Water & Health
About this project
The coronavirus outbreak changed society's hygiene habits. Before and during the pandemic, 40% of the population washed their hands six to 10 times a day. However, a significant increase was recorded in surveys where people washed their hands 16 times a day. Currently, it is considered that hand hygiene, tone of the main measures available to contain this advance. For people in transit and living on the streets, it becomes even more necessary for structures of public sinks that allow practical cleaning on the streets. For this reason, we created Aquapluvi. A device for collecting rainwater to be installed on pre-existing roofs (such as bus stops, for example), with the aim of filtering and storing this water and making it available to the population passing by. Coupled to the structure is a soap dispenser, allowing up to 100 hand washing per day, just using an extremely necessary tool to combat COVID-19. The project consists of implanting these devices in points around the cities, and thus, enabling the protection of the people passing in the streets.
Aquapluvi (€ 560,00 per unit) consists of a water and soap storage structure, with a sink attached, allowing the washing of the hands of the population in transit. The water can be fed in two ways: through the supply network and through rainwater (as a way of using this water). For this, it must be installed in places that allow a structure to collect water (such as roofs of bus stops, for example) for the implantation of a gutter system (with all PVC pipes, both the collection and the direction) and that have proximity to plumbing in order to enable the power connection. The hybridity of this format allows the use of rainwater, and enables the full functioning of the product in a dry period. Within the Aquapluvi water storage structure there is a float system that balances different feeds and avoids problems with excess and water loss.
Goals and Objectives
General objectives
- Provide access to clean water in the urban environment for hand hygiene through the reuse of rainwater and piped water. In this way it will be possible to reduce water expenditure, taking advantage of part of the rainwater;
- Makes possible to reduce restrictions on social isolation in a safer way;
- Improve the culture of hand hygiene in public environments even after the pandemic.
Specific objectives
- To be an alternative to the use of alcohol gel, given the high cost, the speed with which the product has left the market and the impossibility of purchasing it by many people;
- Enable the cleaning of the hands of people without access to water and soap (focusing on the population in transit);
- Offer durability and resistance for implantation in public places with high circulation of people;
- Offer reduction of contamination risks by touching the equipment, or by the quality of the water.
Expected result
The project will be implemented in urban areas, aiming mainly to serve the population in transit or living on the streets, which, in turn, has extremely limited resources in terms of protecting the New Coronavirus.
The current structure of the equipment can be detailed as follows:
The water catchment system also counts (in the part of the drop to the reservoir) with filtering of any particles in the water, in order to provide water with the best possible quality, and to avoid problems with decanting and accumulation of this material. Still on the quality of rainwater, chlorination will be carried out by the maintenance team, fomenting our concern with the water delivered. Chlorine will be applied in drops or tablets, in the ideal amount for the volume of water available, with the minimum possible replacement.
In times when it is not raining, it is possible to turn on the valve that allows piped water to enter manually. For the water received by the local supply system, it does not need any additional treatment, since it is already chlorinated from the water treatment plant.
With the exception of the piping (referring to the capture), which is currently made of PVC, the Aquapluvi body is all structured in stainless steel (material chosen for its high resistance and durability, which acts as a barrier to vandalism). The chute is connected to the storage structure, which has a total capacity of 40 liters. Right after this part, there is a surface where the sink, a pressure tap and the soap dispenser are located. This support surface has an internal structure that includes the disposal pipe, and the tap and soap elements, avoiding the exposure and possible degradation of these parts. Finally, there are also the Aquapluvi fixation structures on the floor, which support the weight of the material and corroborate the safety of the equipment, since it makes possible attempts to pull it out or take it from the site.
The pressure tap allows that during the wash, the chances of contamination by contact through the water release mechanism are reduced. This is because during the wash, the user must use the tap on two times: the first to wet the hands and the second with the already soapy hands to finish the wash. This faucet model also allows activation by the foot, without contact and risk of contamination with the Aquapluvi surface.
The soap compartment has a pourer via the pump valve, which releases 2 to 5ml of soap per actuation. The current device has a 100ml reservoir, but for the next, a 2L model will be implanted, with an average autonomy of 280 to 370 washes.
Sustainable Development Goals
About me / organisation
Anna Luísa Beserra Santos
Young scientist who, at the age of 15, began to develop a technology to treat water in rural areas using sunlight, Aqualuz, which is also the only technology in the world to treat cistern water using sunlight. At the age of 17 he founded the startup Safe Drinking Water For All - SDW to develop technologies that would make access to water and sanitation a universal right. At the age of 18, she was the youngest Brazilian graduate in New Entrepreneurship Leadership at MIT. It is the only Brazilian awarded by the Young Champions of the Earth, the main UN award for young people. He is among the “20 inspiring youngsters in their 20” by McKinsey & Company (2019). She is the first Brazilian finalist for the global Green Tech Award. Today the SDW already impacts more than 1,500 people in Brazil, and counts not only with Aqualuz, but also with a solar desalinizer, Aquasolina and with the new technology to combat and prevent Covid-19 for people on the streets , Aquapluvi, rainwater collection and treatment system at bus stops for hand hygiene. With these technologies, Anna works directly to achieve SDGs 3 (Health) and 6 (Water and Sanitation).
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