More Landfill Fun!
LANDFILL TRAFFIC
When we travel the landfill road, we’re always in the presence of BIG TRUCKS. My driver/friend Eric drives a Nissan Twister, a very small car. This means we wait for, or follow, or get out the way of these big guys who are now on “their turf” inside the landfill. We reckon that since taxis rule the road out in the streets of Kumasi, these big guys should get to move freely in the only place they truly can.
THE “PICKERS”
Similar to operations in the US, much of the recycling stream is separated by hand. Here in Kumasi, the pickers mine the landfill for metals and plastic, bag it up, and get it off to markets.
CAN DO!
One of the things we love about Ghana is it’s “can do” attitude. On the left, Eric (the guy in the black shirt with the big guns) is helping to unload cement blocks from a taxi hired to get materials to our plant site to construct a small enclosure for a pump. On the right, Justin, Edward, Wilson, Emmanuel, and Eric inspect our new sand filters as Ruben of Beta Construction describes the filtration media in them.
COMPLETED AND READY FOR ACTION
The digesters are completed. We are now ready to add gas sampling ports, and then fill them with fecal sludge. We’ll be loading one of the twelve 10,000 liter tanks first and get it stabilized before filling the other five in the left side “train.” Our little biodiesel structure is completed, and the generator is due to arrive November 1st. Stay tuned for pictures of that event.
EFFLUENT OUTFLOW
Our system flows from the digesters, through sand filters, and then out of this pipe into a ditch. Our expected maximum flow rate is about 6 liters per minute. We’ll be measuring the effluent to assess the systems ability to treat the waste material. On the right, Gilbert, Seth, and Yvonne stand near the effluent discharge pipe from the large fecal sludge ponds that treat all the material generated in Kumasi (Population 2 million.) Bob will be helping them by obtaining samples from this stream on behalf of their employers – Guinness. They needed a third-party sampler and Bob offered his services to the brewery.
OBLIGATORY BIRD PHOTOS
Bob and Camille are obligatory birdwatchers, and really can’t help but photograph them. So here are two residents that we share our work site with, the Red-Vented Malimbe (Malimbus scutatus) on the right – a seed eater. On the left are White-Faced Whistling Ducks (Dendrocygna viduata) – they feed on seeds and other plant matter – and maybe fecal sludge.
A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE
Bob remains earthbound while Eric, Camille, and Jeremy climb up the small water tower onsite. You can see one of the large fecal sludge ponds behind Eric.
HAMMING IT UP
Jeremy strikes a GQ pose on the tower, while Eric and Camille look like something out of an Old Navy catalog.
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[Latest] * [Troutsfarm] * [Goats and Garden] * [Chicken Addition] * [FS2BD Project Update]
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