Aaryan Sofia Ryan
Last year, the Water Filter division of EOG worked with the XS village to develop customized water filters to solve the problems they were facing with their water supply. Such problems of heavy metals turned the water yellow and waterborne diseases like Ecoli raised the cases of diarrhea and stunting. Their main source of water was groundwater. The water was clear in appearance, but it would actually be filled with all sorts of bacteria. Furthermore, after letting the water sit for some time, it would turn yellow. Since the community obtained its water from the ground, the group hypothesized that it turned yellow due to the presence of iron dissolved in the water which reacts with the oxygen in the air causing it to turn yellow. To confirm this, some members visited the village, took water samples, and then sent them to a lab that analyzed the water’s contents. They found that the water was riddled with bacteria. We focused on identifying and trying to predict what substances were actually present in the water.
After doing research and lab testing, the Water Filter division decided that the Nazava Riam filter and the Zerni filter are the two best filters after comparing cost, functions, and maintenance. These filters can use to solve the iron problem, which turned the water yellow.
The Water Filter division raised money through a Minecraft Esports tournament and donated 10 filters to the XS village. Ibu Retno, the village head, said that their community no longer uses commercial water and now fully depends on these filters, which proved how outstanding and functional the Water Filter division worked and how satisfied the village was.
Towards the end of the year, the Water Filter division concluded and summarized the experience this year, also bringing forward some problems with the Nazava filter. The main problem is that the rate of water filtration on the Nazava filter is too slow. One of the solution ideas the Water Filter division gave is to add another layer of filter in the upper tup above the ceramic filter, so there’s less strain on the ceramic filter enabling it faster at filtering.
Our hydroponics team was also hard at work during the online period. Being the only project that created during the COVID-19 pandemic, we were met with many challenges. Our team researched different hydroponic systems and evaluated their advantages and disadvantages in relation to us as an organization and our community partner, Yayasan Abigail. We also considered potential crops that would be grown with these hydroponics and determined which would be best suited for the community. Once everything was set and we had a solid understanding of hydroponic systems and our community’s needs, we purchased a hydroponic system based on our research and implemented it in the orphanage.