Proper Sanitation a MUST

Sanitation is one very important aspect that every developing country should take care of, as improper sanitation is one such thing that thing that collapses the economic situation of the country.


Ask me how??
See If there is no proper sanitation then its obvious that the poor people who don't have proper facilities are more vulnerable and if they get diseases frequently then the labor (as many poor people are) would decrease, there will be a demand supply difference of labor and then the daily wages will increase and cost of contracts cant be met and they will be stopped and then banks will have problems as the contractors wont pay back and then governments will have to support banks and so they wont have money to build toilets and maintain proper sanitation. HUFFFFF!!!!
So to avoid this the government should start taking up proper sanitation measures and should ensure every one is healthy. a healthy country is a prospering country..

Big story i guess but its true that if we don't take proper care of sanitation the health of the vulnerable will be affected, so we need to take a lot of care and start building and maintain toilets with proper drainage. As this will cost a lot if the regular ways of toilets are taken we need to look into various designs that are available and build them at a low cost, which can be sustainable. The suggestions of the community members should always be taken when we are planning to take up building toilets as they are the people using them.


I will tell you one more story which really happen some where in a tea plantation hilly area. One day a sanitation engineer went to this village and was seeing the beautiful hill from his room and saw a strange thing that on the two sides of the hill there were people walking with lanterns and asked the hotel management what it was. And the manager told him that they were the labor of that area who come to perform their daily morning activity down near a pond and then go back to the top collecting the tea leaves. The engineer felt very bad that they have to walk all the way and immediately contacted few NGO's to arrange for funds to build toilets and started building them on the hill top. He felt he has done very good thing, probably the best thing in his life. And then they inaugurated it and left to his city. After few years he was so proud of his achievement that he bought all his friends to the place to show them. Then the next day morning again he saw the same thing he saw before that every one was going down with lanterns in hands. he was shocked, in fact depressed and then he was angry. He immediately went to the village people and asked them what there problem was in using the toilet on the hilltop. There answer was simple that previously they used to gossip a lot by walking down with their friends and because of this toilets they are loosing a lot of socializing. Apart from it they had some reason to come down so that they can collect the leaves while going up.. but now they have to go a round for waste and the productivity has decreased, laziness increased. The Engineer was shocked with their reasons.
I would like to highlight on few mistakes that the engineer did

• The engineer should have spoken with the community first on where it will be convenient for them before the construction.
• He should have designed it in such a way that their routine is not disturbed but the process is healthier.
  
• And lastly he should have made an attempt to see that the villagers had a sense of ownership of project.

I hope the story has thrown light on some things which we should keep in mind when taking up any project involving the community. And we shouldn't have the feeling that we are doing a favor to anyone, as it would develop sympathy in us and gives a sense of superiority. Believe me when i say that the community knows more than us even if they are illiterate. They are experts in their own region.

Check out www.gramalaya.org for designs on various kinds of toilets and you can see www.ecosanservices.org to know about training programmes that are available. I am attaching few cartoons which i found funny.. and remember a true sanitation engineer is one who says PEE instead of CHEESE when someone is taking a photograph.

RWH (Rain water harvesting)

Harvest the water for a better tomorrow

In today’s world where rich man on one side of the globe has made a easy way of throwing away waste by diluting and mixing it with water and it being wasted for mere washing and cleaning purposes and with no proper drainage system being maintained. One the other side a poor man is striving hard to get a bucket of water for drinking. With bore wells being dug hundreds of feet; water is surely going to become scarce soon. Fortunately water is available now but very soon if proper measures are not taken the ground water is soon going to be vanished. In this situation I would like to highlight few basics on rainwater harvesting. I have collected information from various websites, Please follow the links if you are interested about a individual topic. There are also few videos which u might find interesting as well at the end.

Rain water harvesting is conserving water right where it falls. Rain water harvesting can benefit in following ways.
1) It improves ground water quality & quantity both. There is no other technique available for the same.
2) It prevents saline water intrusion in ground water from sea in coastal area.
3) It increases ground water table & hence decreases pumping costs.
4) Water logging in low lying area can be reduced upto certain extent. Hence, rain water harvesting, water recycling & water treatment are cheapest & easiest technique to overcome water problems.

