The Rainwater Harvesting Workshop
Our first workshop is funded by the Michael Kalil Fellowship and is meant to serve three goals for our Initiative: building the rainwater harvesting system, sharing technology, and building community.
This workshop was meant to be implemented in August 2014. Unfortunately, we had to postpone our travel because of the Ebola outbreak just days before our planned arrival.
The workshop involves building a rainwater collection and filtration prototype in the compound. With an eventual rooftop system in mind for the Amenawon compound, and taking into account the needs of the tenants, and schoolchildren on the compound, as well as neighbours. We have also invited various community oriented organizations to be part of the workshop.
We proposed to build a small prototype on the roof of a shed in the compound yard in a community workshop. We envisioned this as the inaugural workshop for the Solar School and also as a kind of open-source knowledge sharing. As part of this plan, we proposed to produce a DIY manual for building such a system. We intended to make one for the actual workshop and improve it afterwards. What we present today are two manuals that we have made in advance of the postponed workshop.
About the Pamphlet
Manual one: Rainwater Harvesting
Manual Two: Building and Maintaining Rainwater Catchment System
Harvesting rainwater is pretty easy, but we faced two basic challenges. The first challenge was expense. We wanted our propotype affordable for people in Lagos, so that it would be possble for them to build their own. The second challenge is the potability of the water in a city where sanitary conditions make contamination likely. This requires raising consciousness regarding how water gets contaminated, and how to maintain the water harvesting system.
We are looking forward to your feedback, so we share the pamphlets with you here. The first manual, (Rainwater Harvesting) is meant for both children and adults, having in mind the integration of the school’s curriculum with the workshops. We also develop a quiz that tests this knowledge.
The second manual (Building and Maintaining Rainwater Catchment System), is still being completed.