaClara plant in the community of Divina Providencia, which is located in the Amarateca valley north of the capital, Tegucigalpa. Before the AguaClara plant, La Divina Providencia had a FiME plant, Multi-Stage Filters, built in 2009. Just like the Becerra hypochlorinator, La Divina Providencia's filters could not treat water with high turbidity. Unable to treat the water, the FiME plant spent years abandoned while the community water board searched for a remedy. Meanwhile, the town had to buy water bottles to have water fit for human consumption. Finally, Divina Providence chose AguaClara technology to treat its water and managed to obtain a loan through the Azure program to finance the project.

The AguaClara de la Divina Providencia plant is built inside an abandoned FiME plant.

The AguaClara plant was built inside the first abandoned plant and the entire AguaClara plant is located inside one of the FiME filter tanks. The water board is exploring converting some of the other tanks to store treated water. The size of the AguaClara plant is very small compared to the FiME plant because the flocculation, clarification, and filtration processes have been optimized. It can also be seen that there is no electrical power because the AguaClara plants do not use electrical energy.

La planta AguaClara ocupa el área marcada en azul lo cual es una pequeña fracción del área de la planta FiME.

 

Plant operator Cinthia shows the turbidity coming out of the rapid multi-layer sand filter (FRAMCa). This filter is an AguaClara invention.

 

La Divina Providencia finally has water suitable for human consumption with its AguaClara plant. We anticipate that, by the end of the year, the people of San Francisco de Becerra will also enjoy safe water, along with the health benefits that come with it.

There are thousands of communities in Latin America that do not have quality water in their homes and there are many that lack reliable access to electricity or the resources necessary to maintain a mechanized plant. AguaClara technology was created to benefit these communities and provide high quality water for decades. We are ready to expand the reach of AguaClara technologies to benefit more communities around the world, in collaboration with new partners.

An invitation

We want to talk with professionals in the water purification sector and make connections with new partners in Latin America. We can offer webinars to encourage conversations.

Also, if you are interested in helping fund an AguaClara project or our work in innovating technologies to serve more communities, please contact us.

To discuss further, you can contact AguaClara Reach’s Technical Director, Dr. Monroe Weber-Shirk, at mwebershirk@aguaclarareach.org.

Original spanish:

La planta AguaClara de Tamara, Honduras que fue construida en 2008 y que sigue brindando 11 litros por segundo de agua de alta calidad y apta para consumo humano.

La tecnología AguaClara es la clave para proporcionar agua segura a miles de comunidades en América Latina porque está diseñada desde los cimientos hasta el techo para brindar agua de calidad para estas comunidades. 

AguaClara Reach es una ONG distinta que hace una red de alianzas para lograr que pueblos y ciudades pequeñas tengan agua apta para consumo humano. Inventamos tecnologías para desarrollar una planta potabilizadora innovadora que está diseñada para las comunidades que benefician. La planta AguaClara no usa electricidad, se construye con materiales locales, y produce agua de muy alta calidad. Dentro de nuestra red de alianzas, nuestro rol es aprovechar nuestros años de investigaciones para proporcionar diseños hidráulicos detallados y soporte técnico a nuestros socios de implementación. Junto con nuestros socios, implementamos los proyectos y desarrollamos capacidades para beneficiar a más comunidades. 

“AguaClara para mi son las mejores plantas ahorita que hay a nivel mundial. Han hecho ya bastantes plantas en Honduras. Es bueno que las conozcamos. Son los únicos que siguen investigando cómo mejorar los procesos de tratamiento. Y cada vez la ventaja es que es un proceso continuo de aprendizaje y están mejorando y mejorando.”
— Pedro Ortiz: Coordinador Técnico del Comité Nacional de Agua y Saneamiento, CONASA, especialista en potabilización en sus palabras de Introducción en la Asamblea Bimestral de Para Todos Por Siempre de Honduras el 11 de agosto del 2023

Visita a Plantas AguaClara en Honduras 

En julio del 2023, nosotros, una delegación de AguaClara Reach, volvimos a Honduras, donde hay 21 plantas potabilizadores AguaClara. Fuimos para compartir ideas y sueños cara a cara con socios actuales y potenciales. Representantes de cuatro organizaciones de diferentes países participaron en la gira con el fin de divulgar la tecnología a más países de América Latina y el Caribe. 

Durante la gira, visitamos una planta AguaClara bajo construcción en San Francisco de Becerra. El casco urbano de Becerra tiene 6000 habitantes y se abastece de agua de una quebrada que viene de las montañas ubicadas pocos kilómetros al sur de la ciudad. En el invierno, la quebrada corre rápido y arrastra sedimentos. El agua con todo el sedimento pasa por la línea de conducción, el tanque de abastecimiento, la red de distribución y al fin llega a los hogares de los ciudadanos de Becerra.

Ingeniera Yellin Benitez Nuñez muestra cómo llega el agua cruda en San Francisco de Becerra.

Hasta ahora, el único tratamiento del agua para Becerra ha sido la aplicación de un goteo de hipoclorito de calcio en el tanque de almacenamiento.

El tanque de almacenamiento para San Francisco de Becerra con el tanque de cloro que hasta ahora es el único tratamiento que se da al agua.

El cloro no es capaz de eliminar los patógenos que lleva el agua turbia. Aun así, por ser entubada según los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible se categoriza esta agua como “agua de un fuente mejorada” pero no es agua apta para consumo humano dado que todavía está contaminada con partículas y patógenos.

A partir de enero, nuestro socio Agua Para el Pueblo, una ONG hondureña, ha estado dirigiendo la construcción de una planta potabilizadora AguaClara para Becerra. Becerra será la vigésima quinta comunidad con una planta AguaClara en América Central. El proyecto comenzó con excavación, traída de materiales para construcción, y luego los cimientos.

Excavación para la planta AguaClara de San Francisco de Becerra.

Cuando llegamos a Becerra, vimos los buenos avances en construcción y podríamos imaginar como será la planta terminada.

Una discusión de retroalimentación entre los maestros de obra e ingenieros sobre los procesos de construcción en la planta de Becerra.

La planta de Becerra tal como todas las plantas AguaClara está diseñada desde los cimientos hasta el techo para ser apta para ciudades y pueblos de América Latina, para brindar agua de alta calidad, y para ser fácil para operar. También está diseñada para utilizar materiales locales, lo que reduce los costos y hace que la planta sea fácil de reparar. La planta de San Francisco de Becerra tendrá la capacidad de tratar 36 litros por segundo. El proyecto está financiado por la SEDESOL, la Secretaría de Desarrollo Social de Honduras.

Visitamos también la vigésima cuarta planta AguaClara en la comunidad de Divina Providencia que está ubicada en el valle de Amarateca al norte de la capital, Tegucigalpa. Antes que estaba la planta AguaClara, la Divina Providencia tenía una planta de FiME, Filtros de Múltiples Etapas, construida en 2009. Igual como el hipoclorador de Becerra, los filtros de La Divina Providencia no podrían tratar agua con alta turbidez. Por ser incapaz de tratar el agua, la planta FiME pasó años en abandono mientras la junta de agua de la comunidad buscaba algún remedio. Mientras tanto, el pueblo tenía que comprar botellones de agua para tener agua para consumo humano. Finalmente, la Divina Providencia eligió la tecnología AguaClara para tratar su agua y logró obtener un préstamo a través del programa de Azure para financiar el proyecto. 

La planta AguaClara de la Divina Providencia está construida al dentro de una planta FiME.

La planta AguaClara fue construida dentro de la primera planta abandonada y la planta entera está ubicada dentro de uno de los tanques de los filtros FiME. La junta de agua está explorando convertir algunos de los otros tanques para almacenar agua tratada.  El tamaño de la planta AguaClara es muy pequeña en comparación de la planta FiME porque los procesos de floculación, clarificación, y filtración han sido optimizados. También se puede ver que no hay ninguna conexión de energía eléctrica porque las plantas AguaClara no ocupan energía eléctrica.

La planta AguaClara ocupa el área marcada en azul lo cual es una pequeña fracción del área de la planta FiME.

 

Cinthia, la operadora de la planta, muestra la turbidez que sale del filtro rápido de arena de múltiples capas (FRAMCa). Este filtro es una invención de AguaClara.

 

La Divina Providencia finalmente tiene agua apta para consumo humano con su planta AguaClara. Anticipamos que, al fin del año, la gente de San Francisco de Becerra también disfrutará de agua segura con todos los beneficios para la salud que conlleva. 

Hay miles de comunidades en América Latina que no tienen agua de calidad en sus hogares y hay muchas que carecen de acceso confiable a electricidad o los recursos necesarios para mantener una planta mecanizada. La tecnología AguaClara fue creada para beneficiar a estas comunidades y brindar agua de alta calidad por décadas. Estamos listos para ampliar el alcance de las tecnologías AguaClara para beneficiar a más comunidades en todo el mundo, en colaboración con socios nuevos.

Una Invitación 

Queremos conversar con los profesionales en el sector de la potabilización de agua y hacer enlaces con nuevos socios en América Latina. Podemos ofrecer seminarios web para fomentar las conversaciones.

También, si están interesados en ayudar a financiar un proyecto AguaClara o nuestro trabajo en innovar tecnologías para servir a más comunidades, por favor contáctenos.

Para hablar más, pueden contactar al director técnico de AguaClara Reach, Dr. Monroe Weber-Shirk, a través de mwebershirk@aguaclarareach.org.

Updates on the AguaClara plant in Becerra, Honduras

The Becerra AguaClara plant is now enclosed with walls and a roof. The tanks for the various treatment processes are nearing completion with the waterproofing layer already in place. While progress continues on the civil work, the plant operator candidates are receiving hands-on training so they can begin operating the plant when the water begins to flow in a few weeks.

Safe Water on Tap Course for Implementation Partners

One of the goals that AguaClara Reach has for working with partners is capacity building within our Implementation Partner organizations. Capacity building is important to the sustainability of the projects that we implement, as our Implementation Partners provide the technical support, project management, and community engagement services that help ensure the longevity of an AguaClara plant. 

Recently, Santiago Garcia at Agua Para el Pueblo (APP), our Implementation Partner in Honduras, expressed interest in taking the Safe Water on Tap (SWOT) course that Monroe Weber-Shirk has been teaching at OSU and NJIT since 2022. Staff at APP have been designing and implementing AguaClara water treatment plant projects since the inception of the AguaClara program in 2005, and Santiago felt that a deeper understanding of the processes underlying the technology covered in the SWOT course would benefit them. 

To that end, Monroe taught a modified version of the SWOT course geared towards Implementation Partners instead of college students this spring, with course material translated into Spanish (IPSWOT-ES). The course covered the hydraulic processes and fluid mechanics concepts that drive the design and innovation of AguaClara technology, as well as the use of OnShape and the AguaClara Infrastructure Design Engine (AIDE). This information is important for partners to know, so that they can participate in the innovation process, more effectively train plant operators, and perform troubleshooting and maintenance on the plants.

Course schedule for IPSWOT-ES Spring 2023

Aminta Nuñez and Santiago García, both engineers for APP, attended the course virtually. All course sessions were recorded and are available for anyone to view on the AguaClara Reach YouTube channel.

Presentation slide from the flocculation module of the IPSWOT-ES course. Translation of fluid mechanics concepts into Spanish is not an easy task, but a very necessary one!

This adaptation of the SWOT course for APP provides a strong foundation for sharing technical knowledge with our partners. Whether we are working with a new or existing Implementation Partner, there is room at all levels for building capacity and empowering our partner organizations with the tools they need. If you are interested in learning more about AguaClara technology or our organization, please reach out via email or through the AguaClara Reach website.

First Hydrodosers in Indonesia, Serving Thousands

With a population of over 277 million, the fourth most populous in the world, Indonesia is dealing with a profound shortage of clean water. 

UNICEF reports that 70% of household drinking water is contaminated with fecal matter, while Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources records that 80% of ground water in Jakarta, the country’s capital, is contaminated with E.Coli.

Since 2021, Austin Ho (a then-senior at high school in Jakarta) has been working with AguaClara Reach to lead Hydrodoser installations in Indonesia. The Hydrodoser is AguaClara Reach’s standalone and gravity-powered chemical dosing system. The Hydrodoser can be used for chlorine dosing and water disinfection and useful for communities that have low turbidity water sources. Two years and three Hydrodoser builds later, we are celebrating that thousands of Indonesians in remote communities now have access to safe drinking water. 

Austin Ho (left) and Dr. Monroe Weber-Shirk (right) meet for the first time in person in Ithaca, NY in 2021.

Austin led the installation of three Hydrodosers and worked in partnership with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The most recent build was completed in June of 2023 while partnering with USAID IUWASH Tangguh in the Magelang Regency. This pilot build has since been inaugurated by USAID’s Mission Director Mr. Jeffrey Cohen and Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning. During the inaugration celebration, everyone drank water from the new Hydrodoser. 

USAID Inauguration of Hydrodosers in June 2023.

Community celebration at Hydrodoser Inauguration in June 2023.

The Hydrodoser can treat up 1 Liters per second (15.8 gallons per minute) of flow. Chlorine is added to a 50-Liter chemical stock tank and is dispensed based on the flow rate through the Hydrodoser. During Hydrodoser startup and testing, the free chlorine levels at each house in the delivery zone ranged between 0.1 to 0.3 parts per million, meeting the national standards. Residents were delighted with the results: the water remained odorless and each household will pay less than $1/month for the maintenance of the system. 


In early 2022, Austin also led Hydrodoser projects for two communities in the town of Karawang, a two-hour drive from the capital Jakarta. These projects were in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and were sponsored by Amazon Web Services.

The Hydrodoser installation team in Karawang.

The first Hydrodoser in Karawang in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and funded by Amazon Web Services.

Startup and testing of the first Hydrodoser in Karawang showed that the system effectively brought water containing 960 colonies of Coliform and 250 of E.Coli per Liter down to zero. 

Untreated water quality results tested by a local clinic. E. Coli and Coliforms recorded per 100ml. 

Hydrodoser-treated water quality results tested by a local clinic. E. Coli and Coliforms recorded per 100ml. 

The second Hydrodoser was built nearby the first community in Karawang, which had a similar flow rate. Like the first Hydrodoser in Karawang, the second Hydrodoser reduced the community’s 360 colonies of Coliforms to reported results of zero.

The second Hydrodoser in Karawang. 

The Hydrodosers were able to accurately dose chlorine to the drinking water source, providing a technical solution for the contaminated water problem. However, successful projects also require working with the local community for education and outreach efforts. Community members in Karawang were hesitant to drink chlorinated water, and one of the main issues was that there was no visible different in the water pre- and post-treatment. 

