Safe Drinking Water and Autonomous Electricity Supply
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Safe drinking water and autonomous electricity supply: Concepts for sustainable implementation and financing in rural areas in Sub-Sahara Africa A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the re- quirements for the academic degree Master of Science (M.SC.) in the study program Renewable Energy Man- agement of the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt submitted to: First examiner Prof. Dr. Kerstin Wydra Second examiner Dr. Hubert Aulich by: Philip Becker from: Euskirchen, Germany on: 17/08/2017 Author Philip Becker Title of the thesis Safe drinking water and autonomous electricity supply: Concepts for sustainable implementation and financing in rural areas in Sub-Sahara Africa Key words Drinking water, Electricity, Off-grid, Sub-Sahara Africa, Rural Volume 114 pages of text, 15 pages annex, 5 figures, 8 tables Submitted on 17/08/2017 Abstract Various concepts for the implementation of safe water and elec- tricity supply for under-served areas in Sub-Sahara Africa are developed in this thesis. The major factors that are explicitly ana- lyzed for each concept are technology of water purification and electrification, payment methods, financial terms, ways of imple- mentation and how to identify customers. The first concept analyzes the implementation of a kiosk in a community. The kiosk purifies and sells water and is electricity autonomous, while parallel offering further goods and services. Further concepts that are developed put small scale farmers in the focus. The idea is to enable farmers to irrigate their fields, and to install a water purification and electrification system at the same time. The additional income from farming and the sale of water as well as avoided costs can be used to pay off the devices in regular instalments Another promising concept is the supply of rural communities as a collective with a water purification and electricity system. Avoided costs can be used to pay regular instalments. The last concept analyzes the upcoming pay as you go business model. It is shown this concept can be financially feasible. How- ever, some major difficulties arise that are hard to overcome for widespread implementation. Concepts for sustainable implementation of safe drinking water and electricity I Table of contents Table of annex .............................................................................................................. V Table of figures ............................................................................................................ VI Table of tables ............................................................................................................ VII Table of abbreviations ................................................................................................ VIII 1 Summary ................................................................................................................... 1 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 3 3 Problems in developing countries............................................................................... 4 3.1 Unsafe water ....................................................................................................... 4 3.2 Electricity supply .................................................................................................. 6 3.3 Political risks ........................................................................................................ 7 3.4 Legal risks ........................................................................................................... 8 3.5 Social problems ................................................................................................... 9 3.6 Financial problems ............................................................................................ 10 3.7 Other problems .................................................................................................. 11 3.7.1 Allowance of doing business ...................................................................... 11 3.7.2 Employees ................................................................................................. 11 3.7.3 Logistics ..................................................................................................... 12 4 Water treatment ....................................................................................................... 12 4.1 Required water quality ....................................................................................... 13 4.1.1 Microbiological water quality ....................................................................... 13 4.1.2 Chemical water quality ............................................................................... 14 4.2 Water purification technologies .......................................................................... 15 4.2.1 Activated carbon filters ............................................................................... 16 4.2.2 Activated alumina ....................................................................................... 17 4.2.3 Sand filtration ............................................................................................. 19 4.2.4 Reverse osmosis ........................................................................................ 20 4.2.5 Anodic oxidation ......................................................................................... 24 4.2.6 UV disinfection ........................................................................................... 27 Concepts for sustainable implementation of safe drinking water and electricity II 4.2.7 Ozone disinfection ...................................................................................... 31 4.3 Summary of water purification technologies....................................................... 32 5 Electricity supply technologies ................................................................................. 35 5.1 Diesel generators .............................................................................................. 36 5.2 Photovoltaic ....................................................................................................... 37 5.3 Hydropower ....................................................................................................... 38 5.4 Wind power ....................................................................................................... 39 5.5 Battery systems ................................................................................................. 41 5.6 Mini-grids ........................................................................................................... 42 5.6.1 Set-up of a mini-grid ................................................................................... 43 5.6.2 Design considerations ................................................................................ 44 5.7 Summary of electricity supply concepts ............................................................. 45 6 Payment options ...................................................................................................... 47 6.1 Cash payments ................................................................................................. 47 6.2 Prepaid systems ................................................................................................ 48 6.3 Mobile payment ................................................................................................. 51 6.3.1 Mobile money ............................................................................................. 51 6.3.2 Mobile credit ............................................................................................... 54 6.3.3 Microcredits ................................................................................................ 55 6.4 Summary of payment possibilities ..................................................................... 56 7 Distribution options .................................................................................................. 56 7.1 Donations and aid by NGO´s or sponsors ......................................................... 58 7.2 Kiosk concept .................................................................................................... 60 7.2.1 How to implement a kiosk in a rural community .......................................... 62 7.2.2 Water purification system ........................................................................... 65 7.2.3 Payment method ........................................................................................ 66 7.2.4 Electricity supply concept ........................................................................... 67 7.2.4.1 Electricity consumption ........................................................................ 67 7.2.4.2 Electricity production............................................................................ 69 7.2.5 Financing for widespread implementation ................................................... 71 Concepts for sustainable implementation of safe drinking water and electricity III 7.2.6 Concept calculation .................................................................................... 73 7.2.7 How to identify customers .......................................................................... 77 7.3 Small scale farmers ........................................................................................... 79 7.3.1