Clean Water and Dirty Water

1Three ways to check water

You have three checks. Use all three, in this order.

1. Look. Is the water clear, so you can see right through it? Or is it brown and cloudy, with bits floating in it?
2. Smell. Hold it near your nose. Does it smell of nothing? Or does it smell bad?
3. Think. Where did this water come from? A covered pot of boiled water? Or an open puddle where the dogs walk?

There is no fourth check. Never taste water to test it. Tasting dirty water is how you get sick, and one sip is enough.

Worked example: two cups on the desk

Keza puts two cups on the desk. Let us check them together.

Cup A. Look: it is clear, and she can see the bottom of the cup. Smell: nothing bad. Think: her mother boiled this water and kept it in a covered pot.

All three checks are good. Cup A is clean water. She may drink it.

Cup B. Look: it is brown, and a piece of grass is floating in it. Smell: it smells bad. Think: her brother scooped it out of the puddle in the yard.

All three checks are bad. Cup B is dirty water. Nobody drinks it. It can give you a bad stomach ache, and it can make you very sick.

2The tricky part: clear is not the same as safe

Now here is the thing many people get wrong.

Some dirt in water is so tiny that your eyes cannot see it. Not even a little bit. Water can look clear, smell of nothing, and still make you sick.

So we are careful. Water is safe to drink only when it has been boiled. Boiling on the fire kills the tiny dirt you cannot see.

Look with your eyes. Then boil anyway.

3Build a simple filter

A filter is a thing that catches the bits and lets the water through.

You need: an empty plastic bottle, a clean cloth, some sand, some small stones, and a cup. Ask an adult to help you cut the bottle.

1. Cut the bottle across the middle. Keep the top half with the neck.
2. Turn the top half upside down, like a funnel, and stand it in the cup.
3. Push the clean cloth down into the neck. This is the bottom layer.
4. Pour sand on top of the cloth. This is the middle layer.
5. Put the small stones on top of the sand. This is the top layer.

Now pour dirty water in slowly, at the top. Wait, and watch the cup.

Worked example: Uwase filters her muddy water

• The stones on top caught the big bits: the leaf and the little sticks.
• The sand in the middle caught the fine mud. Sand has tiny gaps. Water squeezes through, mud gets stuck.
• The cloth at the bottom caught the last small bits.

Big things first, small things last. That is why the stones go on top and the cloth goes at the bottom.

Her water is still a little cloudy, so she pours it through the filter a second time. Now it is clearer still.

4But is Uwase's water safe now?

No. Not yet.

Her filter caught the bits she could see. It did not catch the tiny dirt she cannot see. Those are still swimming in her clear water.

So Uwase does one more thing. She asks her mother to boil the filtered water on the fire. Then she lets it cool, and keeps it in a covered pot.

The filter makes water clear. The fire makes water safe. You need both.

5Keep water clean from the start

It is easier to keep water clean than to clean it later.

• Fetch water in a clean jerrycan. A dirty jerrycan makes clean water dirty again.
• Cover the pot, so flies and dust stay out.
• Take water out with a clean cup, never with your fingers.
• Do not wash clothes in the spring that people drink from.
• Do not throw rubbish in the river. That river is somebody's water.

Try it yourself

Think first. The answer is right underneath.

Answer: no. Look: it is brown with a leaf in it. That is dirty water. It can make him sick.

Answer: the stones. Big things first. The stones catch the big bits, the sand catches the fine mud, and the cloth catches the last small bits.

Answer: no, not yet. The filter took out the bits she could see. The tiny dirt she cannot see is still there. She must boil the water, cool it, and cover it.

Answer: no! Never taste water to test it. One sip of dirty water can make you sick. Look at it, smell it, and think about where it came from.

Answer: so that flies and dust cannot get in. Flies land on dirty things, and then they land in your water.