Sustainable Urban Communities
CONNECTED ROOFS PROJECT FOR DRINKING WATER
By JDM DRINKING WATER FOR ALL
Our solution's stage of development:
ResearchOur solution:
In the tropics, it rains 9 months during the year. But it is common for people to complain about water scarcity. Municipal authorities should consider constructing huge cisterns by neighborhoods or communes for collecting the rainwater by means of a connection device of the different roofs of the city.
Our pitch:
A) The problem
In large agglomerations in Africa and especially in Kinshasa, entire
districts and communes are experiencing water scarcity for a good period
of the year. Residents travel distances to get supplies. They also spend large sums of money to buy bottled mineral water.
B) The solution
We will create a company whose core-business will be the construction of underground tanks which will collect rainwater from the roofs of at
least 10 houses per group for 9 months using gutters. This collected water will be treated, purified, stored and distributed to the partner contributors. Our team of chemists in collaboration with those of the company having the national monopoly will do the treatment and monitoring of the water. This would reassure consumers of the good quality of the product.
C) How to approach the question of challenge?
We will first address the various municipal authorities, beginning with
the governor or the mayor of the city (province) to the head of the
district to present the project and its merits. Then we will move on to the popularization of the project. The latter has the decisive word when it accepts, appropriates the idea of the project and adheres to it. Then we will use national and international donors to fund or subsidize this project.
D) International changes
Scaled up, the impact of the project will echo across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. This will ensure an ever-growing market for the company. And the latter will have the opportunity to go abroad. The
Asian and American zones on both sides of the tropics offer the same
opportunities to the project as sub-Saharan Africa and thus constitute a
real target for the expansion of the company's activities.
The problem:
In the tropics, it rains 9 months the year. Let us count the number of roofs in a city which serve only to spare the human being from the bad weather. The role of these roofs could be seriously diversified. Municipal authorities should consider constructing huge cisterns by neighborhoods or communes. These cisterns should collect the rainwater by means of a connection devices (gutters) of the different roofs of the ward, district and city. This water will be treated and monitored regularly and distributed to partner contributors. Thus entire cities would become autonomous in supplies of fresh and drinking water.
Why our solution will solve the problem:
Our proposal will solve the problem for several reasons including: 1) The need for drinking water is immense. 2) Despite global warming, in the tropics it still rains abundantly over the course of a year. (3) Space for underground reservoirs exists. 4) Products to treat water exist. 5) Materials to build and manage gutters are available. 6) Electricity generators exist alongside the national electricity company. 7) Building materials are available. 8) Suction and other motors are available. 9) Metal or plastic pipes are available. 10) Our solution is simple, less expensive, decentralized and adapted to the needs of the population.
Our target outcomes:
Our project, beyond the lucrative, is of a social nature. It will solve water problems in beneficiary households. It will reduce diarrheal diseases in peripheral and raised areas of cities with poor access to safe drinking water. The use of gutters and the channeling of collected water to underground tanks will reduce the number of erosions due to rainwater runoff by positive externality. The family’s health budget will decline and the cost of providing drinking water will drop significantly. The company will be efficient. The project will be deployed as soon as the funds found. Surely in a year.
How we will measure our progress:
The populations we will benefit initially:
The regions we will benefit initially:
The technologies we employ:
Why our solution is unique:
Our solution is innovative insofar as it does not seek the basic raw material very far. It comes from the sky and falls for at least nine months. The simplicity of the concept puts into practice mechanics, hydraulics, masonry and the use of machine tools. Its advantage is that all inputs are available and that nobody in my environment has ever thought of pooling roofs to ensure the availability and storage of rainwater.
Why our solution is human-centered:
The recovery and treatment of rainwater in a group of 10 roofs is designed to satisfy the drinking water needs of people living in peri-urban areas, hills and plateaus in large cities and in deprived neighborhoods. This solution will reduce the rate of waterborne diseases, reduce the health budget and increase the feeling of well-being among the beneficiary populations. It will also solve the erosion problem associated with rainwater run-off. The number of beneficiaries will increase considerably as we intervene on the ground.
How people will access our solution:
It depends on the type of funding that will be available to us. If United Nations system organizations fund the project, deployment will be swift in disadvantaged and targeted neighborhoods. If the municipal authorities participate in the financing, our activities will go well. If they are the beneficiaries themselves, it is obvious that the work will go slowly but we will have to use all the conventional and operational techniques of financing and marketing.
Technology-Readiness Level:
1-3 (Formulation)Our organization:
Not Registered as Any OrganizationHow we will sustain our team financially:
We will each save 1000 USD per month
The factors limiting our success:
The availability of funds and the approval of the Ministry of Energy.
How long we have been working on our solution:
Less than 1 yearHow long it will take to develop a pilot:
6-12 monthsHow long it will take to scale beyond our pilot:
12-18 monthsOur expected annual budget:
$700000
How much of our budget we've secured to date:
$2000
We're looking for partners in these fields:
Why we're applying to Solve:
We postulate to solve to reach the great scientific community that seeks
to solve the problems of men on earth, to contribute to their well-being
and thus become a true and great actor of development. We also postulate that if the project is selected, we can win a prize or get funding to materialize our idea.
Our current partners:
We are looking for partners.
We are targeting the Congolese state and international organizations
Solution Team
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Mr JEAN DENIS MIALA NDOMBELE SENIOR LECTURER, UNIVERSITY OF KINSHASA - FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT
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Our Solution
CONNECTED ROOFS PROJECT FOR DRINKING WATER