INTRODUCTION
From its beginnings, earth has been in constant change which is evidenced by the transformations and the evolution of the species since life appeared in it. However, human activity has caused climate change that drastically affects life and biodiversity on the planet. The changes in the climate have increased the temperature of both marine and land surface which increases the frequency of the phenomena associated with El Niño and La Niña. El Niño is a natural phenomenon which develops in the tropical Pacific Ocean that raises the temperature of the sea and produces intense droughts. On the contrary, during La Niña, warm
waters from the Asian coasts affect the Pacific waters of the Americas, increasing rainfall and cloud development. These phenomena affect the entire world population, but their consequences have a greater impact in communities where access to potable water is limited and where water produced by rainfall during the La Niña phenomenon is not used during periods of drought. These periods come with El Niño phenomenon affecting the possibilities of development in these regions as there is not enough water to cover the needs of humans, animals and crops.
CONTEXT
La Calera, Cundinamarca, Colombia Inhabitants of the village zones of the municipality of the Calera. La Calera is a municipality and village of Colombia located in the department of Cundinamarca. This village is located east of the Colombian Andes at latitude 4 ° 43'17 'north and longitude 73 ° 58' west from the Greenwich meridian. In addition, this area is characterized by its mountainous terrain located near 2800 meters above sea level. Its climate is mild and its temperature fluctuates between 24º C and -5ºC. Furthermore, the villages are a territorial subdivision in the different municipalities of the country, which are composed mainly by rural areas.
Cundinamarca Bogotá La Calera
We decided to choose this context because, after carrying out a detailed observation, we realized that in these areas families require water for domestic use and also for agricultural activities. According to the WHO, the amount of water a person requires to meet their needs and have a low level of impact regarding health is approximately 50 liters daily. However, in these areas the amount allocated depends on the available water that is obtained from small rivers, streams or small springs. Likewise, many of the village areas of La Calera do not have access to the municipal aqueduct of La Calera. Below, two maps are shown with areas where the water does and does not reach the aqueduct. The ďŹ rst shows the municipal villages that have access to the treated water of the municipal aqueduct, while the second shows those that are not connected to the system. These data were obtained from the municipal aqueduct of La Calera.
2 Cubrimiento del acueducto rural de La Calera
San JosĂŠ, La Concepcion
Sector altamar vda la portada
Quebrada San Lorenzo vda Buenos Aires
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? PROBLEM The water produced by the precipitations during La Niña phenomenon is not used by the inhabitants of the village areas of the Municipality of La Calera during the periods of drought caused by El Niño phenomenon. Consequently, affecting the possibilities of development in the region because there is not enough water to meet the needs of humans, animals and crops.
RESEACH QUESTION How can we capture, filter and store the water produced during La Niña phenomenon to alleviate water shortages in the village zones of La Calera during El Niño phenomenon?
Our problem is important to the extent that many rural areas in Colombia do not receive water from the aqueduct and for this reason are more affected in times of drought. In this sense, our project starts in La Calera although it can be replicated in other world populations with similar problems because it is one of the areas that demonstrates the problem. Thus, it is important because without water there are not enough nutrients for human and animal survival, but also, without water, agriculture and other activities are affected.
WHAT INSPIRED US?
RESEARCH PROCESS
For this project we began investigating how climate change impacts in Bogotá. We found that the phenomenona of El Niño and La Niña have a great impact on the capital. However, it is in the surrounding areas where these phenomena have greater impact because there is more scarcity during the El Niño phenomenon. For this reason, we decided to study this context and look at how these phenomena affect the inhabitants of La Calera.
WHAT WE LEARNED
Exploring we were able to see more closely several organisms and how they worked. In addition we saw how all the organisms are connected forming an ecosystem for the collection of Water. Thanks to our visit to the Botanical Garden in Bogotá, we adopted the mechanism of water collection of the Bromelia, which is a plant native to South America, which was a turning point to develop our proposal.
HOW WE CREATED A DESIGN STRATEGY FROM THE BIOLOGICAL STRATEGY From the previous research, we chose three organisms from which we took their structures and their strategies to integrate them designing our proposal. These were the Bromelia, the porous soils, the coconut palm or Cocos nucifera and the honey antor Myrmecocystus mexicanus. We rely on the structure of the Bromelia to capture the water, the porous soil to filter it, and the coconut palm and the honey ant to store and release it slowly.
WHAT INSPIRED US?
BROMELIA The water is collected in the center of the plant
The leaves are of more intense colors around the
Leaves are arranged alternately and in a spiral form
Trichomes on the surface of the leaf. Sometimes starry
Bromelia is native to South America and is found in other organisms such as trees and stones from which it obtains its support. Its leaves have strong colors like pink and red in the center, they become green as they grow and move away from the inorescence. The leaves are organized alternately and in a spiral, which allows them to create a basin where the water is stored and then absorbed or released slowly. The trichomes are villi that is on the surface of the leaf and work by channeling the drops to the center of the plant and protect it from radiation.
WHAT INSPIRED US?
POROUS SOIL Higher filtration rate when the soil particles are larger and more separated. No retention
Water drains by gravity
The flow of water through the particles of the soil makes the sediments or contaminats get trapped while the space between de particles gets reduced
Lower filtration rate when the soil particles are smaller and closer. There is water retention
The particles of this soil are organized in such a way that a space or emptiness is created between them. This space allows the flow of water from the surface downwards thanks to gravity. Since the particles are organized in an intercalated way, the water must make a non-linear path, which means that it has a larger contact surface. As the water goes down the particles become smaller making a reduction of spaces between them. This allows both the sediment and the contaminating particles of water to be trapped as it descends from the surface to the ground. For the filtration to be effective, there must be macroporosity as well as microporosity. If there is more macroporosity the water absorption is reduced, if there is more microporisity there is not enough oxygen flow to the roots of the soil.
