SIMPLE AND AFFORDABLE WATER FILTERS FOR EVERYONE
POTABLE WATER FOR EVERYONE NOW:CT FILTRON IS THE ANSWER
The CT Filtron is a ceramic colloidal water based filter developed by Potters for Peace
(a US based NGO) in collaboration with the Masacchuset Institute of Technology. The technology was brought to Ghana in 2003 with support from the Dutch Practica Foundation.
The filter is a good alternative for boiling; chlorinating or using iodine in the water. CT FILTRON filters dirt, odours and turbidity out of the (contaminated) water what you can see or smell. But – even more important – it removes the dangerous bacteria that cause diarrhea, cholera and other diseases.
To date we have disseminated over 10,000 Filters including 400 to South Africa.
We continue to improve the production process and have increased production capacity.
The major challenge now is to raise enough resources to embark on aggressive marketing, sales and promotional activities to sensitize the public about the availability of a simple, affordable technology for potable water delivery.
The purpose of this plan is therefore to raise funds to market this great invention and
possibly distribute some to targeted deprived rural communities.
Facts
1987
| Two years ago: | |
| Last year: | |
| This year (forecast): | 308,000 |
| Year 2 (forecast): | 528,000 |
| Year 3 (forecast): | 660,000 |
| Two years ago: | |
| Last year: | |
| This year (forecast): | 46,200 |
| Year 2 (forecast): | 105,600 |
| Year 3 (forecast): | 198,000 |
| Two years ago: | |
| Last year: | |
| This year (forecast): | 50 |
| Year 2 (forecast): | 55 |
| Year 3 (forecast): | 60 |
Finance needed
| Finance needed for fixed assets (buying of machines, buildings, ...) | 259,525 |
| Finance needed for working capital (salaries, stock, rental, leasing, transport, ...) | 13,506 |
| Total finance needed (US$) | 273,031 |
How do you expect this to be financed?
| Own Contribution in cash | 20,000 |
| Loans (debt) | 90,000 |
| Shares in your company that you offer to investors (equity) | |
| Other sources | 40,000 |
| Total finance needed (US$) | 150,000 |
The Business
The ceramic water filter, which is called CT FILTRON, is a ceramic container like a planter with a flange , fitted into a receptacle (Plastic / Ceramics) that has a faucet (TAP) to fetch water from the Filtron . The ceramic pot is made from a combination of red clay and fine-sieved sawdust that has been mixed in a predefined ratio with water and fired appropriately. During firing the sawdust burns off leaving very tiny pores that allows water to pass through but not the bacteria. The top end of the ceramic pot has a flange, which enables it to suspend on top of the receptacle. After firing each pot is immersed in a solution of colloidal silver which helps in demobilizing the most bacteria that could not be filtered by the tiny pores.
Each filter pot weighs about 3.5kg, has a diameter of 31cm and a height of 23cm. It has a capacity for 8 liters of water at a time and filters at average 2 litres per hour.
The receptacle is a transparent plastic bucket which allows the user to see the level of filtered water at any point in time. The receptacle comes with two tops (inner and outer). The Inner top is cut in a special way to allow the ceramic pot suspend on top of the receptacle. The outer cover is then used to cover the water in the filter pot.
The Filtron removes bacteria and odour from water. Its efficiency is 99.5%. The Filtron can be used by a family of six (6) for three (3) years. It is worth mentioning that filters seven (7) years old still filters at 99% efficiency. This filter is the first of its kind in Africa.
Throughout the three(3) year period that the filter has been in Ghana, NGOs and institutions have been our biggest buyers. Diageo Foundation alone has placed orders for about 7,000 filters to be supplied in 2007. Our marketing strategy therefore shall lay emphasis on convincing more of these NGOs to buy in bulk and subsidize them for the rural poor.
We have also been making efforts to get the attention of government through the Ministry of Health to adopt it as a tool in the fight against guinea worm and other water borne diseases that are prevalent especially in the northern regions of Ghana.
We shall intensify adverts on local radio stations.
We will arrange a few major news conferences to be followed by broadcast media interviews with targeted media houses. The Promoters of Filtron and other advocates will explain the finer details of the product and its impact on public health generally.
Our experience also shows the effectiveness of the print media so we shall sustain publication of adverts in the national newspapers. Organise promotional activities that will be news worthy for publication in the dailies.
Also in collaboration with the promoters of the technology and donors we shall do a re-launch of the ceramic water filter in a grand style to which we shall invite the Ministers of Health, Local Government and Rural Development, Water Resources, Works & Housing, NGOs, institution and the general public.
As one of the researchers who tested the filters remarked, there has never been a simple, effective, and affordable filter in this country like the CT Filtron. We shall reinforce this frank declaration in the minds of the public by regular documentaries and adverts on the radio and in the print media. We shall put all the research and test reports in the public domain by posting them on our websites and from time to time publishing them in the print media.
The CT Filtron is simple to use, affordable and involve the use of local material.
It does not use electricity nor any source of power and thus can work anywhere on earth.
It prevents littering of the environment caused by the use of so called ‘Pure Water” in satchets. The transparent receptacle enables you see the level of water at any point in time. Compared with other filters CT Filtron has the the best flowrate efficiency. That is it filters more water at the same time preventing bacteria from passing through the filter.
The Entrepreneur & Management
My interest and strength has been to develop and advance production systems for manufacturing clay products. Since the introduction of the filters in 2003 we have improved the systems from a simple mechanism designed to produce some 60 filters daily to a mechanized operation that can deliver some 250 filters per press daily. This has involved manufacturing our own press and aluminum moulds to press the filters and building large drying racks. My own interest in kiln manufacturing led me to meet the originator and founder of potters for peace in Honduras in 1995. We are currently building a gas kiln for the filters as that will eliminate dark shades on the pots due to smoke from firewood. Our goal is to get a filter into every home in Ghana and we continue to develop the processes to ensure quality water delivery whilst creating jobs for the local community .
Development
A sustainable development of every country lies in the establishment and growth of local industries. At the current capacity of 4,000 filters per month CT directly employs about 40 staff majority of whom comes from the local community. As the first industrial establishment in the local community, CT has set the pace for the development of the village. The presence of the company has suddenly awakened interest of others in the area. Suddenly, almost all the land in the area has been acquired by developers for various projects such as schools, factories, and residential facilities.
Aside the taps and the colloidal silver that are imported, every material used in the manufacture and assembling of the filter are acquired locally. Thus, jobs are created at various levels.
Access to potable water is considered a yardstick in measuring the level of development of a country. By getting, the CT Filtron to every home in Ghana, we would have accelerated the country’s growth agenda of becoming a middle-income economy by 2015 and ultimately contribute immensely to the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals.