agua y sodis

I often write about work I’m doing or fun events in Pampa Elera, but I have neglected sharing about my everyday routine and basic lifestyle here. I’ll dedicate this entry to the basic life essential: water. After reading this, I hope you all appreciate the next time you turn on your sink and drink a nice glass of clean running water.

None of the homes in my community have running water. We get all of our water from the river. To wash my clothes, we go to the river. To bathe, everyone goes to the river (sometimes I go along; and sometimes, stuck in my American ways, fill up my shower bag and attempt to “shower” in my house with water dripping out of a bag). To cook, clean, and drink, we all haul buckets of water from the river to our houses (which is REALLY HARD!)

Once the water is in their homes, most of the families boil their water to purify it. I use a purification system called SODIS, which is solar water disinfection. It uses solar UV-A radiation to kill pathogens that may cause diarrhea. I put the “contaminated” water into a transparent plastic bottle and then put the bottle on top of my tin roof for the day. In 6 hours of direct sunlight, the UV-A rays kill the microbes and improve the quality of the drinking water. Although time-consuming, it’s a pretty cool method and the water tastes fresh and delicious.