EWB- India Design concept for water station

Last crawled date: 2 years, 11 months ago

Design Narrative: Water Station ---------------------------------------------- The intent is to create a multifunctional common structure: a shaded area with running water and lighting. The houses will have a small supply of drinking water at the homes for potable usage with RW catchment, but these stations are intended to supply water for washing clothes, sanitation, and other purposes. It will also be used to supply drinking water when the home supplies run out. The buildings can be used for washing clothes,doing repairs, or anything else that might require water or lighting. There will be a couple of these stations in the community (no more than 5), so that everyone has access. These structures should be clearly intended for common use, open, well lit, ventilated, and easily cleaned. Communal facilities for water are common in these villages, so this seems likely to be accepted as an improvement over the current setup (water gathering around an open by the community. The building must be easy to ventilate since temperatures go into the mid to high 80s on a regular basis, and water will slosh around inside. If it's to be a closed building, it should have a window on every side. No glass, but with shutters so that the windows may be closed or opened. The floor should be cement. The roof should extend out to create a shaded area around the doors and windows, since shade is at a premium in this area... There will be at least one 1000L water tank attached to this building, above ground and on a cement pad (maybe raised up a foot or two above the building floor level to enhance water pressure). The building itself must also be raised up from ground level a foot or so, because of the flooding in the area. The tanks are constructed with cement rings, and are 1 meter in diameter. They need to be located next to the building, but the placement of the tanks is up to the design. The tanks will be piped into the building and attached to one or several faucets with drains. The water discharged from this building will be handled by a design TBD. Solar panels need to be mounted, and a 75W panel is approximately 2ft x 4 ft. If the panels are to be roof-mounted, the roof will need to be able to support a person for cleaning and maintenance. The roof will need to be sloped for the RW catchment, and gutters must be atttached to catch the water. A well will be installed to maintain the water level in the tanks. The well needs to be protected, so a storage must be created within or next to the building to contain the well, pump, charge controller, batteries, and any tools necessary to maintain the system. This room needs to be lockable for security, since the cost of this equiment would easily be as much as an individual makes in a year. Groundwater is located between 2-8 feet bgs, with local and seasonal variations. Soil is sandy. The area is relatively flat. The buildings will have lights as part of the solar design, as compact fluorescent bulbs with a light switch, but lights should be unnecessary during the day. Consider corrugated fiberglass in a small section of the roof for natural ambient light. This community is less than 2km from the ocean, and can reasonably expect regular severe storms and hurricane force winds at some point in the building's lifetime. In addition, it is also in a seismic zone. Cement, rebar, sand, bricks, concrete blocks, and corrugated asbestos/cement panels (used for roofing) are available less than 5 miles away in the mandal headquarters. Tin roofing was not seen in the area.