Scott Davis Anderson

I am amazed by the plethora of information that exists documenting the ongoing water crisis on our planet.  It seems as though the significance of the water crisis is being felt most by people living in communities with poor sewage systems, a lack of water purification technology, and mismanaged distribution systems for the fresh water that does exist.  In 2006, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, waterborne diseases were estimated to have caused 1.8 million deaths, while about 1.1 billion people lacked proper drinking water.  About 17% of the world population lacks proper drinking water and the way I see it, this affects everyone!

At the 2008 Bioneers Conference, I listened to Alexandra Cousteau talk about the impending water crisis and began thinking more about my own water usage.  I thought to myself, “how much water am I using?”  With the aid of H2O Conserve, I was able to approximate my yearly water usage and come up with some areas where I can conserve.  I recommend this calculator to anyone that is interested in further self examination of their own water usage.

I was recently introduced to a documentary on the worlds diminishing fresh water supply called Flow: For Love of Water.  This documentary was an official selection of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Winner of the Best Documentary at the United Nations Association Film Festival. Best Documentary at the 2008 Vail International Film Festival, and won the International Jury Prize at the 2008 Mumbai International Film Festival.  The film poses the question “can anyone really own water?”  The following is a short trailer for the film:

I am preparing for service in the Peace Corps by expanding my understanding of the way water is consumed throughout the world.  I have a feeling that water will become a recurring theme within my posts, because it will play such a critical part on my service in Africa.  My research has lead me to realize that water issues are not only affecting people who live in Africa, but people who live in the United States as well.  The next few months will be interesting as I continue to live in the United States and consider the way I use water.

My parents gave me a Flip HD for Christmas!  This camera will be really nice to document the work that I’ll be doing during my Peace Corps Service.  It will be hard to communicate with my family and friends, but with this I hope to be able to share some of my experiences.  The following little snippet of video is the only thing I have shot with the Flip HD so far.  I have been busy trying to figure out ways to encode the files so that they can be more manageable with a slow internet connection, and very little electricity.  Small files are a must, and I also wanted to make sure they can be viewed easily by most internet connections.  So far I am really excited about the way the camera is working.

As a Peace Corps nominee, I have been nominated for service in Sub Saharan Africa in the Water and Sanitation Extension. I have been thinking about the type of work and the environmental conditions I may be working in while serving within the Peace Corps.

I became interested in making water filters while I was interning at the Strawbale Studio in Oxford, Michigan. While creating plasters for use on natural structures, I was excited to find out how easy it was to extract clay as a resource. I was intrigued by its possible uses. I began researching ways to purify water using resources that are readily available not only on the property at the Strawbale Studio, but also in most countries around the world. I found instructions on how to create filters by combining terra cotta and organic material to create a porous clay body, worthy of filtering water upon firing. I used spent coffee grounds as the organic material that I acquired free from Starbucks Grounds for your Garden program. The fine grains of the coffee grounds burn up in the firing process, leaving behind a small porous avenue for water to travel. The filters remove pathogens such as e-coli from the water by trapping them within the pores. Colloidal silver, microscopic particles of silver suspended in water, are than applied with a paint brush to the outside of the filter. This silver solution kills the bacteria that would otherwise grow within the pores, allowing the water filter to be used over and over again.

My process began by digging up a bunch of dirt near a building site in Oxford, Michigan. I separated the clay from the sand in a large tub, by adding the dirt and water to a 10 gallon storage container.  The sand sunk to the bottom, leaving the clay on top, making it easy to skim the clay slip off the top. I placed the clay slip on top of plaster slabs to absorb the moisture, allowing the clay to dry until it became more workable. I than added the spent coffee grounds at about a one to one ratio to the clay. The spent coffee grounds added more moisture to the clay and the syrup from the coffee made the clay harder to work with, so I allowed it to dry even longer.

When I was satisfied with the clay, I brought it to a ceramic artist I met at the Ohio University - School of Art, named Bryce Brisco. Bryce is known for his fascination with local indigenous clays and was quick to volunteer his help with my endeavor. He brought to my attention a group called Potters for Peace, that has been traveling the world since 1998, teaching people how to fabricate a low-cost water filter in order to bring clean, potable water to those who need it most.

Bryce worked with the clay on a potters wheel, forming the filters into small cylinders. He was able to create 3 small filters of various shapes and thicknesses, so that I would be able to test the flow rate of the filters on varying designs. I am extremely grateful to Bryce for his contribution to this project.  He has inspired me to learn how to throw on a potters wheel. When the filters became bone dry, I began digging the pit I fired them in.

