University
Engineering For Public Health
Partnership brings safer drinking water to Madagascar
By Donna Campisano | College of Public Heatlh
USF COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Professor James Mihelcic was visiting Tamatave on the east coast of Madagascar to see the work some of his former graduate students were doing on water sanitation and hygiene. That鈥檚 where he stumbled upon local artisans building hand pumps used to access shallow groundwater.
鈥淩ight in front of us, one of these artisans melted down old lead car batteries over a charcoal fire,鈥� he says. 鈥淗e poured some molten lead into a small depression in the ground he鈥檇 made from a soda pop top. Then, bingo. He had a piece for the two check valves you find in a suction pump.鈥�
Troubled Waters
Just watching the demonstration was enough to tell Mihelcic and his colleagues that lead in the drinking water probably exceeded the World Health Organization鈥檚 (WHO) recommended amounts, but they tested samples anyway. Some of them came back at 100 micrograms per liter, 10 times what the WHO says is acceptable.
Lead in drinking water is neither a new problem nor one unique to developing countries like Madagascar. Consider the public health crises surrounding drinking water in places such as Flint, Mich., Newark, N.J., and Jackson, Miss. Lead is a toxic chemical pervasive in the environment. How long and how significant one鈥檚 exposure determine the severity of the health problems it causes, but overall lead exposure can damage the brain, kidneys and nervous system and slow physical and intellectual development in children.
Pumping Iron
With the help of funding from a variety of sources, including Water Charities, Pure Earth, a 深夜看片 Strategic Investment Pool award and his own personal savings, Mihelcic and his team developed a training program for local manufacturers of hand pumps that would teach them how to replace lead components with locally manufactured iron ones.
The team consists of Assistant Professor Mahmooda Khaliq Pasha, PhD 鈥�16, from USF鈥檚 College of Public Health, Professor Jeffrey Cunningham and Assistant Professor Katherine Alfredo from the College of Engineering, and some dedicated graduate students. They鈥檙e partnering with Ranontsika, a Malagasy non-governmental organization whose aim is to improve public health by promoting access to high-quality drinking water. Local health clinics are also involved in testing the blood levels of children in the community and educating their parents about the health problems associated with lead exposure.
鈥淎fter our intervention of retrofitting hand pumps with iron valve components, lead water concentrations were reduced below the WHO drinking water guideline of 10 micrograms per liter in 98 percent of pumps,鈥� says Mihelcic, who also directs USF鈥檚 Engineering for International Development program. 鈥淭he percent of pump systems that had lead concentrations reduced below our analytical detection level increased from 9.6 percent to 64 percent. It鈥檚 quite a striking improvement for a very simple fix.鈥�
Changing out the lead components to iron ones costs about $4 per pump, Mihelcic says 鈥� a worthy expense when you factor in what lead poisoning can cost a community.
鈥淲hen you consider how a country鈥檚 economy suffers because of the loss of IQ of its children, the return on the investment is extremely high,鈥� Mihelcic says. 鈥淧rior to the intervention, we estimated that 35 percent of exposed children had a blood lead level greater than the CDC action level [5 micrograms per deciliter or less] and after the intervention we estimated only 14 percent of exposed children possessed elevated blood lead levels.鈥�
Selling Safety
Turns out engineering a non-leaded valve replacement was the easy part. Getting the local technicians to use it 鈥� and the community to demand it 鈥� proved harder.
That鈥檚 where Pasha鈥檚 expertise came in.
Pasha is an expert in social marketing, which is behavior change 鈥� founded on commercial marketing principles 鈥� that brings about social good. She鈥檇 been collaborating with Mihelcic and some current and former students on the project on an informal basis but got more involved when she applied for an internal College of Public Health grant inviting collaboration across strategic areas.
鈥淎s you can imagine, in a community with not a high level of understanding of lead and its health consequences, sudden change in the norm can create a sense of unease,鈥� Pasha explains. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 especially true if it鈥檚 initiated by folks who aren鈥檛 necessarily representatives of your community.鈥�
Pasha and her team decided to target their social marketing campaign to the technicians locals used to fix and maintain their water pumps.
They spoke to the technicians and translated their findings into a strategy and branded initiative, holding informational and technical sessions and providing in-the-field assistance. After their training, the technicians received certificates signed by the Ministry of Health and Water along with T-shirts and overalls with the project鈥檚 branding -- all important signals to the community that the project was professional and the technicians trustworthy, Pasha says.
With technicians on board, Pasha and her team are now turning their attention to the community.
鈥淲e found that sometimes the technicians didn鈥檛 want to use lead, however, a customer would insist on it because of the look of the metal or the perception that it鈥檚 heavier and better for the pump,鈥� Pasha says. 鈥淲e have intervened midstream through our work with the technicians, and now we鈥檒l focus our work downstream so that there鈥檚 a common understanding among the community. Our project is a model for translational science. Any work that the engineers do in the future is complemented by the expertise of behavioral scientists who work to better position the product, service or behavior.鈥�
about this international, interdisciplinary project.