Austin came up with a creative solution to visually demonstrate the presence of E. Coli in the untreated water. He used a Hydrogen Sulfide Test, a bottle containing a strip made of iron and sulfur compounds. E. Coli present in water samples added to the test bottle reduces sulfur and produces black ferric sulfide. During testing and community education activities, the raw (unchlorinated) water turned black, and the Hydrodoser-treated (chlorinated) water remained clear (the strip is yellow). This demonstration, along with a low dosage point of 2 parts per million of chlorine to minimize odor, made the build successful.  

Hydrogen Sulfide Test bottles used for community education activities. Black samples (bottles 1, 3, and 5 from the left) show presence of sulfur-reducing E. Coli, corresponding with untreated water. Yellow samples (bottles 2, 4, and 6 from the left) show no sulfur-reducing E. Coli, corresponding with Hydrodoser-treated water.

With the great success of these three Hydrodoser projects, there are plans to continue working with USAID to expand treatment nationwide. These efforts are sponsored by Regional government institutions (Pemda) and Regional water companies (PDAM). The results of USAID’s work will serve as input for the Minister of Public Works and Housing “to develop and update technical guidelines related to chlorination,” essentially creating policies and regulations for Hydrodoser implementation communities all across Indonesia that are too remote to be served by public waterworks. 

AguaClara Reach is so excited to have Austin Ho as a partner and advocate for safe water on tap. Thank you to Austin, Habitat for Humanity, USAID, AWS, Pemda, PDAM, and the Ministry of National Development Planning.

New Plant in Becerra, Honduras to Serve 6,000 People

Construction has recently begun on the latest AguaClara water treatment plant, which is being built in the municipality of San Francisco de Becerra in the Honduran department of Olancho, approximately three hours northeast of Tegucigalpa. This plant is designed to serve a population of 9,450 people in 20 years and serve the current population of 6,000 people, providing them with safe, clean drinking water. 

The plant is designed by Agua Para el Pueblo and AguaClara Reach, and is being constructed by Agua Para el Pueblo, a non-profit organization that provides clean water to underserved communities in Honduras through the use of AguaClara technology. 

The San Francisco de Becerra plant is a 36 liter per second plant, which means it has the capacity to treat 820,000 gallons of water per day. The project is being financed by SEDESOL, which is the Secretary of Social Development in Honduras, and it is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

This will be the second AguaClara plant to use components from the new designs produced by the AguaClara Infrastructure Design Engine. The Becerra plant will include the latest design for the internal piping of the Stacked Rapid Sand (StaRS) filters and will likely include some of the updates for the chemical dosing system. 

As an AguaClara plant, capital expenditure for San Francisco de Becerra is estimated at around 100,000 USD + 10,000 USD per L/s of production. Operational costs are also highly efficient, and are estimated at 7 to 13 USD per person per year, depending on the size of the community. These costs are dominated by labor and chemicals, but also include savings for minor repairs over the plant’s lifetime. The plant is designed considering the population growth for 20 years. With normal maintenance it can serve many more years and they will just need to expand the plant to increase the flow rate. 

During the construction of the plant, plant operator candidates will be trained in all of the hydraulic processes required to operate the plant on a daily basis. They will also be tasked with fabricating the plant internals, and will become the experts on how their local water treatment plant works. This capacity building provides a stable foundation for long term sustainability of the plant. Once completed, the San Francisco de Becerra plant will then be maintained and governed by the local water board. 

Site excavation is currently underway, and progress is being made every day. The San Francisco de Becerra AguaClara water treatment plant will be a vital resource for the local community, providing them with access to clean, safe drinking water for years to come. We look forward to the inauguration of the 25th water treatment plant in Central America!

We are grateful for our supporters who share our vision of safe water on tap for all communities. We might be a small organization, but our work has a big and lasting impact. If you are grateful every morning that you can turn on the tap and get safe water, share that gratitude. Your support enables us to invent better technologies and provide the designs and technical support so that more communities like Becerra can have the safe water we take for granted.

Lifecycle Cost Model

In 2005, the AguaClara program noticed that there weren’t any good options for treating turbid surface water for small cities, towns, and villages. We set out to develop water treatment plants that were designed from the ground up to produce high quality water at the lowest cost possible. After 23 plants built and continuously providing safe water on tap in Central America we have achieved that goal.

We developed a cost model for an AguaClara plant’s life cycle to enable comparison with other treatment options. The costing model gives an estimate for the cost per cubic meter of water treated for the lifetime of an AguaClara plant. This cost is comprehensive, including all construction and design costs of the plant as well as continuing operating costs.

 

Figure 1: Cost categories table

 

The costs for the plant are split into two general categories: initial project costs and lifetime operation costs. Included in the initial projects costs are: labor costs, initial material costs, design fees (including structural, electrical, architectural, and hydraulic designs), and initial training of operators. Lifetime operation costs include operator salaries, chemicals (coagulant and chlorine), ongoing training of operators (old & new), replacement parts, electricity, and minor maintenance.

Figure 2: Pie chart showing how the lifecycle cost is split up for a 25 L/s AguaClara plant that lasts 50 years.

As shown in the pie chart above, the majority of the costs go towards operator salaries. The next highest costs are for the chemicals, the coagulant and the chlorine. Then, the next highest costs are the initial project costs . The costs of minor maintenance, electricity (for lights), and replacement parts add up to less than 6% of the total cost of the plant. ACR hydraulic design fees are only 0.4% of the lifecycle cost because we have developed parametric designs for AguaClara plants and thus can design them quickly.

For our example estimate, we used data from AguaClara plants built by Agua Para el Pueblo in Honduras to inform our cost assumptions. We have adjusted for inflation so our costs are 2023 dollars. Our example estimate cost for a 25 L/s plant with a lifespan of 50 years would be $0.14 per cubic meter of water treated. We are looking for lifecycle costs of other available technologies (including conventional water treatment) used to treat surface water to compare to our estimate. If you have an estimate for another technology, please contact us. 

 

Figure 3: Table describing estimated required household tariffs.

 

What can we use this lifecycle cost data for? With this data, we were able to calculate what the monthly water tariff per household served would have to be in order to pay to replace the water treatment plant at the end of the lifetime of the water treatment plant. To put things into perspective, for a single income household of 5 people, less than 0.6% of the earner’s income would be spent on water treatment by an AguaClara plant. 

 

Figure 4: Prices of water from utilities in Latin American countries (Plappally, Lienhard, 2012)

 

At the utility level, the cost of AguaClara water treatment is lower than the price of water provided by utilities throughout Latin America with the exception of El Salvador. The utility costs include source development, transmission, and distribution costs that would be in addition to the water treatment. The utility costs may be influenced by government subsidies or may not include full recovery of capital costs. We also expect potential partners to be able to compare our lifecycle costs with other water treatment plant technologies as one important factor in their decisions. 

Santa Rosita Hospital Filter Innovation

In early 2022, the Hospital de Especialidades Psiquiátrico Santa Rosita began conversations with Agua Para el Pueblo (APP) on bringing AguaClara technology to their facility. Santa Rosita is in the Valley of Amarateca just north of Tegucigalpa (Figure 1), the same valley where AguaClara plants serve the communities of Tamara, Cuatro Comunidades, Campo Verde, Las Moras, and Divina Providencia. In support of their initial project design and proposal efforts, APP requested that AguaClara Reach (ACR) develop a preliminary design for a 3 L/s plant including a filtration system for the Santa Rosita facility (Figure 2). This design request presented an opportunity for ACR to innovate on our existing filter designs, which included the Open Stacked Rapid Sand (OStaRS) filter and the Enclosed Stacked Rapid Sand (EStaRS) filter.

Figure 1: The Hospital de Especialidades Psiquiátrico Santa Rosita is located in the Valley of Amarateca.

Figure 2: Agua Para el Pueblo engineers, Minty Núñez (left) and Santiago Garcia (right) meet with representatives of the Hospital de Especialidades Psiquiátrico Santa Rosita to discuss providing safe water on tap with an AguaClara plant.

Open Stacked Rapid Sand Filters

ACR’s AguaClara Infrastructure Design Engine (AIDE) in Onshape is able to generate designs that use Open Stacked Rapid Sand (OStaRS) filters between 16 and 80 L/s. An OStaRS filter typically consists of a hydraulic control box and a pair of filter boxes (Figure 3). The control box determines how much water flows to each filter box, while the filter boxes contain layers of sand that remove small particles from the water. However, at flow rates below 16 L/s, Open StaRS filters become too small for a mason to work inside the filter box. This constraint presented an opportunity to rethink the design process for low flow rate StaRS filters in order to meet the needs of the Santa Rosita facility.

Figure 3: An AguaClara 20 L/s Open Stacked Rapid Sand (OStaRS) Filter generated by AIDE containing a pair of filter boxes and the hydraulic control box that directs water into and receives the filtered water from each filter.

Enclosed Stacked Rapid Sand Filters

As an alternative to the OStaRS filter, which is constructed with concrete, the AguaClara Enclosed StaRS (EStaRS) filter is constructed with a large diameter PVC pipe. Smooth walled (non-corrugated) PVC pipes are available in sizes up to 12-inch diameter, which places a limit on the maximum filtration capacity for a single filter made of this material. In effect, the 3 L/s plant for Santa Rosita would require five EStaRS filters in parallel to meet its flow requirements (Figure 4).

Figure 4: A set of 5 Enclosed StaRS Filters designed with AIDE using 12-in PVC pipes.

ACR discussed this option with the team at APP and learned that the enclosed filters are not favorable because the numerous pipes and fittings result in a costly system. This created a conundrum because the Open StaRS filter design does not work for small scale plants, and the Enclosed StaRS filters are too costly.

The Innovation Process

With no readily available options for a filtration system that would be viable at low flow rates, it was time to rethink the original filter design. AguaClara’s design process is made possible with AIDE, which allows us to quickly and efficiently test concepts over a range of flow rates while accurately identifying possible construction challenges. 

The goal of the first design iteration was to make a compact system with no valves. The result consisted of a platform containing the inlet and outlet control boxes directly connected to the filter boxes (Figure 5). This layout required fewer fittings and plumbing connections than the EStaRS filter, making it more affordable, but did not allow for the design to easily scale over a range of flow rates. As the design flow rate increased, the inlet and outlet pipes also grew larger in diameter, effectively reducing the space between them. This led to failure at higher flow rates because the pipes began to overlap with the space required by the concrete slab (Figure 6). Another downside to the design was the large size of the inlet control box, which, if implemented, would require a large volume of water to be wasted when transitioning the filters from backwash to filtration mode.

Figure 5: An early iteration of the Open Stacked Rapid Sand (StaRS) Filter with a platform in between the filter and control boxes.

Figure 6: The inlet and outlet pipes of an early OStaRS filter design iteration interfere with the concrete slab at larger flow rates as shown in the red box.

The goal of the next design iteration was to create compact control boxes with concrete slabs that were completely separate from the filter boxes. This eliminated the need to try to fit the slab between the inlet and outlet pipes. However, since all four filters in the design needed to be routed to a single control box, a unique plumbing path had to be created for each one. Routing the pipes for this design took a lot of time and several versions were created before finally settling on what seemed to be a reasonable layout (Figure 7). When the new design was shown to colleagues at APP, they advised that the significant number of angled pipes would make the design too difficult to construct. So, back to AIDE to optimize the piping layout!

Figure 7: An iteration of the Open Stacked Rapid Sand (StaRS) Filter with compact control boxes. Angled pipes are shown in the red box.

With APP’s feedback, ACR realized that the design should include as many straight pipes as possible. So for the next design, there is one control box for each pair of filters, which allows the pipe routes to be symmetric and therefore identical for all of the filters (Figure 8). This creates simple plumbing paths that are easy to construct (Figure 9).

Figure 8: Isometric view of a shallow OStaRS filter with the floor hidden to show piping connections.

Figure 9: Plan view of the filter control and filter boxes. A single filter control box (bottom) is connected to two filter boxes (top), resulting in straight, parallel pipes between them.

This new invention of a shallow Open StaRS filter extends the range of AguaClara filtration processes to serve communities with design flow rates as low as 3 L/s. The open design is an improvement from the previous Enclosed StaRS filter design because operators are able to look directly into the filter to monitor the process. Additionally, it provides a solution for communities that would like to upgrade their existing AguaClara plant to include a StaRS filter, as it can be built on the same concrete slab as the flocculator and clarifier, eliminating the need for additional excavation.

Figure 10: 3 L/s shallow OStaRS filter as part of a full AguaClara plant. The shallow filters can be built on the same slab as flocculator and clarifier.

The Santa Rosita preliminary design proposal demonstrates how new implementation challenges can spark design iteration and innovation, which is a shared process between AguaClara and our implementation partners. By using AIDE, we are able to quickly invent new designs and get feedback from partners who bring construction expertise. We hope you enjoyed learning about our innovation process!

Blog post authors: Emily Wood and Monroe Weber-Shirk

New 24 L/s AguaClara Plant in Waslala, Nicaragua

May 23, 2022 marked the start of operation of the newest AguaClara plant in Waslala, Nicaragua. This project represents the culmination of more than 5 years of organization, networking, fundraising, design, sourcing supplies, and a full construction project, to make the dream of safe water on tap for more Nicaraguan communities a reality.

Image of the 24 L/s AguaClara plant in Waslala, Nicaragua. Water flows from the right (entrance tank) through the flocculator channels (middle) to the clarifier bays (left).

The journey started on January 9, 2017 when AguaClara Reach Technical Director, Monroe Weber-Shirk, gave a presentation on AguaClara technologies for a delegation of Nicaraguans including representatives from the towns of La Concordia and San Rafael. This event included a tour of the 16 L/s AguaClara plant in Morocelí, Honduras.

A delegation of Nicaraguans touring the AguaClara plant in Morocelí, Honduras in 2017.

Some time later, WaterAid representatives learned about AguaClara technology on a tour organized by Water For People of the San Rafael del Norte AguaClara plant, and by January 2020, WaterAid planned to construct a 24 L/s AguaClara plant in Waslala. They reached out to Water For People to learn how the plants at San Rafael del Norte and La Concordia went from idea to successful operation. A year later, WaterAid approved financing for the Waslala plant. 

WaterAid engaged Agua Para el Pueblo (APP) to design and build the Waslala plant and to train the plant operators. During the design process, APP requested an improved entrance tank design from AguaClara Reach that would have lower flow velocities (for more precise chemical dosing) and a shallower tank to make the trash rack easier to clean. AguaClara Reach used the AguaClara Infrastructure Design Engine (AIDE) to quickly create an improved entrance tank design and shared it with APP, who integrated it into their existing AutoCAD designs for a 24 L/s plant. 

