Wetlands Foundation Project Green Filters

PRODUCED BY: WITH THE SUPPORT OF: GREEN FILTERS Solutions For A Sustainable Future Basin of Fuquene Lake. San Miguel de Sema. 2013 I'm worried about our future regarding pollution, nowadays a lot of untreated water is discharged in the rivers and lakes, along with a lot of garbage, and that will affect our future. We must start raising awareness among children, young people and elder adults, in order to make a more rational use of the hydric resources. REGIONAL DIFFICULTIES Kärcher has noticed that for years, Fuquene lake has been under continuous pollution stress, due to the increasing population and agricultural activity, Additionally, there hasn't been developed any kind of water treatment processes, which leads to further pollution of this hydric resource. There's a general public health problem in this region, but there is also an environmental issue that represents a huge problem in terms of ecosystem services. How? Well, there are lake water bodies in the region, that are currently receiving, discharges full of nutrients and organic matter. These water bodies are vital for these people, People live from them. There's a big city called Chiquinquirá where water, coming from Fuquene Lake, is being treated for human consumption. The water resource in the municipality, hasn't been managed in the best way possible since many lands have been invaded or used for agricultural and livestock exploitation, basically for dairy cattle. This production system directly, pollutes Fuquene Lake, which is the main hydric source of the region. We've noticed with other municipalities of the area, there's too much pollution, and it's all being taken to Fuquene Lake. This work that's being carried out is something special, because... it will allow discharge waters to be less polluted and that will be positive for our own environment. To this extent, what green filters have to offer is a very realistic, very simple, very cheap solution, that is coherent with the situation of the country and the region regarding availability of personnel and economic resources, in order to start dealing with the problem. I think this region is in need of similar projects on the matter of sustainability, especially in the particular case of the hydric resources and the behavior of the ecosystems around them. Sika is permanently committed to the development of products, of lower environmental impact, that contribute to sustainability of natural resources.. LOCAL ACTIONS The construction of this filter is absolutely pertinent. It is unquestionable that this region, and the country in general, are in great need of strategies like this one, in order to treat residual waters. We had the opportunity to contact, companies like Sika and Kärcher and organizations like the GNF that allowed us to finance the construction of a pilot. This pilot is important to show people that, this works and how it works, and that, there is a real experience. Due to the use of green filters, the implementation and maintenance costs of this plant are very low; the community is involved with the project; It doesn't need mayor chemical resources; hence it is very easy to operate. The water treatment plant is, first of all, low budget. It's easy to build, not only for municipalities but also, people could make green filters at home to treat their residual waters and use them in their farms. Treatment costs are not as high as in conventional plants that use chemicals, electricity, and operators. I think it's a very good alternative that should be considered in many of the projects regarding municipal waters, industrial treatment, treatment of agricultural farm waters. Many municipalities and many mayors, have shown great interest in this technology and are calling us to tell them what this is all about. That is wonderful because it means that even before the implementation of the project, we are already generating the positive impact, we were hoping for. TREATMENT PLANT Through Fundación Humedales, Living lakes and the GNF, Kärcher financially supports the development of this natural treatment plant and the community-training program, that is carried out through Fundación Humedales. What we really want, is to offer this opportunity and the possibility for these people, to understand that they hold in their hands the solutions to their problems; even severe problems such as the disposal of residual water into water bodies of great importance due to their environmental, ecosystemic, and social functions. In the specific case of Green filters, Sika provides the waterproofing material for the canals and the additives for the tanks that receive the residual waters. This technology is called phyto-depuration. What is phyto-depuration? It's taking advantage of certain dynamics that occur among different types of organisms. The water comes in dirty, with organic matter, usually with nutrients and other contaminants. There it starts breaking apart. for chemical and physical reasons, When it is already smaller, the bacteria growing on the roots of the plants used by the system, further degrade that organic matter, until they mineralize it. What does that mean? It means that they feed from the organic matter and during that process they release certain nutrients, from which the plants can feed later. In this way, the contaminants that we don't want in the water are turned into plants and bacteria. And that's basically how a green filter works. There are narrow transversal section canals, where the water runs very slowly, while having contact with the roots of several plants, that can be floating or emergent. Macrophytes are very good, because they have big roots, which are full of hairs that helps bacteria getting stuck in there, and are also very good at retaining nutrients and even complicated contaminants such as heavy metals. So that is basically how the green filter works. It's an optimization of the natural dynamics that strengthens the work that plants and bacteria carry out in a natural wetland. So, as we potentiate it, we are able to remove several things from residual water. That's the basic concept of green filters. THE FUTURE San Miguel de Sema is committed. San Miguel de Sema has improved efficiency, and is improving the well being of its inhabitants though the consumption of drinking water. In terms of well being, we gladly observe that people from this region are going to have better quality water, better irrigation for their crops, better management of cattle systems, an improvement in fishing activities, and a series of benefits derived from this type of management. It is possible for this project to be developed in other cities or municipalities through proper divulgation and good results Well, it means a lot of work, but we've noticed people are willing to do it. To that extent, there's a chance for our future to be better. Through strategies such as this one, simple, functional and realistic, I believe we can make it.