My Starfish Foundation - Project Hope
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Project Hope

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Inconsistency of water supply is currently an all-time problem in SMK Kemabong, Tenom. Since it is a boarding school and water supply is important to our daily life, those students are forced to cancel their classes and go home when there is a shortage of water supply. This problem has brought inconvenience to both the students and the school. Thus, this project names as ‘hope’ so that it can brings hope to the school by providing water from rainwater collected from the existing school roof top with simple filtration. However, there is a recent news stated that SMK Kemabong had received a funding to build gravity well to minimize this problem. Somehow, gravity well is a more efficient way but not a perfect way to counter this problem. Therefore, rainwater harvesting with filtration system is still needed as plan B to minimize this problem.

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University/College
RM 0.00
Goal: RM 1.00
Fund Approved by MSF: RM 6,375.00

Overview of Issue / Background

Inconsistency of water supply is currently an all-time problem in SMK Kemabong, Tenom. Since it is a boarding school and water supply is important to our daily life, those students are forced to cancel their classes and go home when there is a shortage of water supply. This problem has brought inconvenience to both the students and the school. Thus, this project names as ‘hope’ so that it can brings hope to the school by providing water from rainwater collected from the existing school roof top with simple filtration. However, there is a recent news stated that SMK Kemabong had received a funding to build gravity well to minimize this problem. Somehow, gravity well is a more efficient way but not a perfect way to counter this problem. Therefore, rainwater harvesting with filtration system is still needed as plan B to minimize this problem.

Project Objectives (Vision & Mission)

  1. To minimize the problem of water shortage by installation of water storage tank from rain.
  2. To act as plan B to supply clean water besides gravity well.
  3. To carry out schemes for the improvement of the students’ life by uninterrupted education learning and maintain the well-being and improve the welfare of student by appreciation of rainwater harvesting and water saving.
  4. To assist and educate rainwater harvesting installation, maintenance and water saving strategies.

Project Details (Activities and Tasks)

Rainwater Harvesting System Design Proposal

When it is raining, rain water from roof will flow into gutter. Then, the water will be transferred into filtration tank and followed by storage tank. Below showed the basic design of the system (for potable conduit).

 

Why Rainwater Harvesting System is Still Needed

There is a recent news stated that SMK Kemabong had received a funding to build gravity well to minimize this problem. However, the disadvantages of gravity well are quite critical as it might not become a long term solution if it is not managed properly. Therefore, rainwater harvesting with filtration system is still needed as plan B to minimize this problem. The disadvantage of gravity are

  1. Susceptible to overdraft (excessive extraction) - Extraction and usage of groundwater still needs to be controlled as over drafting (excessive extraction) could occur if the groundwater is pumped out faster than it is replenished.
  2. Different grade of terrains - Different grade of terrains require the usage of different sizes of pipelines. The use of non-similar pipelines’ size for uneven areas will affect the friction and interrupt the velocity of the water also the efficiency of the water flow. Air will jam the pipe and contribute to the loss of energy. Hence, there is no enough pressure to get the water out of the pipe and hence affecting the water supply for the targeted area.
  3. Environment - Ground water can be affected by the contaminants in the environment. It can make the purity of well water less than desirable. Besides, well water can be affected by the water shelf, or the amount of reserves that the region has. It relies on rain and other precipitation to replenish the supply. Hence, if a region goes through times of drought, it will affect both the replenishment and quality of water that it delivers.
  4. Unknown amount of water source - The earth is a water place, however how much water exists on, in, and above it? In fact, how do we account for the unseen water below our feet? It is inconsistent. Hence, the distribution of water supply using gravity well system will be hard to be calculated, it is generally unpredictable and insufficient water supply issue will not solved. Therefore, harvested rainwater is a better solution because the calculated storage tank of harvested rainwater able to accommodate specific requirement.