Entrance tank with raw water entering at the left, passing through a trash rack, and then exiting at the far end through the linear flow orifice meter (LFOM), as indicated by blue arrows.

APP also worked to create a complete project site design including all structural and architectural components. The Waslala project site presented a hydraulic challenge due to the location of Waslala’s water storage tank at the top of a knoll. Since AguaClara technology is powered by gravity, the plant needed to be located at a higher elevation than the water storage tank. Placing the AguaClara plant on top of the water storage tank wasn’t feasible because it would have required extensive reinforcement of that structure. The solution proposed and implemented by APP was to elevate the AguaClara Plant on a concrete platform. APP produced the final design in February 2021.

Side view of the north side of the Waslala AguaClara plant showing the entrance tank, two flocculator channels, and four clarifier bays. The tanks are elevated above the original ground surface.

Construction began on August 10, 2021 under supervision of an APP engineer, technician, and foreman, and was completed less than a year later.

Now, the Waslala AguaClara plant is bringing safe water on tap to the community of over 1,000 families.

Interview with Rosa Godoy, AguaClara plant operator.

The Waslala project illustrates how community-scale infrastructure often requires a network of organizations with complementary strengths to bring a project from idea to reality.

Water For People connected organizations and shared the dream of more Nicaraguan towns with AguaClara plants. WaterAid had connections in Waslala and provided the funding that is one of the most challenging ingredients for successful projects. The Mayor’s Office of Waslala also provided important funding to the project. APP designed and built the plant, provided project management, and trained plant operators. AguaClara Cornell provided the hydraulic design for the plant, and AguaClara Reach provided an improved hydraulic design for the entrance tank. 

AguaClara Reach is honored to be part of global efforts towards safe water on tap.

Blog Post Authors: Emily Wood and Monroe Weber-Shirk

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AIDE Update: Textbook Chapter

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In the past few months, we have been continuing to develop our design tool, the AguaClara Infrastructure Design Engine (AIDE). To begin publicizing AIDE for broader use, we have prepared a few public-facing documents that give more insight into how the tool works. 

The AguaClara textbook now contains a section that introduces AIDE, explains how we at AguaClara use AIDE, and describes how you can use AIDE to explore AguaClara technologies. The relevant section of the textbook can be found here. This section includes videos that guide you through an exploration of AIDE within Onshape, the CAD program that we use to design AguaClara plants. 

In addition, there are public demos available for various configurable components, which make up our customized water treatment plant designs. These public demos include a CAD model and an explanatory PDF. In the demo model, you can adjust certain parameters and quickly see how the new parameter values affect the physical model. The attached PDF describes the configurable component and defines the relevant parameters. This allows you to know more about the changes you are making and how they fit into the physics of the code integrated into the model.

We encourage you to explore our design tool and welcome feedback through this form.

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AguaClara Textbook Introduction

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Planned to be a compendium of AguaClara research and design methods, the “AguaClara textbook” titled The Physics of Water Treatment Design has become an indispensable resource of AguaClara design. Over the past several years, many individuals have contributed their time and knowledge in developing what the textbook has become. 

Not simply a narrative of how designs come to be, the textbook also includes design challenges for students taking the Safe Water on Tap course. These challenges are supported by direct links to Onshape 3D Models, the derivations of key principles, a glossary,  parameter convention list, and links to interactive code snippets where users can see directly how changes will affect the design.

The homepage of the textbook

The recent additions mentioned above supplement most chapters, allowing students to have nearly all course documents in one place, as well as a straightforward means to edit the design challenges. Within most chapters, the structure follows a pattern: the introduction to the component followed by derivations, then design, then the Design Challenge, ending with design solutions and future work. This structure allows readers to understand the big picture before working on the design and solving the design challenge.

The design challenges are incorporated into the text to make it easy for students to connect the design challenges to course concepts.

Another feature, designed specifically with readers in mind, is the labeling and tagging of each equation, image, heading, and reference. This allows these features to be linked within the text and can send the reader directly back to where the equation or image was first cited. The tagged headings allow important portions of the text to be cited specifically. This is helpful in guiding students towards the cited concepts in place of page numbers, which are not present in the website version of the text.

This equation is named and is automatically linked when you refer to its name elsewhere in the text. This makes it simple to refer back to other concepts.

Another unique feature of the textbook is the publishing rate of new versions. With a typical textbook, years go by before edits can be made and published. However, in our textbook, once an edit is made, a new version can be available in a few minutes. This rapid turnover means that the information is rarely out of date. The rapid changes also ensure that the textbook is never finished.

The version number can be found in the upper left-hand part of the webpage, it is updated every time a new version is pushed.

Every design change made, and each insight gained, leads to a better, more thorough version. We know that it is a short walk to the edge of knowledge and this textbook lets that be true, in a way impossible through traditional methods. Every set of reviewers makes changes to make the material easier for students and others to understand, and this allows the text to be something that can change depending on the needs of users. Some plans for the future are to simplify the way in which edits are proposed, as well as adding additional sections on plant operation and troubleshooting challenges, along with the tentative completion of several additional sections. Though it will never be truly complete, The Physics of Water Treatment Design is an incredible resource for anyone interested in learning about the AguaClara design philosophy and treatment technology.

Check out the textbook and let us know what you think!

Blog post author: Clare O’Connors

Campo Verde: The First Community Clone of an AguaClara Plant

Campo Verde is a small community of about ~200 households located in the Divina Providencia of Honduras.  Inspired by clean water in the neighboring town of Cuatro Comunidades, the community of Campo Verde took matters into their own hands and became the first community to construct an AguaClara plant entirely on their own!

The idea for the Campo Verde water treatment plant came from a local business named Briseño that builds affordable housing for marginalized communities. They noticed that the nearby community of Cuatro Comunidates had safe, clean drinking water coming from an AguaClara plant constructed in 2008.  Since both communities are served by the same water source, they realized that Campo Verde could also have access to clean water on tap via their own AguaClara drinking water plant.

Briseño went on to finance the plant, and build it with the help of community members from Cuatro Comunidades, one of whom was a mason who had worked on the plant in Cuatro Comunidades.

Outside of the Campo Verde plant.

Although Briseño and the community did the best they could to build an exact clone, it wasn’t possible to create a perfect drop-in replacement for Campo Verde without a revised hydraulic design. As a result, the completed plant did not initially treat water to the same standard as Cuatro Comunidades. The water board then began to consult with Antonio Elvir, an experienced AguaClara plant technician who has been involved in the construction and operation of dozens of AguaClara plants across Honduras. Antonio also provided basic training to the new plant operators to ensure they are equipped to sustainably operate the plant for the future.

“There were various improvements that needed to be made. The chemical dosing system needed new valves, the sedimentation tanks did not have proper entrance manifolds, and the plate settlers were sitting on the bottoms of the sedimentation tanks. We worked on the chemical dosing system first, and then the sedimentation tanks. After a week’s worth of work, the plant began functioning significantly better.”
— Antonio Elvir

Encouraged by the high quality drinking water the plant is now producing, the Campo Verde water board (and broader community!) are now hoping to add even further enhancements to the plant such as enclosed stacked rapid sand filters.

Campo Verde flocculator

The open source nature of AguaClara technology allows communities to make this happen on their own – although it’s clear that experienced technical support is a critical component for communities to fully realize their clean water investment.  Communities like Campo Verde who are eager to develop clean drinking water solutions are what inspire the entire AguaClara Reach community to continue building better hydraulic designs, capacity building materials, and technical support programs.  It’s when all of these components come together, that communities can position themselves to provide clean drinking water for many years to come.

Blog Post Authors: Anna Doyle and Skyler Erickson

AIDE Bill of Materials

The AguaClara Infrastructure Design Engine (AIDE), our automated water treatment plant design tool, has gone through many iterations since its origins in 2008, when it was based on Mathcad, AutoCAD, Microsoft Word, and LabView. AIDE is now based on Onshape, which has FeatureScript as its built-in programming language that is fully integrated into the CAD environment.

Since our earlier draft of an AguaClara plant, we have been focusing on two major changes. The first was a complete overhaul of the method we use to bring the design algorithms and drawings of subcomponents into higher level assemblies. The second major change was to connect a parts database with our design process so that we could create a bill of materials. A bill of materials is the list of parts required to manufacture a product with their quantities, suppliers, and cost.

An example of a table that shows the output of the bill of materials.

Prices and physical components for each part are taken from part catalogues provided to us by our implementation partners and entered into a database. This database is then integrated into our designs in Onshape, and subsequently each part is automatically assigned a part number upon its entry into the model. This results in the self-generating formation of a bill of materials that includes quantities and prices, as well as a cut list that provides sizes.

The flow of information that results in the bill of materials.

The bill of materials will be incredibly useful in the development of general cost estimates and is especially powerful due to its ability to adapt the price to automatically reflect any changes that are made in the design. With our current plant, it takes under a minute to generate a new design that includes a material cost estimate. We have been meeting with one of our implementation partners, Agua para el Pueblo, to get their feedback on new designs. During this process, we continue to incorporate their suggestions into the design. Below is a quote from an Agua Para el Pueblo engineer, Aminta Núñez Galdámez, describing how the bill of materials affects their work.

Spanish

“... sacar cantidades de obras y hacer fichas unitarias de costos, es un trabajo un poco tedioso, pero se necesita hacer para conocer los costos reales de la planta, y mi meta era poder reducir estos esfuerzos para APP. Esto va a reducir estos tiempos y también será más sencillo estimar costos para diferentes tamaño de plantas, algunas personas interesadas en plantas para su comunidad, juntas de agua o donantes nos consultan cuanto podria costar una planta y nosotros sacamos estimados en base a nuestra experiencia, pero con las actualizaciones de AIDE podemos tener estimados de costos más certeros.”
— Aminta Núñez Galdámez, Agua Para el Pueblo

English

“... creating a bill of materials and unit cost sheets is pretty tedious work, but necessary to obtain the actual cost of the plant, and my goal was to reduce the time needed by APP to obtain this information. The bill of materials (through AIDE) will reduce that time and it will also be easier to estimate costs for different sized plants. People who are interested in plants for their community, community water boards, and donors ask us how much a plant might cost and we create an estimate based on our experience, but with these AIDE updates, we can have cost estimates that are much more accurate.”
— Aminta Núñez Galdámez, Agua Para el Pueblo

Please stay in touch and watch out for further updates on our progress!

  • Blog Post Author: Izumi Matsuda

Humans of AguaClara: John Finn

John Finn was a founding member of AguaClara Reach (ACR) and served as Board Director (2017-2021) and Board President (2017-2019). He was interviewed by AguaClara Reach volunteers as he stepped into a new role as Technical Advisor to the ACR Board in July 2021. John continues to volunteer with ACR to share his knowledge, passion, and insight that has gotten the organization to where it is today.

AguaClara Reach thanks John for all he has shared over the past few years!

A summary of the interview with John, which was conducted by AguaClara volunteers in July 2021, is posted below. The full interview follows.

Interview Highlights

My name is John Finn and I live with my family in Ithaca, New York. My father was a Chemical Engineering professor at Cornell University so growing up we talked a lot about microbiology and wastewater treatment. For a majority of my career, I worked with an interdisciplinary team to cleanup hazardous sites on a project-by-project basis. In the middle of my career, my wife, little daughter, and I went to Cambodia to volunteer with a world development and relief organization. My experience in Cambodia shaped my worldview and eventually got me involved with AguaClara. I am now in Ithaca raising my family and retired from day to day engineering consulting. For the past five years I've been focusing on climate change, education advocacy, AguaClara work and habitat protection with my daughter.

How did you become involved with AguaClara Reach?

Many things have to do with friendships right? In 1995 I returned with my family to my hometown of Ithaca and became friends with Monroe [Weber-Shirk]. Monroe had similar overseas service work experience and our daughters became friends as well. Since 1995 I’ve been following the development of AguaClara technologies and joined AguaClara LLC as an advisor in 2012. In the summer of 2017, I worked with May Sharif to transition the organization from AguaClara LLC to AguaClara Reach, the current non-profit.

What have your roles been at ACR and what did that day-to-day work look like?

I was the president of the ACR Board of Directors from 2017-2019. From 2019 to summer 2021, I continued as a Board of Director and starting in July, I started serving as a technical advisor to the ACR Board. I am not an AguaClara specialist. I couldn’t design AguaClara technology myself, but I am able to communicate the impact of AguaClara technology to potential donors, partners, and advisors. I connect potential donors, partners, and advisors with ACR and help explain what ACR does, and what ACR aspires to do.

What strengths do you bring to ACR?

I am one of those people who enjoy talking with strangers or those who are just acquaintances, viewing them as future friends. I really enjoy understanding where people are coming from, what motivates them, why they might be interested in some part of AguaClara Reach. I also have been involved with business and consulting for decades so have experience in some areas around personnel issues, hiring, and contracts. So that gives some of the unique things that I bring to the organization.

What is your favorite or most memorable moment with ACR?

One of my favorite moments was celebrating ACR getting approved to get the federal designation of 501(c) in early 2018. That rolls off the tongue, “We are a non-profit. We are a 501(c) organization.” It seems like a simple thing, but it was not at all a simple thing. Another wonderful moment was in July 2019 when Alissa [Diminich], Zoe [Maisel], and Serena [Takada] really stepped up and said yes we will be a part of ACR.. That was just such a huge water shed when Alissa, Zoe, Serena and others got involved. To say that, “We are going to do this. We are going to rally and pull together. We are going to reform our organization and put fresh energy in.” And they really did and that was a huge high point for me as well.

Why is providing people with access to safe water so important to you?

There’s nothing like having lived among folks for whom they don’t take water for granted. I grew up in Ithaca, traveled around, and at no point did I wonder if I was going to have water or safe water ever. When I lived among folks in Cambodia for whom that was an open question. That was a new experience. The creative responses that people in that situation have been eye opening. My experience in Cambodia inspired me and led me to have enthusiasm for the work of AguaClara Reach and the potential of AguaClara Technology to close the gap in access to safe water.

What influencing factors have driven your career and life choices?

My father brought home grad students to dinner very often. It was an atmosphere where friendships were as important as the scholarship that he was involved in as a professor. Students from all over the world expanded my world view and encouraged me to try and understand where people are coming from. In terms of my career, making the world better in even a small way was fulfilling. Solving problems, finding better solutions, and fixing things with people in a team effort was sometimes more fun than fun. It motivates me in engineering and in life, some of the reasons I find joy working with ACR.

How do you spend your free time?

