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Summary Water-day “Water now and later”
Introduction
In a world experiencing great population growth and ever increasing water use, our concern about the future is very understandable.
During the past century, the world population has tripled, and water use has increased six-fold. These changes have come at great environmental cost: half the wetlands have disappeared during the 20th century, some rivers don’t reach the sea anymore, 20% of freshwater fish are endangered.
Many people are moving to urban environments which makes urban water infrastructure development an extremely urgent issue. These are but some of the factors influencing the world’s water resources, complicated by the fact that they are all interlinked, and can’t be approached separately.
According the figures at least one out of four people in 2050 is likely to live in countries affected by chronic or recurrent shortages of freshwater. North and Sub-Saharan Africa will be most threatened: by the year 2025, it is estimated that nearly 230 million Africans will be facing water scarcity, and 460 million will live in water-stressed countries.
Water problems in Morocco
During the Morocco water day of Mai 2008 it has been concluded that the water problems are mainly characterized by the increase of the desertification, water scarcity and the pollution of the water stock. Due to the enormous deforestation and a long lasting erosion process, the retention capability of the ground on the mountains had declined to such an extent that the rainwater almost immediately flows to the sea. This causes lots of floods, a loss of water and fertile soil. The growing needs of water in households, industry and agriculture combined with the absence of an adequate and proper water management resulted in a considerable decrease in the water level in Morocco. Due to this, lots of villages’ wells and water springs dry out.
Mr. A. Ifrani (consul general) concluded on behalf of the embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco: “Besides the economical value, water is a social good. It has been longer known that it is crucial for driving back poverty and a durable development. In the upcoming years, this source shall become an even bigger application on an economical, social, ecological and political level because of the growing risk of scarcity and pollution of this essential resource. Morocco has been experiencing dryness for more than 10 years now and several water springs of inhabitants in remote areas are already dried up. The dry Moroccan climate is mainly characterized by irregular rainfalls and the heterogeneity of these rainfalls. The alternation of heavy rain and dryness is a dominant feature of the climate and water management in Morocco. Morocco is conscious in the role of water for economical and social development and attaches much importance to the consciousness-raising of the citizens in order to be able to protect this rare source.”
Our idea and proposal
| Figure 1. The village Asoule in Morocco |
The concept we present includes a concrete plan to shape the above mentioned integral method. Our proposal is to apply this method to a small Moroccan village, named Asoule (see Figure 1). This village has, like many other villages in Morocco and other developing countries, troubles with erosion and dumps their waste water unfiltered into a river that streams into the Mediterranean Sea. The village is missing a fundamental infrastructure in order to have a good water supply and waste water processor. This problem is in fact a chance; by setting up a water system differently from the traditional used methods in the Western
countries, the water system can be used as a source of energy, manure substances and irrigation water. The energy, consisting of methane gas, can be used in households to cook with. The manure substances can be used to produce vegetation and to fertilize the soil after having taken measures for erosion control. The used water can be used for irrigation in order to unburden the already existing water sources, which can then be only used for drinking water applications. By taking these measures the pollution of the surface water can then decrease significantly.
Erosion control
By placing stone walls and hedges (Vetiver – see figure 2), the drainage of rain will be slowed down across the complete basin. By this, the retention capability of the basin will be optimized, the erosion stopped and the agriculture production enlarged in a durable manner.
Decentralized collection of waste water
Currently, the domestic waste water from a house is directed through pipes to a septic tank, which eventually can lead to the pollution of ground water. In order to make more usage of the water, the domestic water will be separated.
The grey water (coming from the kitchen and shower) coming from a few houses will be collected in a large reservoir filled with helophyte plants. These helophyte plant reservoirs shall not only serve as filters, but can also be set as small gardens among the residences. The filtered water, which is produced by those reservoirs, can then be used for agriculture. In doing so, the inhabitants of the village do not need to use their drinking water for irrigation purposes.
The black water (coming from the toilet) will be differentiated in every house using an urine and faeces separating toilet. Biogas can be produced from the faeces. The urine can be used to produce fertilizer that can be used for agriculture and erosion control.
| Figure 3. System with a separating waste water processor. |
Figure 3 indicates how the waste water cycle will look like, and furthermore it shows the useful advantages of the possibilities of waste water.
Production of biogas, hot water and electricity from black water
Black water contains lots of organic material. This organic material will be transformed in biogas through a digestion reactor (which also uses other organic waste). By producing biogas in a place where it can directly be used, is an ideal combination of decentralized waste water purification and decentralized energy creation. This biogas can be used to cook with, which results in a lesser usage of wood and thus the prevention of erosion. The biogas can also be used to produce hot water and electricity by means of cogeneration. The hot water can be used in neighboring residences for heating and/or running water. The silt that is formed can be reused for agriculture purposes.
Production of fertilizer
Urine contains lots of ammonia and phosphate. These are excellent fertilizer substances for agriculture. According calculations, the domestic waste water in the Netherlands contains around
25 % of the total phosphate needs. Phosphate is becoming scarce and is only extracted in some countries. A good contribution to the agriculture and countering the threatening shortage can partly be achieved by regaining the phosphate. Regaining it can be done by binding ammonia and phosphate with magnesium. By doing so, fertilizer will come into existence in a silt or granule form, named struvite.
Goals of this project
- Realize a small and durable water management system in combination with an environment friendly sanitation that can be used as an example for other villages in Morocco;
- Realize clean drinking water for hundreds of citizens in and around Asoule;
- Setting up a broad cooperation of Moroccan and Dutch (water) organizations and volunteers for this project;
- Inspire Moroccan organizations and citizens and actively involve them in the information campaign and the execution of this project to lay hands on the uprising water problems in Morocco;
- The purpose of this project on a long term is that this durable water management method combined with safe sanitation will be implemented all over Morocco.
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