{"id":6384,"date":"2023-03-28T13:48:34","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T16:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solvefortomorrowlatam.com\/pratica\/estudantes-brasileiros-desenvolvem-estacao-portatil-de-tratamento-de-agua-para-uso-domestico\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:15:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:15:33","slug":"estudantes-brasileiros-desenvolvem-estacao-portatil-de-tratamento-de-agua-para-uso-domestico","status":"publish","type":"pratica","link":"https:\/\/solvefortomorrowlatam.com\/en\/case\/estudantes-brasileiros-desenvolvem-estacao-portatil-de-tratamento-de-agua-para-uso-domestico\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazilian students develop portable water treatment plant for domestic use"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI studied at a time when education was bitter medicine to keep me alive. With project based learning<\/a>, teaching and learning becomes a pleasurable act and it is what mobilizes all my activities as a teacher.\u201d It was with this premise that professor F\u00e1bio Cano Carnielo, in 2017, started \u201cPatrol 7 \u2013 Producing science\u201d, an elective project course that brings together students interested in experiencing research, teaching, and extension initiatives in biology in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily, during the lunch break of kids who study at the Full Time Education Center (CETI) Prof. Manuel Vicente Ferreira Lima, in Coari, in the interior of Amazonas, more than 60 young people gather in the school\u2019s laboratory and courtyard to develop science projects. \u201cThroughout the year, they learn to implement the scientific method based on questions related to their interests. As a result, they develop prototype<\/a> solutions for problems of interest of the community<\/a>, publish scientific papers, and become monitors of the school\u2019s regular science activities\u201d, summarizes F\u00e1bio, emphasizing the teaching-research-extension<\/a> tripod that mobilizes all Patrol 7s actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n Creando alas para volar alto <\/h5>\n

Desde que comenz\u00f3 la electiva, los estudiantes participantes han logrado numerosos logros. Hubo varios trabajos publicados en revistas con Qualis A y B (identificador de calidad de la producci\u00f3n cient\u00edfica), incluyendo revistas de bioqu\u00edmica, biolog\u00eda y biotecnolog\u00eda de la Universidad Federal de S\u00e3o Paulo y la Universidad Federal de Amazonas<\/a> y muchos reconocimientos en ferias y concursos de ciencia, como FEBRACE<\/a> y STEM Brasil<\/a>. \u201cEstoy preocupado por su curr\u00edculum. La idea es que ellos desarrollen alas y planeen sus propios vuelos\u201d, celebra el docente, al se\u00f1alar que muchos de los egresados \u200b\u200bdel grupo fueron aprobados y cursan estudios superiores.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It was in this context that a group of four teenagers from the 1st year of high school participating in the initiative decided to get involved with an old teacher issue. \u201cI brought them a personal experience. Years ago, when I was teaching classes at a school in the riverside community, a colleague and I were infected with typhoid fever<\/a>, consuming unsafe water at school\u201d, recalls F\u00e1bio. Mobilized by the problem, which affects more remote communities and large urban centers that still lack adequate sanitation, the young people decided to recover a prototype worked on in previous years and which had not produced the expected results, developing a portable water treatment microstation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they began to better research the problem, the students were able to understand the issues present in previous versions of the prototype that had been developed by other groups. \u201cThey began to understand how and what they could contribute. The question of how to make the proposal work organized the line of research and the steps to be followed,\u201d emphasizes the professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general terms, the group produced a water treatment plant<\/a> employing materials available in the community. Using 20L gallons of water and pots of margarine, they created a three-step system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. In the first, which works as a decanter<\/a>, a flocculating coagulator is added to the incoming water, causing heavy flakes, such as clay, to be separated.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The water then passes through a filter with activated carbon<\/a> made from banana peels arranged in coarse and fine pebbles and coarse sand, eliminating heavy metals and protozoa.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Finally, in the third stage, the water remains in a reservoir where one drop of chlorine per liter is added. The entire process is controlled by registers operated by the user according to the supply needs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    To attest the quality of the water, the youths performed several laboratory tests, measuring for example, Ph, the presence of microorganisms, electrolytes, and heavy metals. \u201cAt all times, in all projects, I try to get young people to focus on the scientific method<\/a>, assessing their hypotheses, confirming and systematizing the results\u201d, reports F\u00e1bio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=IlvocjuRU64&ab_channel=SolveForTomorrowBrasil\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Among the group\u2019s concerns was the size and weight of the prototype. \u201cFrom the beginning, they wanted to do something that could be implemented in the communities, focusing on the extension pillar of Patrol 7\u201d, says the professor. Therefore, they chose materials that were low-cost, easily accessible, and light to transport. As a result, they were able to assemble the structure for less than R$30, meaning under six US dollars. \u201cProducing in scale, we would still be able to lower the equipment cost, \u201c he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n