I have a great amount of hobbies. I call myself a dabbler. I just enjoy a lot of variety. For example, for the past 20 years I have been playing guitar. At first I could only play three chords but with time, YouTube, and the help of friends, I am now an intermediate guitarist. I like acoustic, pop, and various blue genres with American roots. I also make my own wine and cider at home. My father taught me and I’ve been making my own wine for the past 25 years. I enjoy sharing my wine with my family and friends. I also have many outdoor hobbies. Lately I have been kayaking and birding more.

Is there anything else you would like to see within the ACR community that you would like us to accomplish?

I’m excited and enthusiastic about this next phase of the organization. It's great to be a part of something that is growing and expanding, and I see that continuing. I see a handful of people doing a lot of the heavy lifting and I’ve been there too. I think at this stage it’s important to take care of ourselves and I think we’re good at doing that. It is important that we value and nurture our existing relationships and partnerships, but it is also important to engage more with other nonprofits, experts, partners, and donors. I would like to see us reach out to some of those organizations and people. ACR is a collaborative organization and there are others who share that mindset of collaboration. Creating win-win mutually beneficial partnerships will be helpful to expanding the work and the mission of AguaClara Reach.

Do you have any last comments?

It’s been a really great run! Never a dull moment and I wish everybody well. Especially volunteers like yourself; thank you for your enthusiasm and continued commitment to the work or the organization! I’m looking forward to seeing how this next phase develops and unfolds.

I’m glad to still be a part of it.

Full Interview

My name is John Finn and I live with my family in Ithaca, New York. Ithaca is where I grew up as the son of Bob Finn, a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Cornell University. Biochemical Engineering and Microbiology were his fields so I grew up with the lab work of applied microbiology and wastewater treatment. That’s what we talked about a lot and what I did even as a teenager so I got an early start in applied microbiology and engineering and that led me to getting degrees in Chemical Engineering at the University of Connecticut and then a Master of Bioengineering at Cornell back home.

With that I went on to start my career in engineering with several firms that were doing remediation of contaminated sites across the U.S. With that career I lived in Boston, Seattle, and finally Ithaca. That’s what I did for a majority of my career: cleanup of hazardous sites on a project-by-project basis with a team of interdisciplinary geologists, scientists, and engineers for attorneys, regulatory agencies, clients who were responsible for those properties and their cleanup. That was really the thrust of my engineering career, very multidisciplinary, working as a consultant doing a lot of different things all in that area.

In the middle of that career, after about 10 years, my wife and l with our little daughter went to Cambodia. We just unplugged from our regular careers. For 2 years we did voluntary service with a world development and relief organization in Cambodia called the Men In Night, a church-based organization. At that point, Cambodia was still very much recovering from the Cambodia genocide and the Khmer Rouge were still very active. There was a curfew at night and restrictions on where we could go. There was a very heavy presence of mines, so we had to be very careful of where we walked out in the rural areas. All that was an intense experience but I was inspired by the Cambodian's that I worked with there, that I am still in touch with, as they rebuilt their country. It was a very inspiring time; I learned a lot from them.

That's really my background. I have a broad engineering knowledge, love working with interdisciplinary teams, and my worldview is shaped by my experience in Cambodia. I am now in Ithaca raising my family. I am no longer doing day to day engineering consulting. I retired from that. Now for the past five years I've been focusing on climate change, education advocacy, AguaClara work and habitat protection with my daughter.

How did you become involved with AguaClara Reach?

So this is a fun story. Many things have to do with friendships right? In 1995 I returned with my family to my hometown of Ithaca and soon after I returned I connected with other people who had done similar kinds of overseas service work including Monroe [Weber-Shirk]. We are a part of a group that met weekly and have continued to do so. So back in 95-96 we became friends, our daughters were the same age, and they became young friends.

Since 1995 I have been meeting and talking with Monroe once a week - socially just as friends. Through that I followed what has happened with Monroe’s research and teaching at Cornell. Monroe’s work was developing into this new avenue of what he would describe as “finding that edge of knowledge.” Essentially, finding those places where the knowledge of water treatment needed sharpening. I was following the progress that Monroe and AguaClara Cornell, his team of student researchers, were making. I really became involved more in 2012-2013. That was when three of Monroe’s former students had graduated and wanted to form a company that would take AguaClara technology and expand it through the world. That company was called AguaClara LLC and May Shariff was one of the founders. AguaClara LLC was looking for advisors and I was happy to join their team.

So May and I started our friendship. I was advising AguaClara LLC from time to time back in 2012. Through the evolution of the LLC into the final change to a non-profit, May asked me to be one of the primary people who would lead that effort. That was the summer of 2017. That’s when I started putting in more time and more hours as we created the non-profit. All together I’ve been working with AguaClara for nine years.

What have your roles been at ACR and what did that day-to-day work look like?

I was the president of the AguaClara Reach (ACR) Board of Directors starting in 2017 through July 2019. From 2019 to this summer I continued as a Board of Director and starting this summer I started serving as a technical advisor to the ACR Board.   

What I do right now is more hands off work with contacts that I’ve made and using my insights to be helpful to the organization. One of the main things is that I am not an AguaClara specialist, although I am an engineer and I am a generalist. I've followed it enough to get most of the technology, I understand it, but I couldn't design it myself. However, I am able to communicate it to others who are outside of AguaClara. I see it as one of the primary aspects of my role especially with potential donors or advisors to the organization.

So I've been in touch with people who've been involved with professional development, people who I've known since my days in Cambodia with a lot of experience in advising, people who would see an opportunity to be involved in financial support of the organization, and people who have a heart for the work and mission of the organization. I connect them with ACR and help explain what we do and what we aspire to do.

What strengths do you bring to ACR?

I am one of those people who enjoy talking with strangers or those who are just acquaintances, viewing them as future friends. So that’s one of the things: I can speak very well. Also I really enjoy understanding where people are coming from, what motivates them, why they might be interested in some part of AguaClara Reach. I am able to connect personally with partners, donors, advisors, volunteers, and employees.

I also have been involved with business and consulting for decades so have experience in some areas around personnel issues, hiring, and contracts. I can fill in as a consultant working with clients by putting myself in their shoes and know how to engage with them in ways that will lead to win-win situations. Although I’m not a contract specialist I have written and helped teams write competitive proposals for decades; I can help with proposals, prices and so forth. So that gives some of the unique things that I bring to the organization.

What is your favorite or most memorable moment with ACR?

It’s hard to pick just one but one of my favorites is definitely the moment when we were celebrating because we had achieved a pretty big milestone. Blixy [Taetzsch], May, Monroe, and I among others were working quite hard during the first year of ACR to get the federal designation of 501(c). That rolls off the tongue, “We are a non-profit. We are a 501(c) organization.” It seems like a simple thing, but it was not at all a simple thing. It was a lot of hoops to jump through and it was uncertain when we would be approved for that. The federal government needs to do that and there’s a long queue and a review process. Oftentimes it gets kicked back and you have to wait for another year. That did not happen with us. We worked really hard at providing applications that were thorough, understandable, complete, and met the criteria to be a non-profit as a New York State corporation and most importantly a 501(c)(3) with tax advantage status. That is not a small thing. It was a pretty big event that we were able to celebrate in early 2018 when we got the news on that.

 I would say another thing that was just as amazing and really wonderful was in July 2019 when Alissa [Diminich], Zoe [Maisel], and Serena [Takada] really stepped up and said yes we will be a part of ACR. Alissa said “I am willing, able and enthusiastic about taking up the president role in the organization” and that fresh energy was just a life saver in that part of 2019. There were a lot of difficulties, and I had a very tough time during that year. That was just such a huge water shed when Alissa, Zoe, Serena and others got involved. To say that, “We are going to do this. We are going to rally and pull together. We are going to reform our organization and put fresh energy in.” And they really did and that was a huge high point for me as well.

Why is providing people with access to safe water so important to you?

There’s nothing like having lived among folks for whom they don’t take water for granted. I have always lived in Ithaca. I grew up here. Traveled around and lived in other places in the U.S. At no point did I wonder if I was going to have water or safe water ever. When I lived among folks in Cambodia for whom that was an open question. Where they were going to get water and how much it was going to cost. How much of a percentage of their income was it going to take for their family to have water. That was a new experience. I had read about it, known about it, and seen movies about it but actually living and seeing that and the creative responses that people in that situation have been eye opening. My experience in Cambodia inspired me and lead me to have enthusiasm for the work of AguaClara Reach and the potential of AguaClara Technology to close the gap in access to safe water.

What influencing factors have driven your career and life choices?

One thing that really influenced my life was being around international students growing up. My father brought home grad students to dinner very often. It was an atmosphere where friendships were as important as the scholarship that he was involved in as a professor. Students from all over the world expanded my world view and encouraged me to try and understand where people are coming from.

In terms of my career, I wanted work that was worthwhile. Making the world better in even a small way was fulfilling. Doing that with likeminded people was a joy. Solving problems, finding better solutions, and fixing things with people in a team effort was sometimes more fun than fun. It was work but it was definitely fun. That’s been something that has continued to motivate me in engineering and in life. These are some of the reasons I find joy working with ACR.

How do you spend your free time?

I have a great amount of hobbies. I call myself a dabbler. I am not somebody who totally masters one thing very well. I just enjoy a lot of variety. For example, for the past 20 years I have been playing guitar. At first I could only play three chords but with a little bit more time, with the help of YouTube, and with the help of some friends, I am now an intermediate guitarist. I play the guitar a lot. I like acoustic, pop, and various blue genres with American roots.

 I make wine at home and hard cider. My father made wine for many years, and I learned from him. For the past 25 years, I’ve been making my own wine and for the past 10 years, I’ve been doing that more and more. Now I am a part of a home winemakers club. We taste each other’s wines. Every fall I get juice from a winery that sells just the juice and select yeast. Then I ferment the wine and bottle it myself and have it with friends and family.

I enjoy the outdoors so I’ve been doing more lake and river kayaking. I’ve started birding for the past few years.

Is there anything else you would like to see within the ACR community that you would like us to accomplish?

I’m excited and enthusiastic about this next phase of the organization. It's great to be a part of something that is growing and expanding, and I see that continuing.

I see a handful of people doing a lot of the heavy lifting and I’ve been there too. I think at this stage it’s important to take care of ourselves and I think we’re good at doing that. I’d like to see the organization continue to take care of ourselves as we engage with others towards their health. I see the many opportunities that we have: everything from working with new partners to engaging more deeply with partners that we had before. It is important that we value and nurture our existing relationships and partnerships but it is also important to engage more with other nonprofits, experts, partners, and donors.  I would like to see us reach out to some of those organizations and people.

It frustrates me when I see organizations almost compete as if it’s a zero-sum game meaning headlines or donors. ACR, on the other hand, is a collaborative organization and there are others who share that mindset of collaboration. Creating win-win mutually beneficial partnerships will be helpful to expanding the work and the mission of AguaClara Reach.

Do you have any last comments?

It’s been a really great run! Never a dull moment and I wish everybody well. Especially volunteers like yourself; thank you for your enthusiasm and continued commitment to the work or the organization! I’m looking forward to seeing how this next phase develops and unfolds.

I’m glad to still be a part of it.

  • Photographer: John Finn

  • Interviewers: Christine Richards, Alison Xu

  • Interview Transcription: Serena Takada

  • Interviewed: June 2021

OSU Update - Interview with Patrick Sours

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A Senior Lecturer at The Ohio State University (OSU), Patrick Sours initiated and currently leads the AguaClara Program at OSU. His focus is within the Global Engineering space where he teaches and leads water related research and projects. A full interview with Patrick is available below.

Please introduce yourself. What is your name, occupation, background etc.?

My name is Patrick and I am a Senior Lecturer at Ohio State University (OSU). I've been working in the Global Engineering space since 2013. I did my undergrad here at OSU studying Civil Engineering with the Humanitarian Engineering minor and the Global Option distinction. I have worked on projects in Honduras, Guatemala, Tanzania and Central Ohio. I decided to pursue graduate education at OSU in the Food, Agriculture and Bioengineering Department as they have been working to build more opportunities for students in this space. My project was on the construction and optimization of rainwater harvesting with a rural community in Tanzania.

Patrick with the 2017 rainwater harvesting rank. Marwa, Tanzania (2017)

Patrick with the 2017 rainwater harvesting rank. Marwa, Tanzania (2017)

When I finished my M.S. OSU hired me to teach and manage the Sustainable Resilient Communities (SRC) Program, which is one of our community engaged learning programs, so now I teach Global Capstone, CE 5610: Sustainable Infrastructure for Developing Rural Communities and service learning courses in Ghana, Honduras, and Tanzania.

How did you come to focus your work and research on water specifically?

I studied civil engineering in undergrad, which is very broad, and then I got more and more interested in water. Driven from my work on the Maji Marwa Project, a project in Tanzania focused on delivering a reliable source of clean drinking water to a rural Maasai community. We're hoping to take water from the Pangani river, pump it up to the high point, pass it through an AguaClara treatment plant, and then gravity distribute it back out to the community. So that project started with a rainwater harvesting project. We were building relationships and capacity with our NGO and university partner.

Community members assisting in the gathering of stone for a rainwater harvesting system. Marwa, Tanzania (2019)

Community members assisting in the gathering of stone for a rainwater harvesting system. Marwa, Tanzania (2019)

Over three years, the community implemented three rainwater harvesting tanks totaling about 100,000 liters of water storage capacity, providing around 300,000 liters a year to two schools and a community health center. This work is what led me to a focus on water.

My interest in water was spurred by seeing how it is so intertwined with all other aspects of community development. With water being such an integral part of daily life and seeing the difficulties caused by lack of access to water is what motivated me to focus on this area. 

How did you first hear about AguaClara Reach?

While working on the Maji Marwa project, we were looking at different treatment plans to build with our partner community in 2017, and somebody stumbled across the AguaClara design. I remember we were in a meeting and someone mentioned Monroe [Weber-Shirk], and then the Professor that I work with here, Dr. Michael Hagenberger, a Cornell graduate connected with Monroe.

Of course, Monroe was excited to share his insights with us via Zoom. The following year we had a student that was really interested in the AguaClara treatment system and went to Cornell for the summer to work in the lab.

Then about two years ago we really upped our engagement. With a lot of that coming through AguaClara Reach, and this is when we decided to bring the physical research to OSU to be one of the first projects in our Global Engineering Lab. So I'd say the last year has really been the biggest growth, especially working with Matt [Cimini] and the folks on the RIDE committee has really been instrumental in moving us forward. 

What inspired you to decide to set up an AguaClara program at Ohio State University (OSU)?

