Day 64: Learning through fire

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Our bags were left behind in Bangkok, but do to a tremendous speed walking effort we managed to catch our plane. The lack of clothes and hygiene items made getting ready this morning even easier. When we arrived at Trailblazers, they were loading up the truck to make filter deliveries and told us that we should get in. Childhood memories of driving back from the lake in the back of my dad’s truck hit periodically throughout the day as my spot was on a filter in the truck bed. As we left the edge of Siem Reap, we stopped for coffee. $1 for 20 ounces of iced coffee served in a plastic bag was a solid investment. Today was a different type of city tour as we entered the villages. When we entered the delivery village, we had to meet with the chief who told us which houses received filters. If I could know one thing it would be how each chief makes this decision. Dirt roads, cows, chickens, and ducks grazing anywhere, houses made of wood, cement, sheet metal, palm branches/leaves, large advertising tarps and cloth. I did not see one home with indoor plumbing. Some had open wells (that animals could crawl into and die in), some were made out of PVC pipe and others were hand pumps out of iron. The water filters were nothing like I invisioned which is better because I was so wrong. They are a hallow cement container (weight about 60-70 kg) with a copper tubing and spigot for water draInage. Once we level the unit a half gallon of gravel, a half gallon of small pebbles is inserted, and finally, 1-2 gallons of sand. The sand is the most important (if you can separate the 3) because that is where the biofilm layer of microorganisms forms which eats all the bacteria, catches debri and metals and purifies the water. The pressure from the sand then forces the water down into the pebbles and gravel and out through the spigot. When it is initially delivered, the family has to pour 1 gallon in the container 4x per day for 21 days. During this time it is not drinkable and allows the biofilm layer to develop. After the 21 days, it has almost a 99% of bacterial removal, a 65-75% of iron removal, and after 150 days it has a 95% virus removal.

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