Water Purification SYSTEM upgrade!!

Andy Jordan, board member from Memphis, TN and a team from Advent Presbyterian Church installed the first pure water system at Casa MAMi in the fall of 2005. He returned last month to replace that one and  move the old one to the boys home.
THANK YOU, ANDY, and THANK YOU STAFF for your excellent support! Glory to GOD! Below, is Andy's report.


On this trip, two water treatment systems were built and installed at Casa Hogar MaMi girls’ and boys’ homes.  The system at the girls’ school replaced the one that has been in operation since 2005.  When I arrived September 7, the system at the girls’ home was treating the water ok, though water flow rate to the tap was slow due to filter loading (filters were in need of changing) and the UV lamps were overdue for annual replacement.  Water quality was confirmed to be safe. (See full report following the executive summary.) Earlier reports that some children became ill was because they drank insufficient quantities of water due to taste (according to the resident nurse and Dr. report.) The taste issue is likely due to the total dissolved solids (TDS) content of Rio Grande water and seasonal changes that affect taste and odor typical of municipal surface water sources. (Reynosa TDS is about the same as McAllen, Rio Grande City, Fulton reservoir and Harlingen.) TDS is well within World Health Organization and Texas Department of Environmental Quality guidelines.  TDS is not a health issue. Conventional municipal treatment and household treatment systems do not remove taste and odor components of water.  There is no evidence of a safety issue due to taste.
Nevertheless, an update in the treatment system at Casa MaMi was in order to make operation more reliable and easier to maintain. Also a significant purpose of this trip was to get reacquainted with the staff and to provide a thorough operator training in operations, maintenance and record keeping. (In retrospect, on previous trips, lack of adequate time and resources dedicated to training was a significant shortcoming; hence the reason we allowed for ample time on this trip to assure good training.)
The updated design change adds a third filter in the systems. This should extend filter life and improve efficiency.  New UV disinfection reactor units were installed at both locations.  This system consists of an ultraviolet (UV) reactor tube preceded by a 20 micron filter, a 5 micron filter and a 0.35 micron filter.  Using piped water from the Reynosa city water service with the household system installed at the homes provide a multi-barrier (3 barriers) treatment system to assure safe water. They are: treatment and chlorination of Reynosa water supply, on-site micro-filtration by 20 micron, 5 micron and 0.35 micron filters and UV radiation in compliance with NSF-055 standard for UV.  Any one of the barriers is generally considered sufficient to assure safety; therefore, when all three methods are employed with reasonable care, the likelihood that one or more of the systems is working is maximized. On trips in 2009, 2010 and on this 2012 visit, I conducted multiple tests of  the incoming Reynosa piped water at various locations on the properties for the presence of residual chlorine (free chlorine). I consistently detected adequate levels of free chlorine, a reliable indicator that the Reynosa water system is operating properly—at least when the water was tested. The on site filtration and UV disinfection at the homes add additional barriers to prevent contamination in case the Reynosa water treatment should become inadequate.
Installation and operation of the systems at both sites was completed late Sunday. An operator’s maintenance manual was developed, and training was provided for the operators, Marko and Celeron; both are competent, bright young men and by the end of the trip demonstrated high proficiency in filter and UV inspection, cleaning, and replacement. Instructions for cleaning filters and UV sleeve/lamp assemblies on a strict quarterly basis also was a significant change in the operations emphasized on this trip.  Also importance that filter replacement shall be done only with properly sized filters to assure proper filtration was stressed.  Home depot filters are adequate only for the first level of filtration (i.e., replacement for the 20 micron filters.) The water hardness of Reynosa water requires regular cleaning of the UV components to assure top effectiveness.
An ample inventory of 7 sets of replacement filters and 4 sets of lamp/sleeve assemblies intended to last 3 years or until September 2015 was left in storage container dedicated to the filter systems.  Also the English electronic version of the  training manual was left with Ana Hernandez with the request to translate the manual to Spanish. In conclusion, when I departed the site Monday afternoon, I had high level of confidence that the system is in good hands and with good record keeping the system will be operational indefinitely.
It should be noted in this executive report to my files, the excellent cooperation received from my interpreter, Ana; the home psychologist, Leticia; maintenance personnel, Marko and Celeron; and kitchen staff. They all worked long hours and took extra measures to assure this trip was a success and to keep me well fed and comfortable.  Acknowledgement should also go to Kathy Scruggs, Maria Paterson, Celia Thrash, and Sister Elma for their dedication, assistance, prayers and unselfish devotion and to my friend and prayer partner Chris Scruggs for his understanding and support of this mission and to my wife Susan who works unselfishly on LWW water health and hygiene training and wants to accompany me on my next trip to Casa MaMi.