The following is photo documentation of the firing process:

One of the three filters broke during the process. I grabbed the final filter by the rim as I pulled it from the ashes and it cracked right off. Be extremely cautious when removing the filters from the fire!  After some preliminary tests, the filters are allowing water to flow through them.  I have yet to test the flow rate, nor the purity of the water produced, but it is rumoured that one filter will produce a liter of clean water in two hours.  More testing to come!

Here is a video that was sent to me by an artist friend named Jeremy Plunket.  He sends me videos from time to time, some of which are worth watching.  This is is one of his golden finds.

I am and will always be an Ohio State Buckeye fan.  I was born and raised in a Buckeye household by parents who were born into the Buckeye lifestyle.  From tailgating to jumping on the couch in 2002 while suffering through the bitter grind of the The Ohio State Buckeyes run to the National Championship, I have been swelled to the gills with Buckeye pride.  I have always been proud of the achievements of Archie Griffin, college footballs one and only two-time Heisman Trophy winner.  In 2007 when the University of Florida’s Tim Tebow became the first Sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, I feared Archie’s reign could be over.  Ever since, I have been silently cheering for all things not Tim Tebow.  The incredible seasons put together by Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, and Graham Harrell began to ease the fear growing inside my gut.  no-one deserves the privilege of standing along-side the immortal Archie Griffin, certainly not a Florida Gator!.

Meanwhile, something else had been bothering me about Tim Tebow.  The more I learned about him, the more I liked him.  I began reading about mission trips he had taken to impoverished countries.  I also remember seeing documentaries on his visits to Florida jails, where he preached to the inmates a message of hope and compassion.  All the time, I had been thinking “this is a pretty good guy, why didn’t he come to Ohio State?”

I watched Tim Tebow last night at the ESPNU College Football Awards as he accepted the Disney Spirit Award, given for exemplary service off the field.  This award does not get the notoriety of the Heisman Trophy, but has marked some historic times.  In 2001 the award was given to all three service academies, Air Force, Army, and Navy, to honor the sacrifices that were being made after 9/11.  In 2005, following Katrina’s devastation of the Gulf Coast, the award went to Tulane University for its perseverance in the face of seemingly impossible conditions.  This year, Tebow was recognized for his humanitarian work in the Philippines and his countless hours spent preaching to inmates and orphans a message of hope and compassion.  During his acceptance, Tebow spoke with conviction.

“This means a lot, especially for me it means more than winning the Heisman or those (other) awards because it’s about what I do off the field, and that’s more important.”

It was a moving moment, one which in which an Ohio State Buckeye could be proud of.  My feelings about him were conflicting within something that was deeply ingrained.  After his acceptance he was asked about being a role model to which he replied,

“There are so many athletes today that say, ‘I’m not a role model, I’m not a role model,’ and they make so many excuses.  Well, whether you like it or not, you are a role model.  You’re either a good one or a bad one, and unfortunately most of them are bad role models today.  For me, I just want to be a good role model, like Danny Wuerffel was for me and several other guys that I looked up to.  I want to be someone that kids can look up to in today’s society.”

Oh no.  There he goes.  The change is full fledged, so I have to say it.

It is leaders like Tim Tebow that can and will make a difference in the days trying times.  He has changed my mind about the exclusive Heisman Trophy club.  I would be proud to see him and Archie Griffin standing alone as legends of the game of football.  Tebow goes well beyond football and presents himself as an even better person than he is a football player.  From a selfish standpoint, I would like to see him come back for his Senior year and take acrack a possible third Heisman and more importantly a second Disney Spirit Award.

Last year, while I was serving with Americorps, I attended a team-building exercise run by the staff of Project Homecoming.  One of the workshop leaders recited the following passage:

“If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong.

Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view.

Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly.

Or yet if I act, or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action, let me be.

I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you.

I may be your spouse, your parent, your offspring, your friend, or your colleague. If you will allow me any of my own wants, or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right - for me.

To put up with me is the first step to understanding me. Not that you embrace my ways right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And in understanding me you might come to prize my differeces from you, and, far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences.”

-Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types - By David Keirsey

More can be found on David Keirsey and the Myers-Briggs personality types at  David Keirsey’s website.

This passage had an immediate and profound impact on me.  During times when I find myself slipping out of balance, I like to remind myself of this quote.  I have revisited it often and have found that it still holds the power to help me regain the focus that I momentarily lose.