Really what inspired me to work on setting up this AguaClara Program at OSU was when I was down in Honduras visiting Zamorano University for a different project. Zamorano actually has an AguaClara treatment plant as their drinking water source, and this was before I had even really had that much interaction with anyone in AguaClara. I was able to tour the plant and I remember thinking that there was nothing there that we wouldn't be able to source in our community in rural Tanzania. I saw how seamlessly everything worked together. So that was really kind of the inspiration moment where I was able to see it in person and then I was all in from there.

Do you have any personal stories you’d like to share about why providing people with access to safe water is important to you?

I can think of one story that is part of my motivation the first year we were working on the rain water harvesting project in Tanzania. We were at the construction site and they had all the gutters up and it started to rain. And there was an elderly Maasai man who was watching the rain come through the gutters and he went over and filled up his water bottle and he was so excited. For me, just seeing the excitement on his face and the excitement from the nurses at the medical clinic, the realization that they were going to have water at the medical clinic and were not going to have to source water from the river anymore.

Community members and an OSU representative place the concrete roof slab on the rainwater harvesting storage tank. Marwa, Tanzania (2018)

Community members and an OSU representative place the concrete roof slab on the rainwater harvesting storage tank. Marwa, Tanzania (2018)

That moment really sticks with me because it's something just seeing how excited they were for those tanks to be completed. There's still a lot of work to be done with the community and I'm hoping as COVID starts to trend downward we're able to get back and rehash all of those relationships and partnerships and keep moving forward.

Could you please give us an update on the AguaClara Program at OSU this semester?

Essentially, what we've been working on this past year - we have two aspects of the work that AguaClara does being integrated into our Sustainable Resilient Communities Program. One is the global capstone, one of the new projects that we plan to offer to the students is a project that will incorporate some of the AguaClara Reach design technology. Matt and Zoe [Maisel] have been helping to scope that project.

The other thing that's really gotten going this past year is our research initiative with graduate and undergraduate students. We have about half a dozen students that have been really excited about an opportunity to build out one of the StaRS filtration lab setups. So we have three students that have been working with me this summer to get that all set up, get all the parts procured, and figure out what needs to go together and everything. So that's kind of where we're at right now. The plan for the fall is to hopefully finish the construction by the end of the summer and then get into the actual testing and theoretical research in the fall.

Students in the Global Engineering Lab working on the AguaClara StaRS filtration system. OSU (2021)

Students in the Global Engineering Lab working on the AguaClara StaRS filtration system. OSU (2021)

What is one challenge you have overcome or are in the process of overcoming in your work with ACR?

The hardest part is that there's a lot of institutional knowledge at Cornell. Trying to get all of the knowledge about the systems transferred here and to the students, has been a lot. I know it has been a lot of work for the folks at AguaClara Reach, the RIDE Committee, Matt and Zoe, and all of them that have been helping us get up to speed on all of that.

Most of the knowledge transfer is virtual meetings and having conversations through Slack. And then the different reports that have been produced as part of the ACC Program over the years, reading through those and asking questions.

The amount of materials and supplies that we have to procure to get everything set up has been a heavy lift. It has been slow but it's been a steady build with the aim to start recruiting a few more students and then really build out the AguaClara OSU program over the next few years.

What are some influencing factors that have driven your career and outside-of-work choices?

I traveled a lot with my family growing up, and then when I came to OSU I took advantage of all the travel opportunities that they have here with study abroad and service learning. It started as  going somewhere new and interacting with new cultures and then, as I did those things I wanted to integrate my engineering skill set into working on projects that I felt really mattered and was making a difference in people's lives. That's one of the influencing factors that drove me to stay in this academic route and then working with the communities and working with different people.

And then also as I stay in this academic world, working with the students has become important to me because I see how impactful a program like the AguaClara program or the SRC program that we have here is, and how that can really allow students to feel a sense of belonging. I had a student this past semester who was graduating and he said, “I never really felt like I belonged at OSU until I joined this program”. To me, that was just so exciting that a student who was coming to the end of their academic career who hadn’t really felt that sense of community was able to find a group of peers to interact with and make those connections.

Any final thoughts or advice you would like to share with other schools that are also interested in starting AguaClara programs?

I love the idea of growing and expanding the AguaClara mission and the research projects. It has been a lot of work but finding a few dedicated students or faculty members that are really interested in it has made all the difference. I truly believe in the AguaClara technology and mission and feel that it really can make a difference in people's lives. 

  • Photographer: Patrick Sours

  • Interviewer: Alison Xu

  • Transcriptions and Translations: Alison Xu

  • Interviewed: June 2021

  • Author: Alison Xu

Humans of AguaClara: Armando Mejía

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Armando Mejía is the head of the water board in Morocelí, Honduras. With the position being voluntary and unpaid, he is motivated by a sense of community rather than money.

The original interview with Armando, which was conducted by AguaClara Cornell students in January 2020, is posted below. The English translation follows.

Español:

¿Cómo se llama? 

Mi nombre es Armando Mejía.

¿Cuántos años ha trabajado como presidente en la junta de agua?

Bueno, ahora el ocho de enero estamos ocho… siete meses de estar al frente de la junta de agua en Morocelí.

¿De donde es originalmente? 

De originario de Tegucigalpa y residente siempre quedamos en Morocelí. 

¿Tuvo una experiencias relacionadas a la calidad de agua o la contaminación durante la juventud?

Sí, toda mi carrera profesional, soy ingeniero agrícola, y he trabajado fuertemente en el área de riesgos y una porción un poco en el tema de agua potable en algunas comunidades de la zona occidental del país. 

¿Tuvo una planta para mejorar la calidad del agua en su juventud o no?

No, no, en ese sentido no… no plantas completas como ésta que nos implemente, y los que están…con pequeño floculador. Nada más.

¿Tenía turbidez?

Sí, sí, así, a análisis de turbidez, pero no era el tanto el tratamiento como el que se hace aquí, porque esta experiencia, para a mi en [y?] el personal, ha sido nueva. Esta planta de tratamiento que tenemos en Morocelí. 

¿Por qué y cómo empezó trabajar bajó en la junta del agua? 

Participando en las asambleas, fui tener alguna apertura apoyando las juntas anteriores, y luego algún grupo se le ocurrió proponerme como presidente de la asamblea. Última que detuvimos a mitad de 2009, salió electo como presidente.

¿Por qué escogió este trabajo?

No pues, sí, es un voluntariado. Nosotros en.. no es un trabajo propiamente sino que es un voluntariado al que dedicamos tiempo como los demás miembros de la junta directiva. Y tenemos un equipo de trabajo de siete personas, pero nosotros directivos, es un voluntariado de días, de la noche, o sábado y domingo, y en cualquier otro horario, igual voluntariado. Pero sigues con el propósito de servir al pueblo de una trinchera necesaria y no tiene que ver nada con la política sino que simplemente el deseo de servir a la comunidad.

¿Fue elegido por la comunidad? 

Sí, fui electo en la asamblea de usuarios del sistema de agua potable y allí no se eligieron a siete personas como miembro de la junta directiva.

O, hay siete personas en la junta de agua, y ¿todas las personas son voluntarios o sólo usted?

Todos los siete, directivos y los voluntarios, y además tenemos un grupo de apoyo que también activan de manera voluntaria. Sólo siete personas, bueno ocho con un vigilante que es rotatorio cada quince días y no repite, y tratamos de apoyar a personas de la tercera edad que ya no tienen tantas puertas abiertas donde conseguir un trabajo. Con el vigilante son ocho las personas que trabajan en la junta.

¿Los operadores son pagados? 

Sí, los operadores son pagados. Son tres y trabajan en turnos de doce horas. Continuas de siete de la mañana a siete de la noche y sin son pagados.

¿Dónde trabaja usted para el dinero? 

Bueno anteriormente, mi carrera profesional, trabajé en proyectos de USAID, el proyecto de FAO – que es una agencia de la Naciones Unidas – en proyectos del Banco Mundial, y casi todos ellos educados [?] por la Secretaría de Agricultura y Ganadería de Honduras. 

¿Cuáles son sus responsabilidades en la junta del agua?

Bueno… mi responsabilidad es la coordinación general de todo el equipo de trabajo y de la junta directiva, administrar los recursos -- tanto agua, dinero -- y crear un plan de trabajo, y echar mandar para cada año. 

¿Cómo es su horario cada día?

No, no hay horario. Simplemente programamos una reunión ordinaria para el primer viernes de cada mes y después es vía teléfono, vía WhatsApp. Bueno, nos reunimos para resolver esta problemática, hay que pasar a la oficina a firmar documentos que están pendientes, y… bueno, no hay horario, somos prácticamente 24/7. 

¿Cuál es el futuro de esta planta, en su opinión?

Bueno, en mi opinión es que debemos, eh, estamos gestionando la ampliación de la capacidad de almacenamiento para mejorar la distribución a algunas zonas nuevas. Y el otro proyecto que tenemos es el envasado del agua; es agua de primera calidad y queremos hacer más rentable la planta. 

¿Qué piensa de la tecnología de tratamiento de agua en Honduras? 

Falta mucho por hacer. Son pocas las plantas de tratamiento que tenemos en Honduras. En mucha de los casos, es un sistema de conducción almacenamiento de agua y una posterior clarificación. Pero sí, está mucho, hay mucho por hacer todavía. Hay mucho por hacer. 

¿Tiene fe o esperanza en el mejoramiento del tratamiento de agua en Honduras?

Sí, claro que sí, porque se están dando ejemplos como esta planta y otras comunidades. Están queriendo poner en práctica, están adquiriendo sus propios proyectos y consiguiendo donantes o instituciones que colaboran con algún porcentaje para poner en marcha sus propias plantas de tratamiento, y sí, vamos a lograr. 

¿Cuáles son los cambios que ha notado como resultado del trabajo de la junta de agua aquí? 

Bueno, hemos logrado que hay un mejor manejo del recurso agua, porque ha habido demasiado derroche, porque hay bastante agua. Y hemos tenido algunos controles. Otros controles que hemos tenido es en el manejo de los recursos financieros. Ya las compras y las que se hacen es a través de requisiciones. También llevamos a licitación; varios de los servicios que estamos ejecutando las compras, hacemos licitaciones o cotizaciones. Y además de eso, tenemos también como responsabilidad el manejo de los desechos sólidos del municipio. 

English:

What is your name?

My name is Armando Mejía.

How many years have you worked as president of the water board?

Well, now on January 8th, I am seven months in of being at the head of the water board in Morocelí.

Where are you originally from?

Originally from Tegucigalpa.

Did you have any experiences related to water quality or pollution during youth?

Yes, throughout my career. I'm an agricultural engineer and I have worked hard in the irrigation area and a little on the issue of drinking water in some communities in the western part of the country.

Did you have a plant to improve water quality in your youth?

Not in that sense. No complete plants like this one were implemented, and those that were there were small. Nothing else.

Was there turbidity?

Yes, well, to turbidity analysis, but it was not both the treatment and the one done here, because this experience, for me and the staff, has been new. This treatment plant we have in Morocelí.

Why and how did work begin to fall into the water board?

By participating in the assemblies, I had some support from the previous board, and then some group came up to propose me as president of the assembly. Last time we stopped in the middle of 2009, he was elected as president.

Why did you choose this work?

This is voluntary work. It is not a job but voluntary work that we spend time doing, like the other members of the Board of Directors. And we have a team of seven people, but we are the managers, are the volunteers at night, or Saturday and Sunday, and on any other schedule, equal volunteering. But you continue with the purpose of serving the people. It is necessary and has nothing to do with politics, but rather simply the desire to serve the community.

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Were you chosen by the community?

Yes, I was elected to the drinking water system user assembly and there seven people were elected to the board.

There are seven people on the water board, and are all people volunteering or just you?

All seven, managers and volunteers, and we also have a support group that also volunteers. Only seven people, well eight with a watchman who is rotating every fifteen days and does not repeat, and we try to support seniors who no longer have so many doors open to get a job. With the watchman there are eight people who work on the board.

Are operators paid?

Yes, operators are paid. There are three and they work in twelve-hour shifts, continuously from seven in the morning to seven in the evening.

Where do you work for money?

Well before my career, I worked on USAID projects, the FAO project – which is a UN agency – on World Bank projects. For the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Honduras.

What are your responsibilities on the water board?

Well, my responsibility is the overall coordination of the entire team and the Board of Directors; managing the resources -- both water and money -- and creating a work plan to use for each year.

What is the schedule every day?

No, no schedule. We simply schedule an ordinary meeting for the first Friday of each month and then it's via phone, via WhatsApp. Well, we meet to solve certain problems like we have to go to the office to sign documents that are pending, and… well, there is no schedule, we are practically 24/7.

What is the future of this plant, in your opinion?

Well, we are managing the expansion of storage capacity to improve distribution to some new areas. And the other project we have is water packaging; it is top quality water and we want to make the plant more profitable.

What do you think of water treatment technology in Honduras?

There is a lot to do. There are few treatment plants we have in Honduras. In many cases, it is a water storage conduction system and further clarification. But yes, there's a lot, there's a lot to do yet. There is a lot to do.

Do you have faith or hope in improving water treatment in Honduras?

Yes, of course, because examples such as this plant and other communities are being given. They are wanting to implement; they are acquiring their own projects and getting donors or institutions that collaborate with some percentage to start up their own treatment plants, and yes, we are going to improve.

What are the changes you noticed as a result of the water board's work here?

Well, we have achieved better management of the water resource, because there was too much waste before but now there is enough water. And we have had some controls. Other controls we have had are in the management of financial resources. Already the purchases are done through requisitions. We also bid several of the services that we are executing. And in addition to that, we also have a responsibility for management of municipal solid waste.

  • Photographer: Nicole Wang

  • Interviewer: Irena Gao, Hannah Si

  • Transcriptions and Translations: Irena Gao, Hannah Si

  • Interviewed: January 2020

  • Plant Implementation Partner: Agua Para el Pueblo (APP)

  • Author: Melissa Louie

Humans of AguaClara: Erika Tenorio

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Erika Tenorio is a professor in the Department of Environment and Development at Zamorano University in Honduras. Her experience includes reforestation and watershed management projects to protect the quality of water resources. Much of her past and current research focuses on the intersection of poverty and environmental degradation. Her students have also engaged in research, both independent and jointly with AguaClara Cornell, at the Zamorano water treatment plant.

Pond at Zamorano University.

Pond at Zamorano University.

Plant at Zamorano University where some students conduct water treatment research.

Plant at Zamorano University where some students conduct water treatment research.

The interview was conducted in English by Cornell students in January 2020. The original transcript below is followed by a Spanish translation.

English:

Where do you work right now?

I am the head of the Department of Environment and Development at Pan American Agricultural School [in Zamorano University].

How did you learn English?

When I was seventeen years old I was involved in an exchange program in the U.S. so I decided to go to the U.S. to learn how to speak English.

