January 10, 2010 - Masaka

We counted the Petrifilms collected from BH4 and P1 on 01/08 at 13:50. The results are as follows:

P1 E. coli / coliform test:
Red dots (coliform) associated with bubbles - 14 (Kevin's count) or 18 (David's count)
Blue dots (E. coli) associated with bubbles - 1 (Kevin's count) or 1 (David's count)
Total number of red dots (bubbles or no bubbles) - 138 (Kevin's count) or 300 (David's extrapolation from a particular grid)
Total number of blue dots (bubbles or no bubbles) - 1 (Kevin's count) or 1 (David's count)

BH4 E. coli / coliform test:
Red dots (coliform) associated with bubbles - 0 (Kevin's count) or 0 (David's count)
Blue dots (E. coli) associated with bubbles - 0 (Kevin's count) or 0 (David's count)
Total number of red dots (bubbles or no bubbles) - 6 (Kevin's count) or 8 (David's count)
Total number of blue dots (bubbles or no bubbles) - 0 (Kevin's count) or 0 (David's count)

P1 Enterobacteria test:
Dots associated with bubbles - 32 (Kevin's count), 50 (David's count), or 25 (Mike's count)
Total dots (bubbles or no bubbles) - 594 (Kevin's count)

BH4 Enterobacteria test:
Dots associated with bubbles - 8 (Kevin's count) or 8 (David's count)
Total dots (bubbles or no bubbles) - 9 (Kevin's count) or 9 (David's count)

There is some discrepency between ours and Helen and Becca's results. We have no information about the data variance to determine whether or not this is significantly different. But the counts are likely to vary with season anyways. We plan to do more Petrifilm tests on BH4 and P1 on Monday, to be shown on Tuesday's workshop.

Later in the morning, Dave and Kevin tried to sieve more fine sand using the smallest-sized sieve. After a while, some kids came and started helping out, not that we endorse child slavery. Pretty soon (maybe 45 minutes later), we ended up with about a tray of fine sand. This is probably still a small fraction of what we would need for one filter. We do not have a finer sieve to rule out the smallest particles (< 0.5 mm in diameter), which we want to avoid in order to maintain some consistency in size. Dave is hoping that washing the sand might wash these particles away, though we might also end up losing some sand.

At around noon, we decided that it was time to go to Masaka (on a Sunday morning, most Christian shops would be closed). On a Sunday, it was quite difficult flagging down a taxi for 5 people (Mike, Dave, Joe, Monica, and Kevin). Eventually we got one, which carried us in the direction of Mbarara for a while before turning back, picking up passengers heading for Kampala. Ultimately, there were 25 passengers in the taxi, with 7 people in the first row (where Dave and Kevin were located). Mike earned a marriage offer, and Monica provided our whereabouts such that this offer could be carried to completion.

We arrived in Masaka and ate at Bananah Chick (???), ordering mostly beef curry. Almost all of us were overcharged. Having gotten a power converter for Joe, we headed to the hardware street and started looking for PVC pipes and joints. The task turned out to be a little difficult, given that most stores did not have an extensive selection of products. With much help from Joe and a lot of debate, we decided to buy 2 metres of 3/4'' PVC pipes and an adapter (???) intended to penetrate the plastic container. We will first try to play around with the pipes, testing to see if we can bend the pipe simply by heating, without the need to fit it to joints or sealants. We also purchased black paint, paint brush (for solar cookers), and some nails (for the sieve frame, which we might make out of bamboo). We were unable to find a thermometer. Joe mentioned that on Monday JMC would ship some medicine to the clinic, and we could see if there are cardboard boxes appropriate for the solar cookers. Then Monica and Joe ordered chips from a backalley takeaway, and we did some more grocery shopping at Masaka's supermarket. On our way back, Joe and Monica left us at Kinoni to get some more grocery, and we returned to Ddegeya at about 5:30 p.m.

In the evening, Dave and Kevin helped Joe and Monica make some chapati, though without the supervision of Susan or Dora, the first few were somewhat failures (Kevin got fired as a chapati flipping technician).