By Zach Sprau, Water Mission Electrical Designer 

“Where are we going to find another one of those?” I thought as we looked at the broken fitting. My teammate and I looked at each other with a sinking feeling. We were on a consulting trip with UNICEF, installing remote monitoring units for a few of their solar-powered water pumping systems, relatively close to the actual Timbuktu, one of the most remote places we had ever been. Needless to say, we were nowhere near a hardware store. 

Thankfully, the resourceful local team quickly located a fitting (I still have no idea where they found it), and we were able to complete the project. My teammates and I often reflect with gratitude on the unique opportunities we get to be a part of while working with Water Mission.  

The engineering teams at Water Mission are dedicated groups of individuals working together to design and implement safe water projects worldwide. Ranging from a creative innovator expanding our horizons in North Charleston, SC, to a mining explosives expert turned water engineer in Honduras, to a brilliant technician in Uganda, and everything in between, it’s an honor to work with them.  

Energy, specifically renewable energy, is a topic that has quickly become integral to many of the primary United Nations humanitarian sectors, including (but not limited to) agriculture; education; emergency telecommunications; health; protection; and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).  

As a WASH organization, renewable energy assists Water Mission in striving toward our vision that all people have access to safe water and the opportunity to experience God’s love. As we provide safe water, we also work toward certain Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 6—Clean Water and Sanitation—and SDG 7—Affordable and Clean Energy. 

Why is renewable energy important? 

At Water Mission, our team is constantly innovating new solutions as we work to provide safe, clean water in diverse and unique contexts around the world. While our focus is safe water, we have seen over the years how renewable energy makes our projects possible.  

Many years ago, Water Mission was told by multiple entities in the sector that solar-powered water systems would never work in remote contexts, especially in rural African or Latin American communities. But we’ve continued to refine our approach over the years and have become one of the leading technical experts in rural solar water pumping in the humanitarian sector.  

We’ve found that renewable energy, especially solar energy, can lead to greater reliability and longevity; decreased costs and maintenance; and numerous health, environmental, social, and economic benefits. 

Renewable Energy in Innovation 

Renewable energy allows us to collaborate with communities and governments to implement rural safe water projects that utilize solar-powered water pumping. This involves more than just solar panels providing power to a pump that moves water—over the years, our systems have become more customized, automated, and monitored. 

One important element of our solar projects is the solar variable frequency drive, a technology that allows water pumps to change their speed according to the available solar energy. When the sun is bright, more water can be pumped, and if it’s a cloudy day, the pump still operates but at a slower speed. 

When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017, Water Mission began incorporating power blending, a new design approach for systems that require pumping hours outside of the normal solar day. Power blending in this context enables both solar and AC power sources to simultaneously supply power to the pump through the use of electronics.  

When sized correctly, the solar provides the power during the day, and the AC power seamlessly takes over when the sun goes down. Furthermore, it decreases the risk of operator error as no transfer switches are required between the power sources. 

Renewable Energy in Water Treatment 

Recently, we have been engineering ways to power our water treatment processes with water. One way to do this is through micro-hydro systems, which utilize water flow and pressure to turn a turbine and create electricity to charge batteries. 

Many existing water systems in Honduran communities have intakes in a creek or river high in the mountains, which are then piped to a storage tank using gravity. The water from the tank is gravity-fed to homes, but it is often not safe to drink.  

The piped water in these systems builds pressure as it descends from the mountains, and if the pressure becomes too high, it can break the pipes. For this reason, pressure break tanks are installed to prevent damage to pipes. At each pressure break tank, the water drops into a tank, “wasting” the energy that it had built up while flowing through the system. Micro-hydro turbines could be installed to harness this energy. 

Recently, Water Mission installed a micro-hydro turbine in La Abisinia, Honduras, to capture the water’s power before it empties into a sedimentation tank. By routing water through this turbine, the project harnesses its energy to charge a battery bank, which is used to power the parts of the treatment process that require electricity. 

Renewable Energy in Automation 

Renewable energy enables automation in our water projects, which increases reliability and reduces labor costs. Examples of this include power for automatic drain valves, automatic pumping, and automatic chlorine and alum dosing.  

Dosing is an important process in which chemicals are injected into the main flow of water to achieve a specific goal. This could involve dosing aluminum sulfate, which causes particles to stick together so they can be filtered out, or dosing chlorine to a certain level, which disinfects the water, making it safe for long-term consumption. We have recently been innovating ways to power these dosing pumps with solar energy only, without using batteries. 

Renewable Energy in Remote Monitoring 

Unfortunately, up to 50% of all water and sanitation projects fail within 5 years or less due to a failure to properly operate, maintain, or monitor projects. According to recent data, only 1% of projects are monitored on a long-term basis. 

At Water Mission, we believe that monitoring data is critical to the sustainability and reliability of water systems, helping ensure people have safe water for years to come.  

Water Mission’s remote monitoring efforts, powered by renewable energy, enable us to gather information on water production and other key parameters, including water level and water quality. The information is transmitted via satellite or cellular network to an online dashboard that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. This helps inform repairs, maintenance, and results-based financing, enabling a higher degree of ongoing accountability. 

Without renewable energy solutions, Water Mission would be unable to carry out our vision. On this International Day of Clean Energy, we reflect on the importance of this dynamic and ever-changing technological landscape that we hope to utilize and adapt for years to come.  

For those interested in learning about how your organization can build or support renewable energy water solutions around the world, explore our partner, the Global Water Center, which equips organizations through resources and training.