How did you become involved with the Department of Environment and Development?

Here at Zamorano, I had the opportunity to do an internship right after I graduated from college. I studied environmental engineering and after that I got involved in a series of projects for the university. After a while I decided to accept an offer to be part of the Department of Environment and Development and now I’m a teacher. I'm part of the faculty and also currently the head of the department.

What were the internship and your projects like?

Back when I started, I was in a project for watershed management and the communities around it. So the first project I ever worked on was about environmental education for communities and also working with water boards for improving the water quality in the communities. There were projects about reforestation and management of waste and residuals and so I started to like that area and that field work. And that was very important for me to later decide to continue my studies in that area.

So you’re mostly focused on deforestation?

No, it's all environmental management but mostly watershed management so it's everything in the land or associated to the land that would have an impact on water quality and quantity.

How were your interactions with the communities?

I think I learned more from them than I could teach at that time because I had just graduated from college and everything was very new to me so I learned mostly from the challenges that they faced. From an academic standpoint, you can come up with a list of solutions but it's not until you learn the culture and the socioeconomic conditions of a community that you understand why they make the decisions that they make. And that helps you also come up with better ideas and how you can propose solutions [that] are actually feasible because the first thing is not just understanding the hydrologic dynamics but also it's important to understand community dynamics and why they make the decisions that they make and what sort of problems you have seen in the community. 

There are lots of problems related to poverty. Poverty is a driver for environmental problems but environmental problems also produce more poverty so when you have communities that don't have enough access to health, education, water…a lot of problems arise from that and the community becomes restrained, and that reduces their development. It's a cycle, really, because poverty will produce more poverty if you don't tackle the main causes of those problems.

Do you see any possible solutions to the cycle of poverty?

The main solution I believe is education. If our community knows that there are alternatives and there are other ways of doing things and if they understand the impacts of these negative things on their health and their lives, they will become empowered and they will take action and find solutions. So to me, education is the first and the main solution to tackle environmental problems.

What are your day-to-day responsibilities in your department?

Day to day, well, we have a very good group of faculty and staff in the program. We receive students from many different countries in Latin America so I coordinate all the classes and projects. 

What kinds of projects do students work on?

Projects with nearby communities and with other partners. Also some social responsibilities and activities. We manage the water treatment plant as well. So many different things: research-related academics, personnel management, etc.

How do you feel about the future of water treatment research in Zamorano?

I think that we have learned a lot in the recent years. There's still many more things that we can continue studying. There are many issues, not only for the work on [the Zamorano water treatment plant], but also for the water quality in the communities nearby. There's opportunity for creativity and new research ideas and solutions, so we are looking forward to the future and what new students can bring. Opportunities for exchange can also bring in ideas [for us to] improve what we're doing.

What are some recent research accomplishments that your university has made in water treatment recently?

We're hoping to have more research this year with one of the students planning to do an internship at Cornell University, working on improving some of the processes for cleaning [filters]. We've also done research with the professor Ruth Richardson at Cornell University to identify the presence of pathogens in the water. We've been collaborating on [a study of the] sample processing to figure out whether the plants are efficient in removing specific pathogens in the water.

I think it's really fascinating what you guys do and when I look at it, it is exactly the kind of engineering that is [used] to not just make money or be profitable but [to address] a real issue that affects thousands of people all over the world. [The research] requires a lot of knowledge and a lot of [equipment], which [we don’t always] have in a developing country, but it's high quality research that's done in a developed country to help developing countries.

What is the hardest part about your job?

I know we have issues with pH and metals that we're still working on, the mechanics of [controlling] the pH and chlorine [residual within] the distribution system, but that's really easy in terms of the overall everyday activities that we do. The hardest part of my job is to understand different personalities. We work every day with different kinds of stakeholders, so [the hardest part is] understanding personalities, what motivates staff, how to identify issues, and how to be able to solve them and provide solutions.

Do you have a message you would like to say for people listening to this interview?

If you are going to university, I think you should be really proud of the impact that you can have or the fact that research that's done at Cornell can have impact in countries like Honduras and also I guess motivate more people [by showing] it's possible to do something that they're passionate about and to never stop dreaming about an idea because that idea could potentially impact many people. And through hard work and trying to find other opportunities great things can come out of it and so you have a great opportunity to be in a top university that many people around the world would kill to have. That opportunity and that knowledge that you're gaining will be valuable when you put that into the service of others.

Español:

¿Dónde trabaja usted ahora?

Yo soy la jefa del Departamento de Ambiente y Desarrollo de la Escuela de Agricultura Panamericana en la Universidad de Zamorano.

¿Cómo aprendió Inglés?

Cuando tenía diecisiete años, era parte de un programa de intercambio en los Estado Unidos, y decidió a ir allá para aprender inglés.

¿Cómo se uniste usted al Departamento de Ambiente y Desarrollo?

Aquí en Zamorano, tuve la oportunidad de hacer un internado justo después de graduada de la universidad.  Estudió ingeniero ambiental y después trabajó en una serie de proyectos por la universidad.  Después de un tiempo, acepté una oferta para ser parte del Departamento de Ambiente y Desarrollo y ahora soy profesora, una parte del facultad y la jefa del departamento.

¿Cómo fueron el internado y sus proyectos?

Cuando empezó, estuve en un proyecto por manejo de cuencas y las comunidades cerca de las.  Entonces, el primer proyecto en el que trabajé fue sobre educación de medio ambiente por las comunidades y también trabajando con las juntas del agua para mejorar la calidad de agua en las comunidades.  Fueron proyectos sobre repoblación forestal y manejo de residuos.  Empezó a gustar este tipo de trabajo, y eso era muy importante para mí después para continuar mis estudios en este tipo de trabajo.

¿Entonces usted está enfocada en la deforestación principalmente?  

No, estoy enfocada en todo manejo del ambiente pero principalmente manejo de cuencas.  Entonces, es todo en la tierra o asociada con la tierra que tendría un impacto en la calidad y cantidad de agua.

¿Cómo fueron sus interacciones con las comunidades?

Pienso que aprendía más de ellas que puede enseñar a este tiempo porque me acababa de graduar de la universidad y todo era muy nuevo para mí, así que aprendí principalmente de los retos que ellas tienen.  Desde un punto de vista académico, usted puede hacer una lista de soluciones pero no es hasta que aprende la cultura y condiciones socioeconómicas de la comunidad que entienda por que ellas tomen las decisiones que tomen.  Y eso me ayudó también a tener mejor ideas y a hacer soluciones que son factibles.  Eso es porque el primer punto no es entender los problemas hidrológicos, también es importante las dinámicas de las comunidades y porque ellos toman las decisiones que tomen y cuál tipos de problemas usted ha visto en la comunidad. 

Hay muchos problemas relacionados con la pobreza.  La pobreza es una fuente de problemas ambientales pero problemas ambientales también produce más pobreza, entonces cuando tiene comunidades que no tienen suficiente acceso a la salud, educación, agua… muchos problemas surgen de eso y la comunidad se vuelve restringida, y eso reduce su desarrollo.  Es un ciclo, porque la pobreza producirá más pobreza si no aborda las causas principales de esos problemas.

¿Ve algunas soluciones posibles al ciclo de pobreza?

La solución principal creo es educación.  Si nuestra comunidad sabe que hay alternativas y hay otros vías de hacer cosas y si comprenden los impactos de esas cosas negativas en su salud y sus vidas, ellos se empoderán  y tomarán acción y descubrirán soluciones.  Pues a mi, la educación es la primera y principal solución a resolver problemas ambientales.

¿Cuáles son sus responsabilidades al día en su departamento?

Día al día pues tenemos un grupo muy bueno de facultades y personal en el programa.  Recibimos estudiantes de muchos países diferentes en América Latina, entonces coordino todos las clases y proyectos.  

¿Qué tipos de proyectos hacen los estudiantes?

Proyectos con comunidades cercanas y otros socios.  También algunas responsabilidades y actividades sociales.  Administramos el planto del agua también.  Pues muchas cosas diferentes: académicos en relación de investigación, administración de personas, etc.

¿Cómo se siente usted sobre el futuro del investigación del tratamiento del agua en Zamorano?

Pienso que hemos aprendido mucho en los años recientes.  Todavía hay muchas cosas podemos continuar a estudiar.  Hay muchos problemas, no solamente del trabajo de la planta de agua de Zamorano, sino también por la calidad del agua en las comunidades cercanas.  Hay la oportunidad por creatividad y nuevas ideas y soluciones de investigación, entonces estamos atentos al futuro y que los nuevos estudiantes pueden traer.  Oportunidades por intercambio pueden crear ideas [para] mejorar lo que estamos haciendo.

¿Cuáles son algunos logros de investigación recientes que su universidad ha hecho en tratamiento del agua recientemente?

Estamos esperando a tener más investigación este año con una de las estudiantes planeando a hacer un internado a Cornell University, trabajando en mejorar algunas de los procesos por limpiando [filtros].  También hemos investigado con la profesora Ruth Richardson en Cornell University a identificar la presencia de patógenos en el agua.  Hemos estado colaborando en [una estudia del] procesamiento de muestras para determinar si las plantas son eficientes quitando patógenos específicos en el agua.      

Pienso que es muy fascinante lo que ustedes hacen y cuando me lo veo, es exactamente el tipo de ingeniería que está usado para no solamente ganar dinero o ser rentable, pero abordar el problema está afectando a miles de personas en todo el mundo.  [La investigación] requiere mucho conocimiento y mucho equipo, que [no siempre podemos] tener en un país en desarrollo, pero es alta calidad que se está haciendo en un país desarrollado para ayudar países en desarrollo.

¿Cuál es la parte más difícil de su trabajo?

Sé que tenemos problemas con pH y rieles que estamos trabajando en, las mecánicas del controladora el pH y cloro del sistema de distribución pero eso esta muy facil entre los actividades que hacemos cada día.  La parte más difícil de mi trabajo es para comprender alusiones personales diferentes.  Trabajamos cada día con diferentes tipos de partes interesadas, entonces [la parte más difícil es] entendiendo alusiones personales, lo que motiva al personal, como se identifica problemas, y cómo poder resolver los y proveer soluciones.

Tiene un mensaje que quiere decir al personas escuchando a este entrevista?

Si va a universidad, pienso que debería estar orgulloso del impacto que puede tener.  También que investigación que está hecho en Cornell puede tener un impacto en países como Honduras y también motivar a la persona por mostrar que es posible hacer algo que está apasionada sobre y a nunca detener sonando sobre una idea porque esta idea podría impactar muchas personas.  Y con mucho trabajo y tratando de descubrir otras oportunidades grandes cosas pueden salir de eso y pues tiene una gran oportunidad a estar en un mejor universidad que muchas personas quieren.  Esta oportunidad y este conocimiento que está ganando será muy valioso cuando lo use en servicio de otros. 

  • Photographer: Yitzy Rosenberg (headshot), Cindy Jin (plant and pond photos)

  • Interviewer: Melissa Louie and Irena Gao

  • Transcriptions and Translations: Melissa Louie, Ian Cullings, and Irena Gao

  • Interviewed: January 2020

  • Plant Implementation Partner: Agua Para el Pueblo

  • Author: Melissa Louie

Humans of AguaClara: Oscar Trujillo

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The 16 LPS water treatment plant in Morocelí is built to serve a population of around 5,300.

The 16 LPS water treatment plant in Morocelí is built to serve a population of around 5,300.

As the Chief of Operations of the AguaClara water treatment plant in Morocelí, Oscar Trujillo oversees the day-to-day activities of distributing clean water to the community. He also works on educational programs within the community to encourage people to save water and protect the forests and surrounding environment.

A full interview with Oscar, taken by AguaClara Cornell students in January 2020, is available below in Spanish. It is followed by an English translation.

Español:

¿Cómo se llama?

Oscar Trujillo.

¿Y cuál es su papel en la planta?

Soy el jefe de operación del sistema de agua potable de Morocelí.

¿Cuántos años [ha trabajado en la junta de agua]?

Tengo seis años para [trabajar por] la junta de agua.

¿Qué hace en este papel?

Coordino las actividades de la operación de la planta, coordino la operación de la linea de conduccion, y coordino las operaciones de la oficina administrador en el alcal de viete cuando los abonados van a pagar el dinero del agua.

¿Cuáles desafíos hay en esta planta?

Los desafíos que tenemos en la planta es que la población ya va creciendo. [La planta] fue diseñada para dieciséis litros por segundo, actualmente estamos consumiendo trece litros por segundo y el pueblo va a creciendo. En cinco o seis años, tenemos que pensar en otra planta más grande que esta. Es un desafío que tenemos, y otro desafío es la implementaciòn de la instalaciòn de micromedidores. Es el desafío ahorrar agua. Como socializar como un abonado que consume menos agua, que no desperdicie el agua, que no bote el agua.

¿En Moroceli, tiene un programa para educar a la comunidad sobre el uso del agua?

Sí, como en la [comunidad] mundial, nos apoya para socializar con barrios para que sepan el uso del agua, para que aprovechen el agua en [esta] manera. Este es uno de los proyectos que estamos sosteniendo. Educando a los niños, a los jóvenes, y a los adultos, escuelas, colegios, e iglesias, para que cuidemos el agua.

¿Cuáles cambios hay a causa de la planta?

Primero, han bajado los niveles de las enfermedades gastrointestinales. Dos, los problemas de dengue, no tenemos, porque ahora es más fácil saber si tenemos sucia la pila no tenemos sucia. Y otra logra es que la calidad de vida ha mejorado. La salud ha mejorado, la calidad de vida con este agua. Nos bañamos con agua limpia, comemos los alimentos con agua limpia, los cocinamos, y tomamos agua limpia. 

¿Usted tenía experiencias sobre la calidad del agua en su juventud?

Sí, claro. A veces en el invierno no abríamos las llaves porque lo que entraba era el lodo, era chocolate. [Necesitaban] cerrar las llaves y no podemos bañar en las quebradas. [No podemos usar] las quebradas para tomar. Imágenes. Ahora abrimos las llaves y tenemos agua de calidad. 

¿Por qué quiere trabajar con este tema del agua?

Porque el agua es la vida. Y es uno de los proyectos que no es tanto hablar de dinero ni de paga, sino por la calidad de vida que tenemos para tener agua de calidad, servir a las personas. A servir a la comunidad con el agua es buenísimo, es bueno. 

¿De qué está más orgulloso?

¡De la planta, de tener la planta! Sí, estamos orgullosos de tener una planta como esta.

¿Cuál es su inspiración para continuar este trabajo?