In ancient days itself, people, especially Indians, know the methods of conservation of rainwater. There are evidences that, even during Harappan period, there was very good system of water management as could be seen in the latest excavation at Dholavira in Kachch. During independence period, the people use to manage water resources considering it as part of the nature which is essential for their survival. This could be seen from the rain water harvesting structures in the low rainfall areas of Rajasthan, harvesting springs in hilly areas and mountainous region and percolation ponds and tanks in southern India.

In South India, the ancient people stored rainwater in public placed separately one for drinking purposes and another for bathing and other domestic purposes. They also formed percolation tanks or ponds, for the purpose of recharging irrigation or domestic wells. They periodically clean the water ways so as to get clean water throughout the year. These are instances in the history that people constructed crude rubble bunds across river courses either for diversion of water or for augmenting the ground water. The various methods of rainwater harvesting are classified below under two category, Traditional and Modern methods.

Traditional Methods

Traditional rainwater harvesting, which is still prevalent in rural areas, was done in surface storage bodies like lakes, ponds, irrigation tanks, temple tanks etc. In urban areas, due to shrinking of open spaces, rainwater will have to necessarily be harvested as ground water, Hence harvesting in such places will depend very much on the nature of the soil viz., clayey, sandy etc. The below listed are the various kinds of traditional rainwater harvesting methods. Click for more detailed info

Kunds of Thar Desert

Kul Irrigation Method

Bamboo Method

Temple Tanks of India

Modern Methods

The Modern methos of rainwater harvesting are categorised under two, they are Artifical Recharging and Rain Water Harvesting. The former is classified into Absorption Pit Method, Absorption Well Method, Well cum Bore Method and Recharge trench cum injection well. The later is categorised into Individual Houses and Grouped Houses which are further classified into Percolation Pit Method, Bore Well with Settlement Tank, Open Well Method with filter bed Sump and Percolation Pit with Bore Method.

Artificial Recharging

Absorption Pit Method

Absorption Well Method

Well cum Bore Method

Recharge trench cum injection well

Rain Water Harvesting in Individual Houses

Percolation Pit Method

Bore Well with Settlement Tank

Open Well Method with filter bed Sump

Percolation Pit with Bore Method

Rain Water Harvesting in Grouped Houses

RWH in Grouped Houses(Flat)

Rural RWH Methods

Rain water harvesting for Rural Areas

A model


For complete information on every detail please check http://www.aboutrainwaterharvesting.com/rwh_methods.htm

Rainwater is particularly useful to supply the large volume of water needed for flushing toilets. Each person on average uses almost 45 litres a day for this purpose. In an average household, this contaminates nearly 66,000 litres of drinking water a year. This is the main use of water in a household, closely followed by bathing and washing which uses 37 litres per person per day.

Rainwater is ideal for use in washing machines; on average people use 20 litres a day for washing clothes. The advantage is that the soft rainwater allows the use of natural soaps and biological washing powders, which are much more gentle on clothes than standard detergents. Not only this, there is less chance of skin irritation caused by detergents, and there is no environmental damage when discharged into the waste water system.

Gardeners through the centuries have recognized the importance of a plentiful supply of water, and that plants prefer natural rainwater instead of heavily treated mains water. A hosepipe uses a minimum of 500 litres an hour - almost as much as an average household uses in a day.

Rainwater can also be used for car washing and other general cleaning tasks around the home.

In commerce and industry

The use of rainwater can really come into its own in business and industry. Not only is water extensively used in a wide range of tasks, but there are often large roof and hard standing areas to catch rainwater. This provides an incentive to invest in rainwater harvesting equipment as business use can offer a relatively short pay-back period.

Rainwater can be used cost-effectively for water-intensive tasks such as dust control, cleaning processes during manufacture, washing vehicles and other specialised cleaning processes such as printed circuit board manufacture, and in agriculture and animal husbandry where farmyards and animal stalls must be regularly hosed down.

