Ceramic water filters project

Having clean water to drink is considered a luxury in the country. Water is mainly obtained through collecting rain water or from bore holes and the more elite purchase from water kiosks (providing reservoir water). The only filtering process the water goes through before it is drunk is the boiling of the water which is not sufficient. Sometimes the desperation for water is so big that it is even consumed as is – which naturally contributes to people getting sick.

RDIS is partnering with a Canadian charity to manufacture low cost ceramic water filters locally. It basically looks like a clay plant pot. These filters have apparently been proven to filter water to a very high standard. Even if sold at a very low cost, it will still be a challenge to promote/market the filters as for generations long there has been no culture of filtering water, not even to speak of paying for filtered water. But once the ball gets rolling, general health will improve significantly.

RDIS is currently in the phase of preparing for the manufacturing of the first filters, but one of the things delaying the project to move forward is the difficulty in communication between the Rwandese and those in Canada … so this is one of the things that has kept me busy this week – assisting the two parties in gathering and communicating the information correctly in order to move to implementation.