Mi motivación ya es algo natural para los jóvenes, por los niños que vienen, verdad. Esto es mi motiva, no es sueldo. Como le digo, mi motiva a que tengamos un buen calidad pa’ que las personas que nos visitan [pueden ver] nuestras familias tengamos personas saludables. Esa es mi motivación, que nuestras familias seamos sanas. Seamos familias fuertes, saludables, verdad. Esa es mi motivación, es mi inspiración para continuar.

¿Tiene unos cuentos específicamente sobre eso?

Claro que sí. En invierno no consumimos el agua, no usamos agua. No, muy fea, muy sucia, no lo usábamos. Ahora, vienen de otras comunidades a traer agua en estas casas. Vienen a traer agua en botes, en carros, porque ellos tienen agua sucia. Otros lugares ya no quieren tocar allá que el agua porque es agua sucia, es diferente, entonces de esa manera estamos ayudando mucho. 

¿Qué quiere decir a la gente que [leerá] esta entrevista?

Primero, que cuidemos el agua. El agua es la vida. Y dos, que protejamos los bosques. Que protejamos los bosques, y que hagamos conciencia que el agua no tiene valor. El agua no tiene precio. No tiene precio el agua. 

Por lo tanto, yo invito a todas las personas a que trabajemos para tener agua. Y trabajar por tener agua se indica primero tenemos conciencia de responsabilidad, conciencia con el ambiente, conciencia con los bosques, con nuestras familias, para que les podamos elevar a nuestros hijos y nuestros nietos, a los que vienen atrás de nosotros, que también tengan derecho a tener agua de calidad. 

English:

What is your name?

Oscar Trujillo.

And what is your role in the plant?

I am the Chief of Operations of the water treatment system in Morocelí.

How many years have you worked on the water board?

I have worked on the water board for 6 years.

What do you do in this role?

I coordinate the activities for operating the plant, the operation of the management line, and the operations of the administrative office when subscribers pay for the water.

What challenges does this plant have?

The challenge we have is that the population is growing. [The plant] was designed to produce sixteen liters of water per second. We are actually consuming thirteen liters per second and the town is growing. In five or six years, we will have to think about a larger plant than the one here now. Another challenge is the implementation of the installation of water meters to save water. It is the challenge of saving water; of creating a customer who consumes less water, who doesn’t waste water, and who doesn’t throw the water away.

In Morocelí, do you have a program to educate the community on water use?

Yes, like in the global community, we have a program that helps us to educate the neighborhoods on water use, and to make use of the water in a certain manner. This is one of the projects that we are supporting. Educating the children, adults, schools, colleges, and churches to take care of the water.

What changes have you seen as a result of the construction of the water treatment plant?

First, the levels of gastrointestinal illnesses have gone down. Secondly, we don’t have the problems of dengue [fever] anymore, because now it is easier to know when we have dirty water. And another achievement is the quality of life has improved. Health and the quality of life has improved with this water. We bathe with clean water, we eat food with clean water, we cook, and we drink clean water.

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Did you have experiences regarding the quality of water in your childhood?

Yes. Sometimes in the rainy season we did not open the faucets because what came in was mud. It was like chocolate. We had to close the tap and we could not bathe in the streams. We could not use the streams to drink. Imagine it. Now we open the taps and we have quality water.

Why do you want to work on water issues?

Because water is life. And in these projects, it is not enough to talk of money nor pay, because it is for the quality of life that we have to obtain quality water, to serve the people. To serve the community with water is great.

What are you most proud of?

The plant, the plant, of having the plant! Yes, we are proud of having a plant like this.

What is your inspiration for continuing this work?

My motivation is something natural: for the youths, the children who come after us. This is my motivation, not a salary. As I told you, my motive is for us to have a good quality of life so that people who visit us can see our families and that we have healthy people. This is my motivation, that our families are healthy. That we are strong, healthy families. This is my motivation, it is my inspiration to continue.

Do you have specific stories on this?

Of course. In the winter we did not consume water; we did not use water. It was very ugly, very dirty, so we did not use it. Now, other communities come to Morocelí to bring this water to their homes. They come to bring water in boats, in cars, because they have dirty water. Other places already do not want to touch their own water because it is dirty water. So in this manner we are helping a lot.

What would you like to say to the people who will read this interview?

First, that we must take care of the water. Water is life. And secondly, that we must protect the forests. That we protect the forests, and that we are conscious that water is invaluable. Water does not have a price. 

Therefore, I invite all people to work to have water. And to work to have water indicates first that we have awareness of our responsibility, awareness of the environment, awareness of the forests, of our families, so that we can elevate our children and our grandchildren who will come after us, who also have the right to have quality water.

  • Photographer: Melissa Louie (headshot), Ching Pang (plant photo)

  • Interviewer: Melissa Louie

  • Transcriptions and Translations: Melissa Louie

  • Interviewed: January 2020

  • Plant Implementation Partner: Agua Para el Pueblo

  • Author: Melissa Louie

Humans of AguaClara: Blixy Taetzsch

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Blixy Taetzsch is the current AguaClara Reach Board Treasurer and works on various aspects of the organization from accounting and budgeting to planning and policy. A long-time volunteer for many organizations, Blixy supports and inspires ACR not only with her great insights and experience but also her kindness and desire to help others. To celebrate International Women’s Day, ACR volunteers interviewed Blixy about her role in ACR and what motivates her to lead a life of service. Thank you, Blixy, for continuing to #ChooseToChallenge with ACR.

Could you please introduce yourself?

I'm Blixy Taetzsch, I am an accountant. I'm also a certified public accountant. So, that means I worked in public practice long enough to get my license and also pass the state exam. So, similar, maybe to a professional engineer.

Where did you grow up?

Well, that's interesting, because I actually was born in California, in Burbank and Los Angeles County. But I grew up in New Jersey, primarily in a more urban area, not far outside of New York City. We moved a lot when I was growing up. I don't think I was in one school for longer than three years; that was the longest time I was ever in one public school.

I came to Ithaca to go to college, like so many of us do here. I went to Ithaca College and I never left. I got married and I actually live in a rural area outside of Ithaca on a dairy farm. My husband is a dairy farmer, so a very different life that I've had for the last 35 years than how I grew up.

How did you get involved with AguaClara?

That's sort of an interesting tale. Most of my working career I've been a volunteer for some organization in some capacity. Since I was maybe 22 I've been volunteering. Many of that volunteer time has been on boards as I got further in my career. And so I was on the Sciencenter board as a trustee and I met Mark Hurwitz there, who was an AguaClara board member. He knew my background in accounting and specifically nonprofit accounting. I specialize in nonprofit and government accounting and finance so he asked if I would help and he introduced me to Maysoon (May) Sharif [ACR founder].

I spent some time giving him some advice about starting a not-for-profit corporation because this was when AguaClara was first started and hadn't even gotten its not-for-profit IRS status yet. I got so excited about the mission of the organization that I agreed to join the board and become the Board Treasurer. I spent a lot of time with May in those days trying to learn about and understand the organization. So that's how I got involved; it's like, who knows who and Ithaca is a small area and there's a lot of people. It's sort of the same collection of people who serve on boards and you run into each other in different places.

As the treasurer, what does your day-to-day work look like for AguaClara Reach?

Well, since ACR is pretty much a volunteer run organization, as Board Treasurer, my work actually includes what one might think of as an employee's work too. I do all the accounting and bookkeeping taxes. I deal with employment, procedures, making sure we're good with insurance, and all the things we need to do to be compliant with labor laws and things like that. These things aren’t normally what a Board Treasurer would do but it's what I'm doing for ACR, because they need that and I know how to do these things. I also create financial statements and prepare the organizational tax returns which are the 990 and a state report you have to do for not-for-profits. It really is sort of my contribution, right, because otherwise you'd have to pay someone to do those things. Since I'm a CPA, I have the background and experience to do that.

And then of course as Treasurer I also work with budgeting. That's more of a collaborative process, whereas the accounting bookkeeping is sort of just something I just do. And then, as a part of the Executive Committee of the board, I also work with the board on policy, planning, hiring and all of those things. I just try to be available and help out as much as I can.

Sometimes committees will also invite me to their meetings, like the RIDE (Research, Invent, Design, Engage) Committee for example, because they want to know what I think about maybe a fee structure or how something would work from a financial or contractual perspective.

What I’ve found to be true working with ACR is that I'm often the only person who's not an engineer at meetings although that's changing a little bit more recently. I've learned a lot because everyone has such a different background, experience, and expertise. I've always got lots of questions about what things mean or how things work because you can't really help an organization financially if you don't understand what it is that they're doing and what they need. Part of being a good financial person is asking those questions.

What unique strengths do you think you bring to ACR?

I've worked in higher education for most of my career at the local community college at Tompkins Cortland County Community College (T3C) so I think my experience there in an academic setting is a strength. I know the educational process but also have financial insurance knowledge and all of that other background I think, which really brings just a lot of experience. 

The fact that I've worked with a lot of nonprofit organizations, both as a volunteer and in the time when I was doing public accounting, is also helpful. I just know a lot of different organizations so I can look at them and say what are some best practices that we could learn from and help with outreach. I think my other strengths are just that I see the connectedness between things and how an organization might work and how the different pieces might support one another. And so my experience with organizations and organizational development, I think, is helpful.

Sometimes it helps that I’ve just been doing this a long time. I know there are a few of us on the board who are further in their careers, but there are a lot of people on the board who are earlier in their careers. All of that's great, but sometimes just having some of that experience or knowing where to find things is helpful. I love organizations with a social justice mission so I'm very personally interested in working with those kinds of organizations. 

I'm interested in hearing about your commitment to service and what draws you to these organizations in general.

I think back to my first volunteer job. I worked as a credit counselor at family and children services in Ithaca working with people who were having issues with debt or other challenges financially. I was very young and sometimes it was challenging because people would look at me and try to figure out how in the world I was going to help them because I looked so young, but I did have that expertise and I learned a lot. 

I guess I've just always been drawn to wanting to try to help other people in whatever way I could. It's a little harder when your background is accounting, right, how do you help people? But then I found myself in my public accounting career working with nonprofits, government, small government, education, and I thought, this is how I can help people. I can help organizations that help people. And I was drawn to TC3 because a community college is very much a social justice mission organization; it's access to education for everyone. And just knowing that I could work with students even if I was more of a behind-the-scenes person to make education possible for people who might not otherwise have it was a big, big deal for me. So that's how I ended up being more in service but I feel like it's something that I wanted to do since I was a child. I was always drawn to wanting to figure out how to help people who were suffering.

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Do you have any personal stories about why providing people with access to clean water is important to you?

I guess I feel like meeting people's basic needs, meaning food, shelter, health, you know those basic things, are really important to me. I'm not sure that I was first drawn to AguaClara because I had so much passion around water specifically. I know that for a lot of the people involved that's been their whole focus, but for me it was more about improving people's lives. A lot of people don't have those very basic things that we just take for granted, or that I take for granted. ACR really aligned with that for me. So I don't know that I was drawn because it was water but when I found out what was happening I was like, this is awesome.

And I love science. When I first went to school I wasn't planning to be an accountant, I was planning to be an engineer. I was studying physics engineering but I found out quickly that it really wasn't for me and I changed paths a little bit but that doesn't mean that I've lost my love for science. So one of the organizations I still volunteer with is the Sciencecenter. I really feel like understanding how the world works and understanding science especially for women and girls, is really important. So, I've always been involved with organizations that are focused on education and learning.

And so it's not just giving people something they don't have. It's helping people have better lives but enabling them to do that themselves. It's about enabling people, as opposed to just doing something for them, helping them realize their own potential and accountability and helping them get the resources to do that if they don't have it.

What do you think are some influencing factors that have driven your career and outside of work choices?

Where I live, and my choice to stay in Ithaca had a lot to do with falling in love. I don't know how I fell in love with my husband, right. He's a farmer. He isn't going anywhere. I learned a lot about farming and the land and I found that I love to be gardening. I've always loved outdoor things but I love gardening and growing things. I really love the rural living and so in terms of my choices about where I am, it probably had more to do with who I'm with.

But in terms of helping people and picking things, it's really about people. I just like relating to people. I would consider myself introverted which may be surprising to some, but I'm more of a relator so one-on-one or in small groups I usually feel pretty comfortable. I just learn so much just from those interactions with people and I really genuinely believe people are basically wonderful for the most part. I like to see the best in others and I tend to focus on that, which sometimes others think is dangerous but that's just who I am.

Who is one of your role models and why?

My mother is a role model because she is one of the least judgmental people I know. She just takes people as they are, and has pretty strong ethics around that. I learned that growing up so I learned not to be judgmental. In that sense, she's a role model or she has been for me. She's a writer and artist, so does very different things.

Could you talk a bit about who you strive to be through your life philosophies?

I will share a couple of things that I have found really helpful to me. I'll refer to a book called The Four Agreements. It's something that I strive towards because we never get there but, you know, the idea of doing your best, not taking things personally, being impeccable with your words, and not making assumptions. So those are the four agreements. They are very simple things but they're really hard to do. And again, it's really a lot about not only how you relate to others but how you relate to yourself, how you talk to yourself.

So that's really important to me. And then I think some philosophies that you might think of as maybe Buddhist philosophies, but they're probably not uncommon in many ways of thinking or faith based thinking, is just about having that beginner's mind and just sort of trying to love the people around you and not having in mind necessarily about who somebody is, and being open and even when it's uncomfortable, trying to listen and understand where other people are coming from.

They're related, but you know just really trying to love people, even when they're doing or saying things that maybe aren't as lovable and trying to understand and doing the same thing for yourself. Because it's really hard to be open to others or loving to others if you can't, you know, forgive yourself too and understand that you have to be kind to yourself. So none of those things are easy to do. So that's kind of what I strive for.

Is there anything else you’d like to add specifically related to International Women’s Day?

At this juncture, some of the conversations I'm having with some of the women professionals that are colleagues on the board with me, lead me to believe that the workplace hasn't changed dramatically from what I was operating as a professional in my career. Things are challenging sometimes, and it is still difficult for women in particular, I think, and women minorities, even more so, to excel in fields that are professions like engineering, accounting, legal, those that have tended to be dominated by the majority culture. I guess I thought things had changed more since I was first in my career and had some experiences that were maybe a little unsettling. That is why I left public accounting and went to work for community college, which is a much more supportive environment for me. And I'm just slightly disappointed to hear that maybe that hasn't changed as much as I thought.

