Fishy info

Fishbase have an amazing database showing freshwater fish species in the DRC

More information on mining and minerals

Wardell Armstrong is know for assisting with the empowerment and formalisation of the growing and vulnerable artisanal mining sector. They offer clients an unparalleled and diverse range of pragmatic services to help overcome the multitude of unique and complex inter-related challenges that constrain the ASM sector.

The Kimberley Process is an international certification scheme that regulates the trade in rough diamonds. Its aim is to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds, while helping to protect the legitimate trade in rough diamonds.

Amnesty International published a report in April 2003 on the Democratic Republic of the Congo entitled:
“Our brothers who help kill us” – economic exploitation and human rights abuses in the east.

NGO’s to learn from…

OneWorld. Aims to provide the UK’s best online coverage of human rights and
sustainable development.
http://uk.oneworld.net/

Rural Water Supply Network
http://www.rwsn.ch/

The “building advisory service and information network”, basin,
http://www.basin.info/index.htm

United Nations Environment Programme – Division of Technology,
Industry, and Economics.
Includes the UNEP Sustainable Building and Construction Inititative
http://www.unep.fr/en/

Swiss resource centre and consultancies for development

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Soil Testing

What we need is a X-Ray fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) Analyser!!

I have contacted both companies and am awaiting answers. The bad news is that these are EXPENSIVE – I’d guess $8,000 maybe more

Thermo Scientific NITON XLi / XLp / XLt 500 Series Analyzer
Designed for the rapid on-site testing of metals for numerous
industrial applications including mining, coatings, precious metals,
and powder samples.

http://www.cysense.com/index.asp?PageID=70
Thermo Niton XRF Analyser
Innov-X Alpha Series™ or the X-50 Mobile

Alpha Series Spec Sheet / X-50 Brochure

Basis of Operation

It would be a good thing, in our programme application and organisational documentation to show we are committed to following the Red Cross Code of Conduct.

PlayPumps

Playpumps (from South Africa) seem to be a superb concept in providing pumped water.

While children have fun spinning on the PlayPump merry-go-round (1), clean water is pumped (2) from underground (3) into a 2,500-liter tank (4), standing seven meters above the ground.

A simple tap (5) makes it easy for women and children to draw water. Excess water is diverted from the storage tank back down into the borehole (6).

The water storage tank (7) provides a rare opportunity to advertise in outlaying communities. All four sides of the tank are leased as billboards, with two sides for consumer advertising and the other two sides for health and educational messages. The revenue generated by this unique model pays for pump maintenance.

The design of the PlayPump water system makes it highly effective, easy to operate and very economical, keeping costs and maintenance to an absolute minimum.

Capable of producing up to 1,400 liters of water per hour at 16 rpm from a depth of 40 meters, it is effective up to a depth of 100 meters.

A typical hand pump installation cannot compete with the PlayPump system’s delivery rate, even with substantial effort.

Paul’s Comments:

• They seem to cost around $14,000 per installation.
• I’m not really happy with the “leased as billboards” concept!
• Another thought would be building the water tank into a radio mast.

Practical Action (formerly ITDG)

Practical Action (formerly ITDG) aims to demonstrate and advocate the sustainable use of technology to reduce poverty in developing countries. Practical Answers was created to provide a means of accessing the
wealth of technical information held by Practical Action.

As well as Technical Briefs and other technical documents, it also includes the
Technical Enquiry Service supplying, free of charge, technical and
developmental information to development workers, community-based
organisations, NGOs and other agencies using appropriate technologies
to implement sustainable development

Practical Action also run an online bookstore: The Development Bookshop

WEDC – Water, Engineering and Development Centre

A great resource for Water & Sanitation information is WEDC at Loughborough University.
Publications List

All of these a “for purchase” publications, but a number are available as PDF files. These I have downloaded!

WHO Technical Notes for Emergencies
These four page illustrated notes have been prepared by WEDC for the World Health Organization to assist those working immediately or shortly after an emergency to plan appropriate responses to the urgent and medium-term water and sanitation needs of affected populations.

Publications to be read / researched / followed-up
http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/resources/resource_search.php
Keyword = Congo
Keyword = Borehole

Part of WEDC is The WELL resource centre for water, sanitation and environmental health

The WELL publish a great number of guides and how-to manuals for fieldworkers. These can be found from the WELL Publications page.

There is also a separate publications list with entries on:

• WATER SUPPLY
• ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION
• ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
• MONITORING
• CROSS CUTTING ISSUES

The WELL have republished a superb series of Technical Briefs (first published in Waterlines)
Originally published individually in Waterlines, the world’s only magazine devoted entirely to low-cost water and sanitation, these highly illustrated technical briefs bring together a body of information and guidance which has already proved of great practical help to agencies and fieldworkers.

DFID Publications
The Department for International Development

Links to other resources
Publication Catalogues
Other Resource Centres
Non-DFID
International Agencies
Non-governmental organisations (NGO’s)

Lessons Learned from NGO Experiences in the Water and Sanitation Sector