Water is a very valuable commodity in every part of the world. For the people of Cacha,Ecuador, water represents the soul of the livelihood, along with the soil (Pachamama).For years,these 23 Indigenous communities conglomerated in one Parrish in central Ecuador, have worked and fought for their right to use water. Currently, two of the 23 communities are served by a central water system referred as Huangopud. The water is stored in six central cement tanks filtered through sand before it is piped to the community. The people access the water from outdoor spigots feeding into large cement storage tank. Since water delivery is unreliable, inhabitants use plastic containers to store the water in their houses. Two communities that do not receive filtered water are PUCARA QUINCHE and CAUÑAG, in other words they do not have a purifying treatment.
For three years, medical Students from the University of Rochester Medical School have researched and assisted these two communities to find a better point of use intervention treatment for their water. In 2010, water filters were delivered to the community, Cachamsi financed 50% of the filters, the other 50% of the cost of the water filters was paid by the people of Pucara Quinche. See filter below. There was training and education to use the filters adequately, also a control was set in place. Although Cauñag is getting ready to obtain their filters, we need to collect data from the monitoring system.
The ceramic is made of mud and other filtering substances.
The outside part is plastic. Below, the same filter with a top.
