BAYAMO, Cuba, Sep 9 (IPS) – In a single day, a whole bunch of individuals within the rural group of Las Mangas, in Cuba’s japanese Granma province, realized what they’d already suspected: the water they’d been consuming for many years had Not precisely water.
That is definitely a constructive change, because of the $61,000 desalination plant invested by the Granma Provincial Hydropower Mission that began operations in August, 5 years after development started in 2019.
Neighborhood consultant Rodolfo Echavarría, 55, informed IPS: “We performed a check and the water from the manufacturing facility froze into clear ice, whereas the water from the road froze into ice as a result of impurities. White.
Las Mangas is a part of the provincial capital Bayamo, positioned roughly 740 kilometers east of Havana. It has a water community that carries water from the effectively to the connections to the homes.
Nevertheless, the salinity within the water supply exceeds one gram of soluble salt per liter of water, which is the restrict allowed for human consumption by the nation’s well being authorities.
Yasser Vázquez, deputy consultant of the Granma Water Delegation, defined: “The desalination plant was constructed on the outlet of this saltwater effectively as a handy entrance (the place individuals can get handled water in containers). liquid).
The brand new facility, the third of its type within the province, will deal with 2,000 liters of water per day and can profit 1,097 residents, planners estimate. Echavarría believes that this quantity will rise to nearly 2,000 individuals, because the villages of El Chungo, La Bayamesa and Santa María, greater than 3 kilometers from Las Mangas, additionally profit.
The plant’s purification system makes use of reverse osmosis, probably the most broadly used strategies worldwide. There are different strategies akin to distillation, freezing, hydrate formation, flash evaporation or electrodialysis.
Reverse osmosis includes making use of strain to brackish water in order that it flows via a semipermeable membrane, which lets solvent (water) go via however doesn’t permit solutes (dissolved salts) to go via.
Basically, water in a pressurized salt answer is separated from the dissolved salts because it passes via a membrane, after which undergoes additional filtration and chemical injection till it reaches the specified consuming customary.
Native resident Yoel González, 52, was educated to function the plant and is answerable for its upkeep.
“You need to know the way it works as a result of some issues can go unsuitable, like they’ve. I’ve lived in Las Mangas my entire life and the most effective factor that occurred right here was (the set up of the desalination plant). Water has all the time been an issue.
A change of surroundings, or quite a change of water
On this village, 8 kilometers from town of Bayamo, between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm, when the desalination plant is open, individuals collect on the web site’s solely present faucet, filling containers of varied sizes with water .
The water that flows from the tap of each house or facility in Las Mangas is brackish water from wells that’s barely chlorinated and used just for cleansing, dishwashing, laundry, and typically cooking. On this farming and pastoral village, some farmers additionally use it to quench the thirst of their livestock.
“When the manufacturing facility was constructed, individuals began saying: ‘I drank it within the streets, I drank all of it my life, and I am not lifeless but.’ That is how Cubans are. However after they attempt new firsts, the whole lot modifications Modified,” mentioned group chief Echavarría.
Nancy Gómez, 72, who was born there, is among the few resisting change.
“The neighbors have been stunned as a result of I do not search for recent water, however I am used to it and it by no means gave me any well being issues. My youngsters grew up consuming this (salt) water. However my granddaughter This water was certainly introduced from there.
Oscar Fajardo, 50, has averted consuming water from the effectively since he moved to Las Mangas 4 years in the past from Guasimilla, eight kilometers away.
In his hometown, water tasted recent and “candy,” so he by no means bought used to the brand new salty style. Even after transferring away, Fajardo nonetheless rode his electrical scooter to Guasimira to select it up each time he visited his mom.
“I’d search for water there or elsewhere. Typically I needed to drink poor high quality water, however after seeing the sediment buildup within the knobs and jars, I attempted to keep away from it. Individuals listed below are used to consuming salt water, however Some individuals have discovered options,” he informed IPS.
Whereas it was frequent to boil and drink faucet water, some who knew higher or had more cash would go to Bayamo or El Jongo to fill their very own family containers or purchase the liquid from horse-drawn carriage homeowners, who would promote it for 200 Liter is equal to US$0.40.
“Desalination vegetation carry big advantages and are a miracle. If one thing as essential as water is dangerous, think about the injury it does to well being,” Fajardo mentioned.
risks of salt water
The dangers of consuming water with an excessive amount of salt embrace abdomen upset, dehydration, hypertension, fluid retention, or kidney injury.
In spite of everything, along with chloride electrolytes, salt additionally comprises sodium, a mineral that may be dangerous to the physique in a wide range of methods when consumed in massive quantities.
The World Well being Group (WHO) recommends consuming not more than 5 grams of salt per day, which is equal to 2 grams (2000 mg) of sodium.
Gonzalez, who operates the Las Mangas desalination plant, mentioned the group has had a number of circumstances of kidney stones, often known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, that are onerous deposits product of minerals and salts. substances, which type within the kidneys and might have an effect on any a part of the urinary system.
As a number of villagers interviewed by IPS suspected, they could be attributable to long-term consuming of brackish water.
“One in all my youngsters complained when he urinated due to stones, and he had been affected by renal colic,” mentioned Gomez, a resident who refuses to drink water handled on the plant.
Marisol Hildago, 37, additionally a resident of Las Mangas and a mom of two, used to drink faucet water till one thing made her begin searching for water from El Chungo.
“My father suffers from continual renal insufficiency, which is why I began searching for water there. Now we solely drink water from vegetation and my father’s situation has improved,” she informed IPS.
Province’s water sources points
Las Mangas is just not the one group in Gramma with water-related issues. There are additionally underground basins and water sources with excessive salinity ranges that usually obtain consuming water from tankers.
Generally known as the “Key of the Cauto River”, the Granma River is the longest waterway within the Antilles with a complete size of 343 kilometers. It additionally has low isometric terrain and marshy areas, which makes it extra inclined to sea erosion and salt water. Intrusions into the water desk, as is the case in Las Mangas and elsewhere.
Some teachers declare the river’s diminished stream is partly as a result of local weather change, deforestation and the development of the Cauto del Paso Reservoir, the nation’s third-largest reservoir, which opened in 1992.
Because the water degree of the river decreases, the seawater turns into extra erosive to the river channel itself, affecting the water basin of a part of the land on the mouth of the Khao Tou.
The nation of 10 million individuals with 804,000 provinces has seen its water provide sources stay steady since heavy rains in June 2023, which along with filling reservoirs and restoring groundwater ranges, additionally destroyed some water sources.
Granma is affected by widespread drought, affecting as much as 100,000 residents, in line with the water authority.
When this occurs, river flows lower and seawater intrusion will increase, rendering many wells unusable, particularly shallower handmade wells, which is an answer for residents of hard-to-reach locations.
One other main concern is the accessibility of the water community and the provision of providers, as solely 76% of the province’s inhabitants has entry to piped water at house, and solely 38.7% (roughly 310,000 individuals) have entry to water at house not less than as soon as each three years. .
Different extra severely affected areas, such because the coastal metropolis of Manzanillo, will obtain water for as much as 20 days. In complete, greater than 66,000 residents obtain water via water tankers.
Grama additionally plans to construct 15 extra desalination vegetation to complement the handfuls of present desalination vegetation throughout the nation. Over the previous decade, the Cuban authorities has promoted the development of those water tasks in communities with salted water sources, in addition to in trade and seashore resorts.
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedAuthentic supply: Inter Press Service
