The AguaClara team at Cornell University conducts laboratory research to create robust technologies for drinking water treatment that will be both ecologically and economically sustainable. The AguaClara program applies an economy-of-scale to community development by incorporating the algorithms derived in our labs into a freeĀ design tool that allows users to receive customized plant designs from our servers at zero marginal cost to either of us. The plants we design are gravity-powered and appropriate for both resource-poor communities and for forward-thinking communities everywhere.
Diarrheal diseases, mostly from unclean water, claim the lives of approximately 5000 children throughout the world every day. Drinking untreated water and using it for bathing are major causes of waterborne disease. When coupled with basic sanitation, access to sufficient safe drinking water reduces this toll dramatically (UNICEF, 2005).
Many municipal water treatment plants in the Global South have been based on conventional technologies designed for use by wealthy nations. They are not sustainable when operated away from their normal supply chains, trained technicians, and capital investments, and it is common to see these plants sitting unused or broken in cities with unsafe water. In the communities that are capable of maintaining the complex machinery and computer systems in these plants, there is often a massive debt between the utility and the electric company.
AguaClara technology is an innovative way to bring economy of scale to water treatment, while maintaining simplicity of design that can be sustained by resource-poor communities. The AguaClara plants require no electricity and both construction and repairs can be completed with local materials and labor. Plant designs are robust and scaled to meet the projected need in each community for years to come. The project also provides sustainable designs for towns that were previously considered too small for community based water treatment.
The one-time construction and capacity-building cost for an AguaClara plant is $15 to $30 per person served, with annual fees for operation and maintenance amounting to approximately $2 per person.
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