In a small village in Kajiado County, Kenya, women and girls struggle to provide clean water for

their families and livestock. Water is a treasured resource, especially since the water provides for not only
the community, but for the animals as well.This
area is in great poverty, and the families of the
village rely on income from this livestock to feed
their families. Lots of water is needed to keep
everyone alive, so more help is needed. The girls
can not go to school, because this task takes up a
lot of time and energy. Traveling around four
miles by foot carrying water in a hassle, made
nearly fruitless as the water contains E. coli,
typhoid, and ammonia, as well as being murky
from a great deal of dirt. As a result of this timeconsuming task, men receive better education as
they can attend school.
Similarly to the United States, Kenya has
a presidential government. Kajiado, in contrast to Durango, has only a town council rather than a full
office (mayor, etc). Overall, the countys poverty level has improved, currently at 11.6 percent 1. The town
of Kajiado, however, has a slightly higher poverty level at 12.1 percent. Currently in Kajiado, the percent
of people with fever/malaria is 12.3 percent. As research shows, the water contains Typhoid Salmonella.
Also, due to livestock, E. coli is present in the water. This causes troubles for the economy in Kajiado, as
they raise livestock in order to provide for their families.
Of the 687,312 people living in Kajiado, a very large portion are Masai. The Masai people rely
heavily on livestock and a pastoral way of life. As mentioned, the livestock are a very important part of
the culture and economy. With severe drought and diseases in what scarce water there is, survival
becomes extremely difficult. Basic necessities are hard to come by, for these residents.

1 "Kajiado County." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2015. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.

Materials:
One t-shirt - can be found elsewhere, but around $1.50 on Amazon- around 30 for one filter
One handful activated charcoal - approx. $7.00 for a container - around $1.00 per filter
Window screen - one roll for $10.00 - around $0.25 per filter (each filter needs 3 5x5 inch squares of
screen)
Plastic bottle - recycling?
Mirror - pack of 5 for $2.49 - each filter needs 2 mirrors, around $1.00 per filter
TOTAL: Approximately $21.00 for all materials total, probably around $2.55 per filter

Filters use:
The device we created has many filters that clean the water to its best ability. The water must go through
multiple filters in order to remove . The first part of the filter, the window screen is to make sure the
stones and larger objects dont get in. Inside the pouch is active charcoal which purifies the water from
bacteria. Furthermore, we have many layers of t-shirts that give the water one last filter. The t-shirts are
able to get out most of the dirt, giving you cleaner water. Finally, you prop up the mirrors to boil all of the
bacteria while also redirecting the UV rays onto the water. Our device is aimed towards creating clean and
safe water through filtering, while providing a low cost, feasible solution for those in need.
How each material works:
Activated Charcoal - The activated charcoal helps confine chemicals and bacteria. When the pesticides
absorb into the charcoal, it is biologically immobile and cannot cause damage to wherever the water is
going.
Window Screens - We used 3, 4 inch diameter window screen circles to prevent rocks and other large
debris from getting into the water and to prevent the charcoal from getting out.
Vent Filter - The vent filter is used to hold the activated charcoal and to prevent the activated charcoal that
is in it from getting out, providing further filtration.
T-shirt - The t-shirt is used to catch extra rocks that might slip in through the screen from reaching the
water. It is also used to prevent the activated charcoal that it outside of the vent filter from reaching the
water.
Plastic Bottle - The plastic bottle is used to hold the filtered water, however the filter is versatile and can
be used on other shapes and sizes of containers.
Mirrors - The mirrors are used to redirect the UV rays from the sun and to heat the water, killing the
salmonella and other bacteria.

Testing Summary:
Overall, our tests showed that, indeed, our filter did help to purify the water, however it may not have
been as effective as we were expecting. There were a few factors that could have made our tests a little
variable. For example, in our microorganism test, there was one piece of the filter that we failed to test
with: the mirrors in sun. This could have affected our tests outcome because the point of the mirrors was

to help kill the many creatures living in the water. Our filter took out the large chunks, making it easy to
see the crawlers that were hiding underneath.
Our second test, however, was a little more successful. In the ammonia test, the water went from
a 4.0 to a 0.5. However, in our second test, the water went from a 4.0 to a 1.0. Overall, this means that in
the first test, our water ended up with less ammonia in it than in the second test.
For our final test, turbidity, we ended up with different results that what we found with our
impromptu creek testing. Our water was not much cleaner once it had been run through the filter. This
was shown when the original turbidity was 2.5 inches, while the final turbidity was around 1.5. However,
every time we tested in the creek, our water came out looking clear. The dirt may have been a result of
stuff left over in the filter from previous tests such as the microorganism test.
All in all, our filter worked well, and I believe that it was a cost effective, easily manufacturable
creation that, upon some slight improvements, will get the job done.