Introduce a simple water purification model to the Srepok riverine community
People from Jang Lanh village, Krong Na commune, Buon Don district, Dak Lak province have used the water directly from the Srepok River for all their family activities. In recent years, due to impacts of hydropower projects, the Srepok River flowing into the village has become stagnant, combined with the waste from production activities of the people on both sides of the river, that important water source becomes pollution. Water color turned yellowish and has bad smell. Some families in the village have drilled wells for better water supply, but due to the high cost, many households still have to use river water for drinking.
The Women's Environmental Protection group of Jang Lanh village has recorded the above information using Photovoice method. This activity was conducted under the project "Promoting the role of women in water resources management in the Highlands of Vietnam " which is implemented by WARECOD under the Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI). Shortly after being equipped with the knowledge and skills related to photography, information gathering and story telling, the group members were able to come up with simple, meaningful photos and stories. Organize a trial mini exhibition at the Community House to collect comments from all villagers. This activity, on the one hand, creates a new and innovative living space for women in the village and; on the other hand, it gives important information on the situation of clean water and environmental sanitation in the locality composed by local women’ view.
Combined with the knowledge gained from the trainings on water resources and environmental sanitation last month, the Jang Lanh Women group has selected a simple water filter model for households using river water. The implementation process consists of the following main steps:
1. Training on the simple water filter model for the whole village: WARECOD in collaboration with the Department of Water Resources and Climate Change (Dak Lak Department of Natural Resources and Environment) provided basic knowledge and model introduction of the simple water filters for more than 60 household representatives, most of them are women. This model is considered to be easy to implement, using locally found materials such as sand, gravel, and charcoal, but with relatively good filtration of organic suspended solids making the water colorless, odorless, tasteless. All participants in the training also expressed their interests and consensus to apply this model to households using river water in the village.
2. The Woman environmental protection group together with the village leaders and WARECOD staff discussed on implementation and management of the support from CFLI and WARECOD, and developed the implementation plan for the water filter model for households in the village. After reaching agreement, this plan was presented by representatives of the Women group and proposed for support from Krong Na Commune People's Committee in monitoring the model implementation.
3. Model was installed in some households as sample under the supervision and technical assistance from WARECOD. The installation was widely reported to the villagers for direct observation and listening.
It is expected that the Photovoice and installation of water filters will be completed in January 2018.
Xuan Quynh