First Data Collected

As interesting as it is to travel and see the natural beauty of Ghana, my purpose in being here is actually to complete a research project on microbial water quality. As this has taken form, I have focused my efforts towards bore-holes, and looking for indicators of recent fecal contamination in these. On Saturday, September 30 I went with a student, Peter, from my hydrology class to his hometown to sample the water there and test my protocol. On Monday, I went to the 37 Military Hospital with the same purpose. I am satisfied that I can detect coliform & e.coli in well water, and I have refined my protocol for the visual survey of the wells. You can see the documentation of my initial data:

Chanten-Lapaz Water Quality
Sep 30, 2006 - 15 Photos


On Friday, October 6 I went to the Community Water and Sanitation Agency office in the capital of the Eastern Region, Koforidia. I collected some historic information about the digging of bore-holes in the region and made arrangements to go next week and test the wells in 14 communities in the Sahum District. I am really excited at how quickly this has come together. Up to this point it has been extremely slow and tedious to make the appropriate connections, but once I submitted my ten-zillion letters of introduction to the Sahum District Assembly they have been very helpful in making the arrangements for me to visit the communities. More details after my visits next weekend!

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