Water Conservation: Lunch box recap

Last week was the water conservation lunchtime talk, in accordance with water amnesty month. The month is now coming to an end, but the talk was great and gave many ideas on what is and can be done going forward.

With a well rounded panel of three speakers, Matt Richards of Christian Aid- telling about water conservation and supplying efforts to areas of Kenya, Chris Meloy of the University of Westminster- speaking on alternatives to bottled water and on water conservation and innovations with drilling their own spring in Chiswick, as well as Katherine Richardson of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory- speaking on the current state of the earths oceans, as well as alternative energy sources that could come from the oceans.

This week we will post a blog about what each of the speakers shared with us at the event. This week we will recap what Matt Richards had to say.

Matt Richards

Matt Richards, of Christian Aid, recently took a trip to Kenya with the organization to address the massive drought in Kenya and aid some of the people living in remote areas, here is what he had to say:


Responses to climate change and drought




"CA has been working with a partner organisation in rural Kenya called Ukamba Christian Community Services, the organisation is providing the knowledge and funding to build sand and earth dams as well as helping to sink new wells.

The sand dams are built in dry river beds. Behind these concrete dams, which are sometimes 3 or 4m, high sand is dumped which serves as a holding tank for the water whilst filtering it. As the ground water is kept beneath a layer of sand it is protected from evaporation and the water remains there throughout the dry season. It is also worth noting that as there is no open expanse of water malaria carrying mosquitoes cannot breed and there is less chance of animal contamination. The water is stored here and can be pumped out by the villagers when needed. A shallow well and pump is constructed on the river bank which can be used to pump out from under the layer of protective sand. .

CA is also funding the construction of earth dams which create small reservoirs of water. The earth dams are larger than the concrete ones, sometimes 10m or 12m high. Behind the dam water is collected from nearby hills and higher ground, this run off is stored here for use by the villagers. The water is piped out of the lake and filtered so that it is fresh and clean for use by the community."



Here are examples of two different types of dams built and that Matt visited. (The photos used are Matt's photos on location)


Miumbuni Sand Dam at Uvaleni


"I visited Uvaleni village in the countryside about 150km south of Nairobi. In the 1960s the river that flowed here was 10m deep but it is now a dry river bed. In a narrowing of the river bed a large sand dam has been constructed from concrete. The dam cost around 800,000 KSh or £8000 which was paid for by Christian Aid. The dam has transformed the lives of these villagers, before it is was built they had to walk 5km to collect water, a 10km round trip to be taken every morning. They had to leave their homes at 3 or 4am in order to have water for the start of the day. But this water was often used up at the start of the day which meant that wives had to go again to collect water after breakfast, making the 10km round trip again. But thanks to the construction of the concrete sand dam there is clean, fresh water for 1000 households and 2000 cattle, a real change to the lives of the Uvaleni villagers and less than a 1km walk from the village."

Nzezeni Earth Dam at Mukaa
"As I mentioned earlier CA are funding the construction of earth dams as well as sand dams. Here in the village of Mukaa a dam about 12m high has been constructed by the community. Our partner organisation UCCS provided the knowledge and funds for the dams construction. The lake which was created as a result of the construction of this earth dam is currently about 8m deep and it is hoped that when the rains do come it will be about 10m deep. When it is full it will store enough water for the community for 4 years. The villagers have built a pipe system at the base of the earth dam which filters the water from the reservoir and enables them to use a tap to collect it. A fence has been built around it to stop animal contamination and they hope to plant fruit trees on the bank which can be used to generate income for the community."

Matt had an amazing experience and was able to see and learn more than he was able to share at the event. If you have any further questions for Matt on his experience, please feel free to make a comment or ask a question and we can pass it on to him. We are thankful for Matt's participation in water amnesty month at the University of Westminster.

An Inconvenient Suggestion

On September 24th and 25th Pittsburgh was host to the the 20 most powerful economies of today. As you all know, the G20 convened once again to discuss the future of their world, our world, your world. One of the many points on the agenda, consistent with other recent G20 summits, was tackling climate change. To this effect, the G20 sees itself as pioneering a groundbreaking effort that includes phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, encouraging greater transparency and oversight in oil markets, boosting investments in green technology and innovation, promoting bilateral climate change partnerships for clean technology.

Sound like a broken record?

What's so groundbreaking about these points that seem like the favourite refrain of every politician seeking to earn a few brownie points?

Well, for starters, this agenda was accompanied by Barrack Obama's Recovery Act, which not only assumes the fact that the USA is the the world's largest producer of carbon emissions, but also pledge $80+ billion towards clean energy. Moreover, it includes a comprehensive energy and climate bill that proposes reducing carbon emission by 80% by 2050 in the USA.

More groundbreaking still is the suggestion that India (spearheaded by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) proposed at the summit. In a nutshell, developed countries should take on a larger share of the responsibility concerning climate change, since less developed countries do not have the same resources to tackle these issues. Not that India is saying the weight of climate change lies solely with the West, simply that it is in a better position to effectively address the issues at hand. Also, and here's the clincher, patents and intellectual property laws should be waived with respect to clean green technology. Since climate change is something that effects the whole planet, knowledge on how to tackle and concrete methods that work should be shared equally across the globe.

How's that for a sustainable, equitable suggestion?

The question still remains, beyond all gestures, proposals, talks and good intentions, can the world look beyond profit, political, economic, social and cultural difference and truly unite under the fight to save our environment, and how?