Welding students at the Bath Regional Career and Technical Center put their skills to good use by building a steel mold that will be used to construct a concrete biosand filter, a simple but useful device that helps purify contaminated water in impoverished countries.

Mark Merry, a welding instructor at BRCTC, said he was approached by Richard Cromwell, a member of the Rotary Club in Bath, to construct a mold that would be used to build the filter.

“It was a team effort,” Merry said.

Since the beginning of November, Merry’s students have worked on the project together, and finally finished it off in the beginning of this year.

“It was difficult to figure out some of the engineering to it,” senior Nate McDonald said. “We made it out of complete scratch.”

Though it was a challenge to build, students agreed it was for a good cause and well worth the work.

Cromwell, who has been involved with water quality projects in Cambodia, intends to use the mold to create a filter and set it up at Morse High School.

Students involved in the Morse Interact Club will make the filter themselves by pouring concrete into the mold and also filling the filter with layers of sand and gravel, which will remove pathogens from contaminated water.

Students will also learn about the chemistry and biology of the pathogens in the water and how the biosand filter works to remove them.

Cromwell is planning to set up the filter in the school cafeteria with informative posters that will emphasize the importance of providing clean drinking water across the globe.

He hoped that the presence of the filter would also encourage students to join the Interact Club or get involved in other national projects focused on water quality.

Ever since his first visit to Cambodia in 2010, Cromwell has purchased these concrete water filters for Cambodian orphanages over the years.

Last year, the Rotary Club helped sponsor Cromwell’s trip to Cambodia so he could study water and sanitation issues in remote villages, where unsanitary water causes health issues, and even death among the communities.

“By cleaning the water, we can break the cycle of poverty,” he said.

And by building the filter mold, BRCTC students have helped to start the community campaign for this global issue.

“This is a way to involve local high schools and make them aware of the water situation that exists throughout the world, and a way to get them involved locally and working on a national project,” Cromwell said.

dkim@timesrecord.com

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