Self-supporting community- based mitigation program that provides arsenic safe water using modified dugwells along with public education on water
related health effects.
Narrative
This dugwell # PW111SU22 is located in the village Bishnupur at the Sutia Panchayet in Gaighata. Mr. Sachidulal Sarkar donated the site for the community.
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Jyotsna Sarkar of Project Well
- confidential
- SMS
Implementation Status: completed Mon 05 Nov 2012, Over 12 Years agotubewell is technical problem. Need to fix
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Rudi Dundas
- Visitor
- confidential
Implementation Status: completed_partial Sun 21 Nov 2010, Over 14 Years agoNovember 21, 2010 - Rudi Dundas and Chris Majors
Interviewed owner's wife and daughters. They were not particularly pleased with the quality of the water. It was turbid and a chlorine smell. A pipe was bent during installation leading to the higher turbidity and lower flow rates. The Project Well fieldworkers addressed the problem with them.
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Rudi Dundas
- Visitor
- confidential
Implementation Status: completed_partial Sun 21 Nov 2010, Over 14 Years agoNovember 21, 2010 - Rudi Dundas and Chris Majors
Interviewed owner's wife and daughters. They were not particularly pleased with the quality of the water. It was turbid and a chlorine smell. A pipe was bent during installation leading to the higher turbidity and lower flow rates. The Project Well fieldworkers addressed the problem with them.
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Meera Hira-Smith of Project Well
- confidential
Implementation Status: completed_partial Thu 12 Aug 2010, Almost 15 Years agoMonthly Status report of July 2010
We speculated that the pipe was compressed by the hydraulic force of the water since the pipe was thin (6 mm).The dimensions of the PVC pipe were 20 feet in length, 8 inches in diameter and 6 mm in thickness. This resulted in two problems: (1) scarcity of water in summer in some locations and (2) there was a technical issue: during the monsoon of 2009 when the flexible pipes of four dugwells got stuck inside the inserted tube. Hence, to solve these issues in 2010, we are using larger pipes of 10 inches (N=30) and 8 inches (N=20) in diameter and 8 mm thickness, of length 20 foot for bore-dugwells (N=40) and 30 foot for bore-wells (N=10). The cost of pipes of increased dimension is double that of the previously used dimension (INR 9,185 vs. INR 19,500 & 12,400 of 10” and 8” diameter respectively for 20 foot pipes).
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Jane Liaw
- Visitor
- confidential
Implementation Status: completed_partial Mon 08 Feb 2010, Over 15 Years agoFebruary 2010 site visits with AWS staff
I work with Meera on Project Well, in our Berkeley office. My husband (who is unaffiliated with Project Well) and I were taken around by AWS staff to visit several dugwell sites in February 2010.
This well is in use but no one is really using it. It is located in the back of a schoolteacher’s yard. The water tastes OK, they say. They are storing the chlorine in a clear bottle, not correctly. The schoolteacher, Sachidulal Sarkar, (age 50), was worried about bacteria in the water—how could he ensure there was no bacteria? If he were assured there was no bacteria, he would drink the water. The water is chlorinated every seven days. Without a filter, he never uses the water. He and other villagers only use it for cooking (he appeared to be a leader in the community). One kilometer away was a deep tubewell, which people use. There are about 100 people or 20 families in this community. The teacher implied that if he could see lab tests regarding the bacteria (or field test kits), he would feel safer using the dugwell water. After chlorination, the water is absolutely clear and sparkling, he said. At the end of the chlorination cycle, it is a little cloudy. He would like the water tested at the end of the chlorination cycle. We tried the water and it tastes good, looks good. Dennis looked in the well and saw the water level was about 3 feet high, and thought perhaps there was not enough water, and hence perhaps the presence of minerals might be what was making it cloudy.
- Impact Assessment (M&E) Phase Project completed on 31 Dec, 2009 Implementation Phase
- Implementation Phase Project started on 1 Jan, 2009 Preparation Phase
How it Works
Every field note helps building a history of activity at the project site. Every visit should result in a field note, including visits by peers and 3rd parties. Visits can be before implementation, during implementation and during operational state.
If the field note is during the operating phase of the project, then PWX considers the note as a verification note. Verification can show if the current operating state is different from that in the 'final' report and thus draw attention and resources to resolve issues.
Soon PWX AnalytiX will track the number of projects verified and combine that with the amount of time elapsed since 'completion', to summarize monitoring efforts and the sustainability of projects.
Self-supporting community- based mitigation program that provides arsenic safe water using modified dugwells along with public education on water
related health effects.
Narrative
This dugwell # PW111SU22 is located in the village Bishnupur at the Sutia Panchayet in Gaighata. Mr. Sachidulal Sarkar donated the site for the community.
Sustainability
Creating and measuring long-term impact
The users would require to purchase theoline, the disinfectant, and also repair minor wear and tear. The dugwells will be visited by the field workers every month for one year to get technical and utility reports followed by inspection once or twice a year.
Other Issues
Unusual and unexpected issues faced during project execution
Research and Development is part of the project. The Arsenic level is 29 PPB (BIS stnd is 50PPB)and the date of report October 22, 2009. Total coliform is 42 CFU/100ml and Fecal coliform is 29 CFU/100ml. Report date is Dec 7, 2009. Chlorination is done once a week.
Learnings
Knowledge of project and process for sharing
Update December 2010: technical problem. Water is not coming out for the pipe may have gotten constricted due to hydro pressure. So a dugwell will be constructed around the borewell and convert the source to bore-dugwell. Hoping that the constriction is at higher level from where the pipe will be cut off.
Good to place in the premises of a school teacher who teaches Bio-Science in the secondary section. Mr. Sarkar is a very good advocate of the dugwell and the popularity of dug bore well has increased in his area.
Impact
People Getting Other Benefits: 50
Public health education on arsenic health effects and personal hygiene is given to all the dugwell beneficiaries. A training program on the maintenance of the dugwells (including chlorination) is given to develop a sense of ownership and to make the program sustainable. There are five field workers working on the dugwell program who are selected from the arsenic afflicted villages. They are involved in site selection, village meetings during site selection, followed by construction of the wells and also follow up the on the technical faults of the dugwells and the number of users. The villagers are also shown VCDs on how to improve personal health and hygiene through proper practices. The office of Aqua Welfare Society is located in the village. The awareness programmer and experts of geology and technical knowhow are based in Kolkata who visit the village office and sites occasionally to create awareness amongst the user group, prospective users and students of schools. Trades like well-digging, pottery, and masonry, are required for the dugwell program and are benefiting from work generated by the project.
Maintenance/Operating Costs Annual, in US$: $40
Creating and measuring long-term impact
The users would require to purchase theoline, the disinfectant, and also repair minor wear and tear. The dugwells will be visited by the field workers every month for one year to get technical and utility reports followed by inspection once or twice a year.
Implementer: Aqua Welfare Society, West Bengal, India
AAqua Welfare Society, AWS, is the partner NGO. Their office is based in the North 24 Parganas. The 8 honorary board members are located in Kolkata. There are only 5 field workers who are interacting with the villagers and beneficiaries, training the users on maintenance of the dugwells, organizing village meetings and health meetings. A technical advisor of AWS is based in Kolkata who visits the village occasionally and one awareness programmer who is in charge of awareness programs in the communities and educational institutions. There is an accountant and also a data entry person on part time basis.
Funding
- funded:
- $1,113
- Final Cost:
- $1,050
- edit $1,000:
- Blue Planet Network