For twenty years, the town of Jaraquiel, located 15 minutes away from Monteria-Cordoba, hasn’t count on a reliable source to provide potable wáter because the whole system doesn’t have the enough infrastructure to treat raw water and make it consumable for the inhabitants. The main consecuence of all these issues is that the whole population on town are drinking the water with the same characteristics of its catchment, risking health and increasing costs for the families affected.
The Project was created by center of commerce, industry and tourism “CCIT” from SENA, Regional-Cordoba, through its Environmental Knowledge Network, the Construction Network and the technical support from the GICAP research group in Alliance with the local community, represented by the Local Action Board. The Project was financed by COLCIENCIAS through a public announcement called “Ideas For Change BIO-2016”.
In order to reach the project’s goals, the following aspects wete taken into consideration: 1. The Alliance was formalized to solve the problematic that affects the life quality of around 1,253 people; the CCIT supplied all the profesional, technical, technological personnel, as well as the infraestructure of the Environmental Knowledge Network and Construction advising and orientating the comunity in the implementation of the solution. 2. The CCIT working group made all the design for the optimization of the water supply system, using the existing treatment units, and making them functional and conditioned so that they allow the transformation of raw water into potable, ensuring continuity and quality of the system. to fulfill these transformation, it’s necessary to build all the missing units from the treatment system and the room to be used as storage for the materials and chemichal substances, as well as the construction of a storage tank with enough capacity to supply the demand. 3. The intrvention of the research group to generate new knowledge that allows to move forward in the application of new technologies by promoting the consolidation of a cientific culture that valorates the collaborative participation and which puts in service of the comunity all the new knowledge aqcuired. 4. There will be used an experimental coagulant, with natural origins, known as MORINGA (Moringa oleífera) to perform the floculation process, which also contributes in a good way with the residual mud by making it usable as organic fertilizer. Another innovation will be the use of coconut Shell (cocos nucifera) to obtain Activated Carbon, which will be located in the filtration system and will improve the organic properties of treated water. These reduces the operation costs of the plant without sacrificing its quality. The development of this advanced cientific system will be carried through by the students involved in the Environmental Knowledge Network. Among the results of the Project was the supply of the potable water according to the 2115 resolution from 2007 in the comunity of Jaraquiel. Also the physical-quimical and microbiological valoration of raw water and its source (Sinu River), treated water and in-process water; the generation of new technical knowledge about the usage of moringa as a coagulant and the carbón made by the comunity for the operation of the system, and at last, but not least, the social interaction between a research group and the comunity in order to solve an unsatisfied basic need.