Author: Luke Cowley

My final week at Drop4Drop and Brighton

I’m genuinely sad to say that my 4 weeks at Drop4Drop has come to an end. It has been a great experience in a new city with a great team, partaking in interesting work.

In my final week at Drop4Drop I have been analysing and summarising project partnership proposals from other organisations to see the eligibility and suitability of Drop4Drop working with them in the aim of eliminating global thirst. This has also entailed me doing some outreach to other charities and organisations to see if they would be willing and able to work alongside Drop4Drop.

This week I also got the opportunity to look at geological reports from data that was collected on site by the geologists working the project in real time. This was a great insight into understanding professional geological fieldwork reports and picking out key information from them that can then be used in the decision making process back in the office. In this case it was determining the best filter design to be integrated into the projects based on the data about the water quality that I received.

From my Charity Insights Internship I have learned a lot about the processes involved in running a project from the initial identification of an area all the way through to finishing it, monitoring the infrastructure and implementing any maintenance work. This has been very insightful and I hope will prove valuable in my future career in water resources.

Knowing that the work that I have been doing will have an impact on the lives of people that live half way around the world that I may otherwise have never had an opportunity to help really adds an even greater sense of satisfaction to my last 4 weeks.

This internship also gave me my first insight into what life will be like working in an office giving me an idea of ‘office etiquette’. Thankfully the team at Drop4Drop made this very easy for me and made me feel extremely welcome and involved within the group. This has helped to prepare me for my life in the ‘real world’ as a graduate and makes me actually look forward to it.

Drop4Drop the good times don’t stop

Three quarters of the way through my time at Drop4Drop and it’s been a great experience so far. The research has been stimulating and I’ve learnt a great deal when it comes to water delivery systems in developing countries.

To help aid in achieving some of Drop4Drop’s goals I have had to research numerous African nations to see the suitability of starting projects in these countries. It has been very interesting looking in depth into these countries discovering facts about the past events leading to the current political climate which plays a factor in projects within that country.

Alongside this I have had to make assessments of the water resources of these countries coming across certain issues such as saline intrusions. This is when extraction of the natural groundwater encourages the nearby salt water, often from the oceans to be drawn into the space left ultimately destroying the quality of the water that was once there so that it’s undrinkable. I am therefore in the position to advise against any projects in these regions as they will not prove sustainable, but obsolete in a few years.

Another aspect of my internship is contacting other clean water charities in an attempt to find out more about their projects. Firstly this is to see if they are using any innovative technologies that could be applicable at Drop4Drop. Secondly it’s to gain the contacts of some in country partners to work with. This is because a very difficult part of initiating a clean water project in rural areas of developing countries is finding people on the ground to help implement the project and work with the communities that will be benefitting from the project.

A major issue facing groundwater in developing countries is the pollution of it from unsanitary practices contaminating the water creating and spreading diseases, so Drop4Drop is looking at incorporating safe sanitation practices into their projects. A product that I have found allows human waste to be turned into compost which can then be sold onto local farmers which helps to triple their yields and profits, all the while keeping the groundwater sources safe.

Drop4Drop mainly operates in groundwater projects however one area of research in surface (rainwater) storage that has proved fascinating to me is sand dams. This is where the community builds the dam structure and over 2 or 3 rain seasons sand builds up behind the dam and water is then stored in the pore spaces. This can hold 2,000,000 litres of clean, sustainable water which is then replenished by the seasonal rains and flash floods, which can also help to mitigate against the dangers of flash floods. I aim to present a project proposal to the charity coordinator based on this with the hope of it developing into a feasible project.

I’m really looking forward to what my final week at Drop4Drop entails.

My First Week with Drop4Drop

Who are Drop4Drop?

Drop4Drop are a charity with the aim of providing safe, clean water to those that need it the most in some of the poorest countries throughout the world. As a result it undertakes most of its projects in India and various countries in Eastern Africa. You can visit their website here: http://drop4drop.org/

Alongside providing clean water it is very important that these projects be as sustainable as possible to ensure the longevity of each and every project to provide a constant supply of water to each community. This means that integrating new, innovative technologies is a key part of these projects and research into these is part of what I shall be doing during my placement.

During the first week of my Charity Insights Internship at Drop4Drop based in Brighton I have spent my time thoroughly getting to grips with the charity, exploring how it operates to see a project through from start to completion. In doing this I have read about some truly inspirational stories and learnt some absolutely shocking facts about the conditions that some of the world’s poorest people live under and deem as ‘normal’.

This has included using the Geological knowledge that I have learnt during the first 2 years of my studies to grasp an understanding of the underlying geology of the areas where the projects are being undertaken. For example looking at papers and other public information to discover if the water is clean of potentially toxic contaminants and also to look at the quantity of water resources available in a particular region. This means drawing together numerous components of research such as current and projected safe water usage, climate and recharge rates of aquifers. This is to ensure the feasibility of a project and ensuring the safety of the recipients of the water resource.

In the upcoming weeks I am going to be looking at other technologies being implemented by other organisations to see if they can be applicable to Drop4Drop’s projects to create greater efficiency in the water delivery systems used. I will also be researching other factors surrounding quality of life such as sanitation and how these can be implemented in current projects in an effective way in an attempt to increase the quality of life of those benefiting from the projects.