The good ol' drawing board

So here's the deal. The Biosand filter is a really great idea for people who don't have access to clean drinking water. It's 90-99% effective after the biological layer forms, cheap to make, simple in design, use, and maintenance, uses local materials, lasts for upwards of twenty years, and is a very "appropriate technology". For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term "appropriate technology" it is a term used to describe products that are "designed with special consideration to the environmental, ethical, cultural, social and economical aspects of the community it is intended for. With these goals in mind, AT typically requires fewer resources, is easier to maintain, has a lower overall cost and less of an impact on the environment," (Wikipedia).

But what about people who do have access to clean drinking water as is the case in Mexico. Every community I have seen has small tiendas that sell purified water and if you have a car in Mexico you can drive to the local "machines" (water filter plant) and get purified water for even cheaper. Even the poorest of poor have access to this usually. Why would they want a filter that is not quite as effective as the purified water they can buy? Is the Biosand filter taking a step back, so to speak, for these families? Sure, they can save upwards of $300 per year with the filter but is that worth the risk of drinking water that is filtered but not purified like the stuff that can be bought? These are the questions that have been floating around between my ears for the past week.

A couple of things are abundantly clear. People are willing to THROW money at a program like this in a heart beat; that is clear. We have the ability and the knowledge to implement a program like this; that is also clear. We have the passion to carry out what we feel is God's work BUT... can we humble ourselves and make our hearts meet our heads? Can we be good stewards of what God has given us and objectively ask, "Is clean water what these families NEED?" Because if they need something other than clean water more then let's dedicate ourselves to that end and give them what THEY need not just what we want to give them so we feel better about ourselves.

Don't misunderstand. I still think there is a need for clean water in Mexico. I also think that every community is going to be different; some will want it and some will opt to continue to buy their water. Who knows, maybe this program is meant for South Africa more so than Mexico. Sometimes things don't always end up how we originally envisioned them but God has a tendency to make them end up even better. I know that this work will be used in some way because it will glorify God in its use.

Also very encouraging is this new technology that stumbled (was divinely placed) upon us. It is called the Sawyer Point One Filter www.SawyerPointOne.com . It resembles filters that campers take with them into the wilderness. It uses hollow fiber membrane filter technology which is the same technology used in kidney dialysis. Sawyer is a company that is owned by Christians whose daughter came on an Amor trip years ago. Since then they have been donating all kinds of thing to use including bug spray and sunscreen. If you frequent REI you may have heard of them.

They have managed to adapt one of their featured camping filters to hook up to a bucket to be used in developing countries. It exceeds EPA requirements in it's removal of pathogens making it more effective than the Biosand filter (and U.S. tap and bottled water for that matter), comes in a small package, includes everything needed to assemble the filter except the bucket, is affordable, requires no labor, and takes about two minutes to set up. Oh, did I mention that it has a 1 MILLION gallon guarantee and has been lab and field tested extensively? That's right...1 MILLION. A typical person in Mexico uses about 1 gallon of drinking water per day. A family of 7 could have all the drinking water they need for 392 YEARS! And the flow rate is extremely fast as well. This thing can pump out a person's water for the whole week in 20 minutes. Seems like the miracle filter, right? We shall see if Mexican families can get over the obvious mental block they have about drinking from a faucet or a tombo even if it does come through a filter. If no families accept and use the technology then it is pointless. God your will be done.

Passionately her Savior's
Kamar