A Ngurdoto based institution in association with an International Water Company from the United States has made a breakthrough having innovated a special device capable of removing all fluoride from water, a problem that has been affecting residents of Arusha and other parts of Tanzania for ages.
A single unit of the new machine, which was unveiled in Arusha at the Ngurdoto Defluoridation Research Station in Meru District, is capable of purifying nearly 90,000 litres of water per day from fluoride contents even in badly affected areas like Arusha where the chemical contents in the water goes to as high as 30 milligrams per litre.
According to Mr Godfrey Mkongo the Head of the Ngurdoto Station, the defluoridation plant is also being tested if it can clean water from other impurities, including other forms of chemicals as well infectious germs for it to be certified as hybrid detoxification machine ‘Made in Tanzania!’
Flouride affected teeth
The machines do not require electricity to run,
but can function well using solar and wind power though the mains can
also come in handy as the third option. They were purposely intended
for the rural locations or in areas facing power problems such as
Tanzania.
“You know we initially tested the machine at Msimbazi River in Dar-es-Salaam with good results as far as cleaning dirty waters from germs and oily murky flow and it proved to be effective but since then we concentrated in making it capable of freeing water from fluoride and this is the initial test being conducted in Meru District,” revealed Mr Mkongo.
A laboratory expert at the center, Mr Masumbuko Godwin made the latest testing at the Ngurdoto area of Meru District where the reading clocked at 20 milligram of fluoride per litre and the plant cleared that in a few seconds.
It is one technology which is set to make Tanzania, Arusha to be precise, a major exporter of the purifiers in few years. And, they don’t come cheap either. At US $ 250,000 (500 million/-) the gadgets will only be used by mostly large institutions in Tanzania and Africa though other smaller, and cheaper, variants may later be made available.
The technology, originally from the United States of America, was made available here courtesy of Mr Mohammed Rashid Mohammed, the Member of Parliament for Wawi in Pemba via the Civic United Front (CUF).
MP Rashid said it is only 26 percent of Tanzanians who drink clean and safe water thus the purifying machines are important not only in the country but also in South-Sudan, Ghana, Kenya and the rest of East and Central Africa.
“You know we initially tested the machine at Msimbazi River in Dar-es-Salaam with good results as far as cleaning dirty waters from germs and oily murky flow and it proved to be effective but since then we concentrated in making it capable of freeing water from fluoride and this is the initial test being conducted in Meru District,” revealed Mr Mkongo.
A laboratory expert at the center, Mr Masumbuko Godwin made the latest testing at the Ngurdoto area of Meru District where the reading clocked at 20 milligram of fluoride per litre and the plant cleared that in a few seconds.
It is one technology which is set to make Tanzania, Arusha to be precise, a major exporter of the purifiers in few years. And, they don’t come cheap either. At US $ 250,000 (500 million/-) the gadgets will only be used by mostly large institutions in Tanzania and Africa though other smaller, and cheaper, variants may later be made available.
The technology, originally from the United States of America, was made available here courtesy of Mr Mohammed Rashid Mohammed, the Member of Parliament for Wawi in Pemba via the Civic United Front (CUF).
MP Rashid said it is only 26 percent of Tanzanians who drink clean and safe water thus the purifying machines are important not only in the country but also in South-Sudan, Ghana, Kenya and the rest of East and Central Africa.
He said more than 50 water wells, each drilled at
the cost of around 80 million/- have been closed countrywide after
their water was found to be highly contaminated with fluoride. “But
Americans are ready to come and invest in factories that will be
producing these machines for both domestic use and export purposes,”
added Rashid.
Arusha Regional Commissioner Mr Daudi-Felix
Ntibenda who witnessed the fluoride water purifying machine testing at
the center in Ngurdoto said “this project is among the government’s
efforts in saving lives from fluoride infections.” Health experts say
that fluoride can damage fertility, destroy bones and teeth, as well as
cause other serious health problems.
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