Posted by Melissa Jill
After we wrapped up the model shoot in Tanzania, our team had a chance to work one afternoon at the workshop where the bio-sand filters are constructed on a daily basis. If you haven’t already read the post I did a few days ago about how these things work, definitely check it out here. The filters are amazingly simple in construction but I have a great respect for the Tanzanians who work to construct them daily. It’s HARD work and you are going to get dirty.
Here’s a shot of some of the guys who work day in and day out at the workshop:
Our team each took different stations and jumped right in. Here’s Jason Thon and Ben Harrison preparing the cement molds:
I guess Ben worked up an appetite:
Here are a few shots of Phillip Glickman preparing the molds. Check out the bicep in that top right shot!
Phillip and Jeff LaPlante demonstrating some team work:
Here are some of the Tanzanian workers sifting the gravel that goes in the bottom of the filter. It has to be just the right size.
The fine sand that fills up the majority of the filter has to be well cleaned before it can be used. Luke Edmonson, Laura Parker and Shane Melenbacker all got in on the sand-cleaning action:
Mike Colon worked on cutting out the diffuser plates:
Check out this form:
And Jason apparently cloned himself so as to work at this station too, hammering out the holes for the diffusers:
Andrew Bryant and David Burke worked together to cut and assemble the PVC piping:
The assembly requires some pretty potent-smelling glue and these two ended up getting a bit loopy:
I decided to relieve them and took over for a bit (thanks to David Edmonson for this shot!):
With this process, I believe they can produce around 8 filters per day. Here they are all finished and ready for delivery!
What a cool experience to be able to get our hands dirty and find out first-hand what it takes to make these amazing life-saving devices!
by phillip g
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