WHAT INSPIRED US?
COCONUT PALM
Flow of water
4. It distributes throughout the leaves to nurish them.
3. It gets stored in the coconuts
2. It goes up by suction, through osmosis in the xilemas.
1. The palm obtains water from the soil through its roots
Native to the tropical regions of the East, it absorbs rainwater or irrigation through its roots which it distributes around its entire body through the xylem. Through pressure and osmosis the water reaches the coconut through the peduncle that is the connection between the palm tree and the coconut and can store from 200 to 250 ml of water in it. This happens when the fruit is unripe because it is this liquid that will provide nutrients and hydration to it.
WHAT INSPIRED US?
HONEY ANT
These ants have a exible membrane in their abdomen that allows them to store honey during the rainy season when they cannot look for food outside the colony. It is a mechanism to survive the changes in the environment where the food necessary to survive is slowly released.
Intake of nutrients
Food storage. Flexible membrane that adapts it self to the quantity of honey.
AGUAYA means “water now” in spanish, and it was chosen because of its caracteristic of being easy to pronounce and create re membrance among the people in the “veredas”.
Agua ya Is a system that seeks to ensure that the inhabitants of the countryside can capture, filter and store rainwater during times of high rainfall, having the possibility of using it immediately or in the medium term (approximately from 4 to 6 months), saving water for the times of drought. This water will be of multiple uses except for human consumption because the filter is made of organic materials and does not generate potable water, just like the water that is stored for the medium term can be affected by microorganisms. For example, it could be used for irrigation in agriculture, flushing the toilet or other uses.
OUR PROYECT
AGUAYA is composed by
CAPTURE SYSTEM Inspired by the structure of Bromelia. It has multiple layers of sheets that channel the water leading it to the ďŹ ltration system.
Bromelia Recolection of water Porous soil Filtration of water
Penduncle conection of the coconut palm
Water storage
STORAGE SYSTEM The storage tanks have a key- so that the user can manipulate the water collected by the rains depending on their needs and availability. It consists of 4 elastic modular bottles that can vary in their size depending on their water level. Also, the storage tank collects the rainwater and conserves it and to be released in the next days or months.
Storage inspired by the membranes found in the Honey Ant
FILTRATION SYSTEM Based on porous soil structure. The ďŹ lter is composed of organic materials.
OUR PROYECT
CLIENTS AND POSSIBLE ALLIES
VALUE PROPOSITION
We have several possible allies; Among them is the Mayor's Office of La Calera, La Car (Autonomous Corporation of Cundinamarca) and the Ministry of Environment due to their interests in the protection of mountains, hills and the well-being of the people.
AGUAYA is a system for the inhabitants of rural areas that do not have access to potable water service. It differs from other existing systems because it has a mechanism that not only stores water but also has the ability to filter and capture it. It also has two forms of storage where water can be used immediately or in the long term for periods where there is more drought.
LIMITATIONS OF DESIGN
NEXT STEPS
The product should be affordable because our target group usually does not have a large budget to invest in the mechanism.
In order for this proyect to be achievable, the following steps would be defining its materials, its costs, the Business Model Canvas,
It must be of easy installation and maintenance since the buyer itself will be in charge to put the product to work and its maintenance.
Its system was designed to be integrated with its context by its sustainable characteristics according to the needs and resources of the country side. In addition, its design is consistent with the country setting.
Once we had a defined product we concluded that its materials had to be sustainable not only for its proper function but also to guarantee the durability of the materials.
GROUP DINAMICS For the development of the project several sessions of research and generation of ideas were necessary and they allowed us to arrive to our problem and to find a relevant solution. In addition to the work done in class, it was necessary to meet outside the university to achieve the complexity of the project and to develop the research in a deep and coherent manner. Although at first we had problems defining the research problem, it became easier after observing and investigating the organisms that we already knew and that we found in the Botanical Garden. Having our problem defined and delimited, we proceeded to look for solutions that integrated the chosen organisms but adding a component that gave it value. In order to carry on with the whole process, we met together to discuss what we should do and then do it collectively. Because of the limited time had to develop the proyect, we decided to divide the work individually or in pairs to achieve the deadlines, but always with feedback from the other members. Additionally during the development of the project we worked with mechanical engineers, geologists, botanical experts and previous winners of the Biomimicry Challenge, who guided us through the process to reach a final product.
From left to right: Daniela Amador, Mariana Eichmann, María Borrero, Karina Inauen, Camila Barvo, Daniela Hernández de Alba
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Caracas, J. B. (June, 2009). Scielo. Recovered 29 of 0,3 2017, from http://www.scielo.org.ve/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0084-59062009000100008 Naturalista. (s.f.). Recovered the 16 of 04, 2017, from http://www.naturalista.mx/taxa/49570-Bromeliaceae DANE. (s.f.). Recovered ethe 16 of 04, 2017, de www.dane.gov.co Área de Edafología y Química Agrícola Facultad de Ciencias. (s.f.). Recovered the 29 of 03, 2017, from http://www.eweb.unex.es/eweb/edafo/ECAP/ECAL5PFPorosidad.htm Gomez, E. (s.f.). Youtube. Obtained from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3j2AnIFx7w Panis, F. (16 de 04 de 2017). Obtained from http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3247s.pdf (s.f.). Recovered the 15 of 04, 2017, from Wikipedia: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromeliaceae Rodriguez, M. (2009) Agua, riqueza de Colombia.Villegas Editores. Bogotá, Colombia EXPERTS CONSULTED: Maria Jose Leaño Sindy Dovale Jorge Gutierrez