Science Nerd

After loads of interviews, home visits and observations at over 40 springs, streams and rivers, where people collect drinking water, we’re now testing the water in the lab to figure out the level of contamination. Where, you might ask, could we perform such a feat in this forgotten corner of rural Kenya? Well, I’ve actually set up a lab in our house, complete with Petri dishes, reagents, forceps and an incubator. All those 8:00 am lab classes in college and my water quality work at my previous job are definitely paying off! The team laughs at (and celebrates) my science nerd ways…

Lucas and I have been revisiting all the locations where people told us that they are getting sick from drinking the water. One of our stops was the river that Chacha and his family use. He informed us that he has been sick for the past 3 years with ameobiasis (can you believe that- 3 years!), which brings on painful cramping and severe diarrhea and is caused by an invisible microorganism in the water.

Chacha admitted with some shame that when first diagnosed, he didn’t heed the doctor’s advice to take his medicine and boil his drinking water to kill the disease-causing microorganisms. However, the pain sent him back to the doctor in desperation, and he proudly reported that he has been faithfully taking his medicine and boiling the drinking water. His wife and children were also suffering from the disease, but now Chacha and his entire family are recovering rapidly. I was relieved to hear this, because in this part of the world, death is a real possibility for people with diarrhea.

Diarrhea is the #1 cause of death in the world.

90% of diarrhea deaths are from contaminated water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene.

So, Lucas filled a bottle up with Chacha’s river water, we tested in the lab, and sure enough, we found large amounts of bacteria in the water. Most waterborne diseases come from fecal matter (translation: poop), so we test for “fecal coliforms”. Prepping the samples for this important test takes quite a bit of effort and they must be incubated at a constant temperature for at least 14 hours.

We also test for other things like pH, which can give us clues about the general quality of the water. Those tests take just a couple minutes, due to the generous donation of a colorimeter from our partner LaMotte Testing. The great thing about the colorimeter is that it’s super easy to use and I’ve been able to train Lucas how to use it. That way he can help the community monitor the impacts of our projects long after I’m gone!

It’s all really nerdy stuff, but scientific results are important to verify what we’re hearing from the people and to get to the root cause of the problem. We use the test results to determine where in the community clean water sources are needed most. And, immediately, before we even have the money raised for much needed water projects, we can use the test results to target areas where more training is needed on life-saving practices that people can do in their homes, like boiling water or using chlorine (if they can afford it) to disinfect their water.