Last summer GB Ghana offered two highly competitive, one month long, internships on the overarching theme of innovative solutions for sustainable impact. Interns were given the opportunity to work behind the scenes with our in-country staff, participating in a combination of Brigades, research and evaluation, lectures, cultural exchange and community involvement. During the internship’s water week, interns developed a system for community members to monitor water levels in Household Rainwater Harvesters and to effectively ration water.
For various reasons, some community members over-consumed the rainwater stored in their tanks while others were rationing the water too strictly. In order to help families understand how to effectively use the water in their rainwater harvester, the interns created a simple, scalable and cost-efficient gravity measuring system out of locally available materials. Furthermore, interns calculated a monthly water level estimate, which helped community members easily understand where the water level in their tank should be during every month of the year. This very visual tool helps community members understand when to ration water and keep track of their water consumption. After this year’s dry-season, the Water Team will check how effective the system has been with piloted households. In case of success, we will make sure every family with a Rainwater Harvester will be provided with the tools to measure the water level in their tank!