I would just encourage people to keep on with it and keep your values and don't compromise and if you're not comfortable in the place you are to seek out someplace where it’s better and a good fit. I don't think someone should compromise their personal values just for a job. I have found myself facing those issues from time to time at various points in my career and it's hard. It's really hard sometimes. So I just want to say that from my perspective of having done this for 35 years and having been quite young when I started, younger than normal. I started college when I was 16, so it was not only difficult as a woman but it was difficult because I was young and I also looked really young. I remember working at a school, a public school, and having a child walk up to me and say, “Are you a grown up? Are you a kid?” I was performing an independent audit there as a professional, so yes. I wasn't offended because it was a little boy curious about who I was and what I was doing there but those are all challenging things. 

Thank you, Blixy! ACR is lucky to work with you.

  • Interviewer: Melissa Louie

  • Transcriptions: Melissa Louie

  • Interviewed: March 2021

  • Author: Melissa Louie

Humans of AguaClara: Fletcher Chapin

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Fletcher Chapin is the Project Manager for the AguaClara Reach India Program. Last year, Fletcher spent a month in the Patimul village in Odisha, India, providing technical support for the installation of a Hydrodoser, which is a device that disinfects water and reduces waterborne illnesses in the community.

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Gram Vikas (GV) and AguaClara Reach (ACR) members in Patimul with the installed Hydrodoser (January 2020). From left to right: Sudanshu (GV Supervisor), Fletcher (ACR), Debashish (GV Engineer), Apriya (GV Technician), and John (GV Driver).

The Hydrodoser technology developed by AguaClara Cornell and AguaClara Reach automatically doses well water with an appropriate amount of chlorine. The chlorine kills pathogens that could otherwise cause life-threatening waterborne diseases.

The Hydrodoser technology developed by AguaClara Cornell and AguaClara Reach automatically doses well water with an appropriate amount of chlorine. The chlorine kills pathogens that could otherwise cause life-threatening waterborne diseases.

Part of the hydrodoser system that was installed in Patimul.

Part of the hydrodoser system that was installed in Patimul.

Location of Patimul hydrodoser installation.

Location of Patimul hydrodoser installation.

Read the full interview with Fletcher below, which was conducted by Gram Vikas, an India-based community partner of AguaClara Reach. The original English interview is first, with a Spanish translation following. A translation in Odia will also be posted once complete.

English:

Please introduce yourself.

I’m Fletcher Chapin and I work as the India Program project manager for AguaClara Reach. AguaClara Reach is a U.S. based NGO which works to train partner organizations such as Gram Vikas on our water treatment technology. Here in Odisha we’re working to implement something called the “Hydrodoser” which is a water chlorination technology that is ideal for scenarios where there’s low turbidity in the water but some pathogens or bacterial contaminants that need to be treated.

About a year and a half ago I graduated from college and my first job after college was working for Microsoft as a software engineer. I didn’t enjoy that work as much and I didn’t find it very fulfilling, so a few months ago I decided to leave Microsoft and I applied to work with AguaClara Reach; AguaClara Reach had this position set up specifically for India so I chose to do this instead of software engineering because it seemed like an exciting challenge.

Can you tell us something about the significance of the Hydrodoser as an innovation?

So the reason the Hydrodoser is really cool is that it’s all electricity-free, so it’s just basically working on gravity. What that means is that if they have a gravity-fed water source, they don’t have to spend money on electricity for the system. What’s difficult in most systems, the challenge that the Hydrodoser is trying to tackle, is adjusting the chlorine dose as the plant flow rate changes. So if there’s a lot of rain and then there’s an increase of water into the plant, the Hydrodoser will adjust the dose automatically to increase it to accommodate for the increased water flow into the plant. And so the operators won’t have to manually adjust the dose themselves.

Why do you think this design solution started?

The goal from AguaClara Reach’s perspective is always to empower the communities and to have them use locally-sourced parts as much as are available. Most conventional water treatment technology uses a lot of metal, a lot of metal parts, and electrical equipment and our goal is to take all of that away so that the villagers can maintain the system themselves. If something breaks it’s all just PVC pipes so they can replace the parts themselves that way we can really try to empower them to have ownership of the water treatment plant.

 What has your experience been like so far?

It’s been a really exciting experience. There have been some challenges and some really good parts. All the people have been really kind and welcoming and the community members are really appreciative of the work and would bring us chai and snacks and stuff during the work, which was very nice of them. One villager climbed up a thirty or forty foot tree to get us coconuts all the time so we could have fresh coconut water. So the villagers were very, very nice. And it’s really good and fulfilling to see your work be appreciated and for the excitement that all the villagers had. Like at the inauguration, they were all singing and dancing and that’s very good to see because even if we implement and build the technology, without the support of the community to maintain and operate it, it doesn’t really matter how well the technology functions. It’s really important to have the support of the community. 

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And then I guess, the challenge is that it’s definitely isolating for me. Being from the United States, only speaking English, and having spent a month out in rural Odisha where people don’t usually speak any English, it can be challenging to feel isolated from all of my friends and family at home. And lonely. But the work made it worthwhile I think.

Are you seeing an impact? Now that the Hydrodoser has come to the two villages, did you get to speak with the villagers about it?

So I didn’t get to talk with them very much. I know one thing they said is that they’re still not used to the taste of the chlorinated water because before they had untreated water and now it tastes a bit like chemicals. So they didn’t like that their rice tasted like chlorine. But I think they should get used to it. In terms of long term impacts, though, I don’t think I could tell yet. But they were definitely very happy and proud to have the system installed.

How do partnerships become important in reaching the underserved?  

I think with serving underserved communities it’s such a big challenge that you need help from a lot of different people with expertise in different areas. And so in this example, AguaClara Reach, we understand the technology really well, but like I was saying, you need the community support to operate and maintain the technology. Coming in as foreigners from the United States, it would basically be impossible for us to just develop community support ourselves so we need a partnership with someone like Gram Vikas, who’s a local group that is more in tune with the communities and can go and reach out more directly and get support there. The community’s role in the partnership is very important as well because they’re the ones at the end of the day who do a lot of the work and will pay to operate the plant and maintain it. So you definitely need the work from all three groups together to reach the goal that we want.

How was the experience working in Odisha?

I’ve enjoyed it so far. Like I said, everyone has been very welcoming and the food is very good so I like that. I like Indian food, so that’s a good thing. If that wasn’t true it would have been a lot worse. But it’s a very different experience than working at Microsoft, and working in an office all day which is more comfortable but more monotonous. Working in the field is exhausting but it’s really exciting. I said to a friend back home that I think in one day in the field I would have more excitement and fulfillment in my work than a month at my old job.

Español:

Por favor, preséntase.

Soy Fletcher Chapin y trabajo como director de proyectos en el programa de India para AguaClara Reach. AguaClara Reach es una ONG basada en los E.E.U.U. que trabaja para entrenar organizaciones asociadas, como Gram Vikas, en la tecnología de tratamiento del agua. Aquí en Odisha trabajamos para implementar algo que se llama el “Hydrodoser,” que es una tecnología para poner cloro en el agua. La tecnología es ideal para escenarios cuando no hay mucha turbidez en el agua pero hay patógenos o contaminantes bacterianos que necesitan ser tratados.

Hace casi un año y medio, me gradué de la universidad y mi primer trabajo después de la universidad fue como ingeniero de software con Microsoft. No disfrutaba ese trabajo mucho porque no me daba satisfacción. Entonces hace algunos meses atrás decidí dejar a Microsoft y aplique a trabajar con AguaClara Reach. Esta posición fue establecida específicamente para India, así que escogí eso en vez de ingeniería de software porque me parecía como un desafío estimulante.

¿Puede contarnos algo de la significancia del “Hydrodoser” como una innovación?

El Hydrodoser es muy chevere porque no necesita electricidad, asi que basicamente funciona en gravedad. Entonces, sí el pueblo tiene un fuente de agua vertida de gravedad, no necesita gastar dinero para electricidad para el sistema. El desafío abordado del Hydrodoser es el ajuste de cloro cuando cambia el caudal de agua en la planta. Entonces, si hay mucha lluvia y un aumento de agua a la planta, el Hydrodoser ajuste la dosis automáticamente para adaptar al aumento de caudal. Así que los operadores no necesitan ajustar la dosis manualmente. 

¿Por qué empezó esta solución [el Hydrodoser]?

La meta de perspectiva de AguaClara Reach es empoderar las comunidades y usar componentes de origen local. La mayoría de tecnología convencional de tratamiento del agua usa mucho metal y muchas partes metales y equipo eléctrico y nuestro meta es quitar esos asi que la gente puede mantener el sistema. Y si rompe un componente, todo es de material PVC, y las personas pueden reemplazarlo con sus mismos. Tratamos empoderarlos a tener la propiedad de la planta.

¿Cómo está la experiencia hasta ahora?

Ha sido una experiencia muy estimulante. Ha habido desafíos y unas partes muy buenas. Toda la gente es amable y afable, y los miembros de la comunidad son muy apreciativos del trabajo. Ellos nos llevaban té y meriendas durante el trabajo, que fue muy simpático de ellos. Una persona escalaba casi treinta o cuarenta pies en un árbol para darnos cocos, y siempre teníamos agua coco fresca. La gente fue muy, muy amable. Es muy bueno y satisfactorio ver que las personas aprecian mi trabajo y estuvieron emocionados.

El desafío es que el trabajo es aislado para mí. Soy de los Estados Unidos y solo hablo ingles, y pasé un mes en Odisha rural, donde las personas usualmente no hablan en inglés. Es desafiante sentirme aislado de todos mis compañeros y familia en casa. Y solitario. Pero el trabajo valía la pena.

Estas viendo un impacto? Ahora el Hydrodoser ha sido implementado en dos pueblos, ¿usted habló de eso con la gente?

No podría hablar con ellos mucho. Una cosa que dijeron fue que todavía no están acostumbrados al gusto de agua clorado, porque antes tenían agua no tratada y ahora el agua prueba un poco de químicos. No les gusta el gusto de cloro en su arroz. Pero pienso que van a acostumbrarse. No puedo ver los impactos duraderos. Pero ellos definitivamente estaban muy felices y orgullosos de instalar el sistema.

¿Cómo se vuelven importantes las asociaciones para alcanzar a los marginadas?

Pienso que servir comunidades marginadas es un gran desafío y necesitamos ayuda de muchas personas diferentes con experiencias en áreas diferentes. En este ejemplo, AguaClara Reach, entendemos la tecnología, pero como dije, necesitamos ayuda de la comunidad para mantener y operar la tecnología. Y vinimos como extranjeros de los Estados Unidos; básicamente sería imposible desarrollar apoya de la comunidad de nosotros mismos, así que sabemos que necesitamos una asociación con una organización como Gram Vikas. Es un grupo local que se puede comunicar con las comunidades directamente y obtener apoyo. El papel de la comunidad también es muy importante porque es la gente que trabaja y paga para operar y mantener la planta. Definitivamente el trabajo de todos los tres grupos es necesario para alcanzar la meta que queremos.

¿Cómo fue la experiencia de trabajar en Odisha?

He disfrutado la experiencia hasta ahora. Como dije, todos han sido muy afables y la comida es muy rica, y me gusta. Me gusta la comida Indio, así que es muy bueno. Si no fuera verdad, la experiencia sería peor. Pero es una experiencia diferente de trabajar en Microsoft. Trabajar en una oficina todo el día es más cómodo, pero es más monótono. Trabajar en el campo es agotador pero emocionante. Dije a un amigo que un día en el campo me da más emoción y satisfacción en mi trabajo que un mes en mi trabajo anterior.

  • Photographer: Fletcher Chapin

  • Interviewer: Chandrika Patnaik

  • Interview Videographer: Ajaya Kumar Behera

  • Transcriptions and Translations: Melissa Louie

  • Interviewed: March 2020

  • Plant Implementation Partner: Gram Vikas

  • Author: Melissa Louie

AguaClara and Ohio State University Collaboration

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RIDE (Research, Invent, Design, Empower) is ACR’s first research-based committee. RIDE partners with research institutions around the world to create more efficient, cost-effective, and reliable water treatment technologies. For the past few months, RIDE volunteers have been hard at work creating a multi-semester plan to roll out new AguaClara Programs at research institutions. RIDE’s primary objective in Spring 2021 is to ensure the successful startup of research at Ohio State University (OSU). The AguaClara OSU Program is the first student-led AguaClara research conducted outside of Cornell University, making for the newest AguaClara Program in 15 years. 

In 2018, Dr. Michael Hagenberger, a professor and Associate Dean from OSU, and Dr. Monroe Weber-Shirk, retired lecturer from Cornell, connected to discuss joint research opportunities and the successes of the student-led AguaClara program. Dr. Hagenberger sent an OSU student, Mike Reese, to work with the AguaClara Cornell team in the summer of 2019 to learn about the team and take lessons back to OSU. Since 2019, Dr. Hagenberger, Mike Reese, and Patrick Sours, a Senior Lecturer from OSU, have worked with ACR to prepare for the launch of an AguaClara OSU program.

Students at OSU began their in-person classes on January 18th, 2021 which also marked the start of their AguaClara research. Leading up to the start of the semester, RIDE provided OSU with a list of research topics, each with a short description summarizing the main research objectives. This list allowed students to learn about AguaClara research objectives and pick topics inline with their interests and experience. From the options available, OSU students selected the Depth Filtration project and created a subteam tasked with studying how varying parameters of flow rate, sand size, and coagulant dosage may affect AguaClara’s stacked rapid sand filters’ performance. Four students at OSU will be a part of the AguaClara Program at OSU this semester.

After the research topic was picked, RIDE created a comprehensive purchasing list for OSU to ensure that all required materials are prepared. 

A schematic of a lab bench setup provided to the OSU team as reference. Research teams, with the support of RIDE, will design their own testing setups and research plans.

A schematic of a lab bench setup provided to the OSU team as reference. Research teams, with the support of RIDE, will design their own testing setups and research plans.

AguaClara Cornell’s 15 years of research experience has given RIDE expertise to identify supplies needed for various research projects. RIDE used this background to make a custom purchasing guide that OSU will use to select all of their lab equipment based on their research grant budget.

When the supplies arrive on campus, RIDE will begin the last phase of the AguaClara Program setup which involves assembling the lab bench along with its most critical components. To assist with the assembly, RIDE provides a detailed list of instructions to allow in-person students to easily designate responsibilities and maximize efficiency. After the lab is ready for research, a dedicated team of RIDE members will continuously support and advise students on their current research. Remote support comes in the form of emails, videos calls, and occasional in-person visits from RIDE members who live nearby.

Thank you to everyone who has worked to make this partnership a success! ACR is so excited to welcome the OSU team to the AguaClara family. We look forward to sharing research updates from Cornell and OSU soon.

If you are interested in getting involved as a RIDE volunteer or want to learn more about starting an AguaClara Research Program, please email Matthew Cimini at mcimini@aguaclarareach.org.

Author: Matthew Cimini