Water Filters

Thanks to Rice student Matt Wesley, who is coming down to Nicaragua in December, we will soon be distributing water filters, called filtrones, to 2 communities with poor access to clean water. Filtrones are simple, cheap and effective. According to Potters for Peace, an NGO that helps potters construct and develop filtrones, the filtron is "a simple, pressed bucket shape 11” wide by 10” deep, made with a mix of local terra-cotta clay and sawdust or other combustible, such as rice husks. The simplest press utilizes a hand-operated hydraulic truck jack and two-piece aluminum mold. After firing to about 860 deg. C. the filter is coated with colloidal silver. The combination of fine pore size, resulting from milled, screened materials, and the bactericidal properties of colloidal silver produce an effective filter." Each costs about $25 and can adequately filter water for up to 6 years. It is pictured here:

We would like to expand this project to reach even more communities and provide clean water to children and their families. Here are a couple communities that would greatly benefit for a water filtron (or complete water system) project. If you would like to know more or help, please contact me at mzelek@fabretto.org.ni

Community	Problem	Solution	Cost
Tamarindo	No water system. Community gets water from river. Source of water (fuente) large enough for population but 3 km from town.	Filtrones in each house to clean river water	About $1000 (45 filtrones, brushes, transport)
Jabonera	Recently, the Alcaldia attempted to construct 2 pozos, though one was unsuccessful. Study needed to figure out how to construct second though right now no plans due to limited funds. One pozo is not enough for entire town	Filtrones in each house	About $1000 (45 filtrones, brushes, transport)