Border Partners founder, Peter Edmunds (center) helped Juan Carlos Huerta (right) of Puerto Palomas lead a workshop to produce water filters for testing.
Public drinking water in Puerto Palomas contains naturally occurring heavy metals that are detrimental to long term health, particularly for children. Levels of arsenic surpass 20 times safe standards; there’s seven times too much fluoride.
The town provides two public water filters but residents must pay 1 peso per gallon for the safe water. Regularly transporting large jugs of water to one’s home is time-consuming and heavy–as a five gallon jug weighs over forty pounds. And the amount of water needed in a school for the drinking needs of students, staff and for lunch cooking requirements prohibits use of this safe water.
Erin Ward, the Director of the Southwest Consortium for Environmental Research & Policy and Joshua Gomez, an engineering student from New Mexico State University, contacted us at Border Partners to introduce a public domain design water filter to Palomas. The filter is composed of common plumbing parts and chemicals.
This filter, which can easily be installed in public buildings and in homes, allows access to safe water to all at a low cost.
Making sure it works!!
Border Partners is working with community members to introduce this filter, run tests to make sure that it works well and to find out how long the chemicals will filter to safe standards. We needed to find a source for the chemicals and to refine the design to keep the cost as low as possible. In June, 2014, filters were built by high school students and installed in the community demonstration garden, as well as in the three Palomas public schools. In July, water samples were tested and found to meet the standard set.
Peter Edmunds secured interest from the community, arranged for their involvement, transported water for testing and secured donations to fund the project.
News of this advance spread. The Mayor of Ascension, the county seat, asked for filters to install in 30 schools in the district and partially funded their production.
Currently, the latest model of the filters is installed in the three schools and the garden. The next step is to have the water tested by a Mexican water testing lab. After we clear that hurdle, we will be able to install the filters in all 25 of the schools in the district and sell the filters to the public.
Two men from Palomas are developing a business plan to launch a way to sell these water filters in Mexico. If successful, this will contribute to economic development in the town, providing jobs and reliable income.