In large offices and public buildings, rainwater can be used for flushing toilets and urinals and for cleaning. Facilities managers are increasingly not only insisting these systems are installed on new buildings but looking to retro-fitting the equipment to existing buildings.


http://www.constructionresources.com/products/services/rainwater_overview.asp

Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of rain from roofs or from a surface catchment for future use. The water is generally stored in rainwater tanks or directed into mechanisms which recharge groundwater. This is appropriate in many parts of the world, such as western Britain, China, Brazil, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Germany, Australia and India, where there is enough rain for collection and conventional water resources either do not exist or are at risk of being over-used to supply a large population. Rainwater harvesting can provide lifeline water for human consumption, reduce water bills and the need to build reservoirs which may require the use of valuable land.

Traditionally, rainwater harvesting has been practised in arid and semi-arid areas, and has provided drinking water, domestic water, water for livestock, water for small irrigation and a way to replenish ground water levels. This method may have been used extensively by the Indus Valley Civilization.

Currently in China and Brazil, rooftop rainwater harvesting is being practised for use for all the above purposes. Gansu province in China and semi-arid north east Brazil have the largest rooftop rainwater harvesting projects ongoing.

Rainwater harvesting in urban areas can have manifold reasons. To provide supplemental water for the city's requirement, to increase soil moisture levels for urban greenery, to increase the ground water table through artificial recharge, to mitigate urban flooding and to improve the quality of groundwater are some of the reasons why rainwater harvesting can be adopted in cities. In urban areas of the developed world, at a household level, harvested rainwater can be used for flushing toilets and washing laundry. Indeed in hard water areas it is superior to mains water for this. It can also be used for showering or bathing. It may require treatment prior to use for drinking.

http://images.google.co.in/images?q=rain%20water%20harvesting&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainwater_harvesting

http://akash-ganga-rwh.com/RWH/WaterHarvesting.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBUPL7E4G-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_XXak6IQTA

Air car

Finally the car that runs on air is hitting the Indian roads by 2008 by our own TATAs.. This wont be a perfectly environment friendly as electricity is used to compress the air.. but if efforts are made to attain the electricity by alternate sources like wind energy or solar energy which are pollution-less then it will be a perfectly sustainable, no pollution emission car, and could do wonders in future.The good news is the car will be priced around three and a half lakh and gives a mileage of 300kms for a refill of 90Rs.

I have a idea but don't know how much its viable.. it goes something like this the compressed air which passes through the piston and comes out still has some energy in the form of pressure which could be re utilized if a compressor pump be placed in the car it self and probably use solar energy to run it.. Then it will run as long as possible..

See this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc43-47B7FI
This is about the piston used and complete design..

U can also see the video aired on cnn ibn about the tatas having partnered with them at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_i3aMz7q1w

There is article in yahoo greens http://green.yahoo.com/index.php?q=node/315 this will give more info

By Bob Ewing

Wed, 30 May 2007, 11:15PM

The world's first commercial compressed air-powered vehicle is rolling towards the production line. The Air car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre, will be built by India's largest automaker, Tata Motors.

The Air Car uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons. It is anticipated that approximately 6000 Air Cars will be cruising the streets of India by 2008. If the manufacturers have no surprises up their exhaust pipes the car will be practical and reasonably priced. The CityCat model will clock out at 68 mph with a driving range of 125 miles.

Refueling is simple and will only take a few minutes. That is, if you live nearby a gas station with custom air compressor units. The cost of a fill up is approximately $2.00. If a driver doesn't have access to a compressor station, they will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car's built-in compressor to refill the tank in about 4 hours.

The compressed air technology is basically just a way of storing electrical energy without the need for costly, heavy, and occasionally toxic batteries. So, in a sense, this is an electric car. It just doesn't have an electric motor.

But don't let anyone tell you this is an "emissions free" vehicle. Sure, the only thing coming out of the tailpipe is air. But, chances are, fossil fuels were burned to create the electricity. In India, that mostly means coal. But the carbon emissions per mile of these things still far outdoes any gasoline car on the market.

