An NGO based in Pabal, called Vigyan Ashram, currently offers water testing to the local community and as part of its curriculum. Vigyan Ashram uses a system in which potentially polluted water is mixed with a sterile nutrient broth solution (prepared from Mac Conkey Broth powder) and incubated for 48 hours in a water bath at 37°C. The broth is initially pink in colour; if by the end of the procedure it is yellow the broth has been digested and so harmful micro organisms must be present. If no change in the colour of the broth is noted then the water is considered to be safe for drinking. In Pabal there are 4-hour-long power cuts twice a day, which means that the water bath cannot be kept at a constant 37°C without resorting to the use of expensive batteries.

Two potential projects have been identified:

1) To develop or modify an existing water testing system. The new system should, as much as possible, use the apparatus already available at Vigyan Ashram.

2) To design an incubator that does not rely on electricity and can be manufactured by Vigyan Ashram. The local community should eventually learn how to make and use the incubator, thereby becoming self-reliant and having the capacity to design water testing systems themselves in the future.

Download the full proposal here. 

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