Water Usage per Day

Showering (10 minutes) = 80 litres

Toilet flush = 3.5 litres

Dish cleaning = 30 litres

Hand basin per use = 3 litres

Garden usage (per sq ft) = 6 litres

Subtotal = 122.5 litres

For 305 people, total amount of water = 37362.5 litres, approximately 37500 litres / 8248 gallons

Expected Project Result & Outcomes

After installation of the rainwater harvesting system , our team expect the result as follow;

  1. Able to minimize the problem of shortage of water face by the hostel’s students and the staff of SMK Kemabong.
  2. Expose the student of SMK Kemabong about the important of innovations in their daily life and give them a basic knowledge about the rainwater harvesting.
  3. Give the platform for students to learn practically and enhance their comprehension about any topic in their study that related with water filtration.
  4. The involvement of the university students will inspire students at SMK Kemabong to work hard for a better future.
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Project Information

University name   :   University Malaysia Sabah
Project leader name   :   Khor Tsu Jian

Section I

This project aims to minimise the water shortage problem in SMK Kemabong by rainwater harvesting system. Furthermore, a water filter is provided to purify the rainwater so that it is more suitable for domestic use except consumption.

            The project was funded by several individuals through crowd funding. Their sponsored fund was used to support the material, transportation and the food expenses of the project.

There were unanticipated difficulties confronted. The biggest problem that we faced was the experience and knowledge to conduct the project were lacking in this field. We faced a big problem in our design as we were not sure if the design proposed would work or not. However, in order to overcome, we consulted an engineer with experience in the fields, as well as our advisor. Besides that, we also did not really know the specific names of the materials and equipment that we needed. Therefore, we discussed with supplies to ask for help from them. During the installation work, we confronted with unpredictable weather which forced us to stop the work for a while. This problem made our operation schedule slightly shifted. However, we managed to complete the work within the planned period with the commitment of the all members. The initial budget provided was expectedly adequate, which had been managed and planned properly at first stage. However, due to the lack of knowledge, we did not really know the exact amount of equipment to be bought, as this was the first time, we did this kind of project. Therefore, the estimated budget during the implementation of project was not in accordance to the approved budget as stated in the proposal submission.

            Language and culture were not a problem since most of the group members are native Sabahans. One of the group members is an alumnus of SMK Kemabong who used to be a resident in the school dorms.

            The water filter system and pipe connecting worked perfectly well which is beyond our expectation because our team had zero experience in installing gutter and water pipes before conducting this project. Some of the materials costing are much higher than expected and hence wise decisions had been made in order to prevent budget from exceeding.

            The rainwater harvesting system aims to provide purified rainwater to the male hostel as it is located just beside the hostel. The approximate number of students who able to use it is about 300.

            One of the long-term impacts for this project is the gutter system that has already been built. The rainwater will be continuously collected, stored, and supplied to the students. With the proper maintenance, this project is surely a sustainability project. Future generation of the students will surely enjoy the benefits brought by this project and the same system should continuously installed for all buildings in the school. Rainwater harvesting is always one of the best solutions for water problem for now and for the future especially in tropical country such as Malaysia.

Section II

Project Hope aims to resolve a water issue faced by the residents of the school. Since the school has a frequent water shortage issue and it creates more problems as the school is a boarding school where there is a need of a continuous water supply for their domestic use, hence this project will be a great tool in solving the issue. Rather than let the rainwater flow off the roof, it is more useful if we can collect the rainwater and filter it to get a clean water supply.

This project does contribute to the long-term happiness. As we know, water access influences people’s health, education, life expectancy and their social development. It happens that when there is no water supply, students are forced to skip school. Hence their educational process will be affected by this water issue. After the implementation of this project, the residents of the school can reduce their reliability on the conventional water supply from the town and starts using this method in order to gain water supply when water shortage happens. So, the school does not longer need to cancel their classes and request the students to get home when there is no water supply at the school.

 

At the end of this project, it really changed the way we think about our world, especially the way we improve ourselves and gain happiness by helping those who are in needs. Solving their problem does not mean gives us nothing in return but it improves the way we interact effectively and harmoniously with other people. By giving them happiness, we also feel happy as well. In short, everyone’s happiness is not the same.

            Throughout this project success, I never would’ve thought that I share a closer bond with the community of Kemabong and the committee of Project Hope. This project was aimed to provide an improved quality of life to the students of SMK Kemabong which in return teach us an important lesson on the important of sustainable technology, aside from that, this experience also teach me to cope with situation that are not advantageous and challenges which through teamwork and communication pushes us to our very best.

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