Unfortunately, the streets of North America may never see the Air Car, though; it's light-weight, glued-together fiberglass construction might not do so well in our crash tests. However, that does not mean the Air car is confined to the sub-continent. Nègre has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa.

And this isn't the last we'll hear of the technology. The folks making the Air Car are already working on a hybrid version that would use an on-board, gasoline-powered compressor to refill the air tanks when they run low. Negre says that technology could easily squeeze a cross country trip out of one tank of gasoline.

Oxygen cylinder

THE FUTURE

Ecological foot print

The below topic is a very interesting topic in environment.. Every country has a seperate index.. take the quiz at the end of this and know the average ecological foot print in the country u r present and the excess u r using.. A brief on what ecological foot print is given below

Ecological footprint analysis approximates the human impact upon the environment by calculating the draw upon ecologically productive land and marine area required to sustain a population, manufacture a product, or undertake various activities. This is achieved through a system of accounting similar to life cycle analysis wherein the consumption of energy, biomass (food, fiber), building material, water and other resources are converted into a normalized measure of land area dubbed 'global hectares'.

Per capita EF is a means of determining relative consumption and can be a useful tool to educate people about carrying capacity and over-consumption, with the aim of altering personal behavior. Ecological footprints may be used to argue that many contemporary lifestyles are not sustainable. The average "earthshare" available to each human citizen is approximately 1.9 gha per capita. The US footprint per capita is 9.5, and that of Switzerland is 4 gha, whilst China's is approximately 1.5 gha. The WWF claims that the human footprint has exceeded the biocapacity (the available supply of natural resources) of the planet by 25%.


Ecological footprinting is now widely used around the globe as an indicator of environmental sustainability. It can be used to measure and manage the use of resources throughout the economy. It is commonly used to explore the sustainability of individual lifestyles, goods and services, organizations, industry sectors, neighborhoods, cities, regions and nations

To calculate your EF check out this website

http://www.earthday.net/

Mumbai proves its again

Its good to see community participation in disaster preparedness at times.. As we all know "People's memory is very short" is valid for a small disaster or if it happens to some other community.. I might forget a Tsunami after say 5years but the person who was there when tsunami happen will never forget in his life.. not just the sight of the horrifying waves but also the loss of his dear ones and the shock of seeing so many people lying around distressed.. Similarly the communities in mumbai are gearing up for the monsoons this year. It is a very good sign and i hope every community prepares well and decrease the extent of loss this year.. All de best for the disaster managers..

http://www.gulfnews.com/world/India/10129900.html

Mumbaikars equip themselves to tackle floods this monsoon
ANI

Mumbai: The people of Mumbai are all geared up for the monsoon this year.

They have arranged disaster management kits to better equip themselves to tackle floods in the city.

With memories still fresh in their minds of the 2005 floods in which more than 1,000 people were killed across Maharashtra, Mumbaikars are bracing themselves for the June-September rains.

Residents of several colonies have taken steps to ensure that they are not caught off guard this year.

In Chembur, residents of Pestorm Sagar, a locality of 120 buildings, have set up a forum to reach help to people immediately in the instance of a flood.

The forum has put together a disaster management kit, which comprises life jackets, lifebuoys, oxygen tanks, fogging machines, stretchers and first aid. There is also a dedicated jeep that will be used for rescue missions.

The forum, which has doctors on panel and people trained in rescue operations and first aid, says it is not entirely dependant on municipal authorities.

In neighbouring Air India Colony, one of the worst hit localities of the 2005 deluge, residents have taken upon themselves to deal with a crisis in the absence of an initiative from the housing society.

Traumatic experience

For the Kawale family, who lives on the ground floor, traumatic memories persist. Unable to move to higher ground, they are leaving nothing to chance, and have packed some of their belongings in case of an emergency.

"We have packed our clothes, certificates, important documents, books of our children and uniform so that in case anything happens we will just pick it up and go to the top," said Veena Kawale.

In July 2005, two days of heavy rain killed hundreds of people and caused widespread damage, closing down the city for a week.