Ryan pours the water sample into funnel.

A group from True North Church in Augusta, Georgia recently made the trip up to Water Missions International’s headquarters in Charleston, SC. During their trip, Ryan Reif, one of our water and sanitation engineers in charge of research and development, took them through a typical water treatment test that we perform to assess water quality in all potential communities. “The membrane filtration test is a way we test for the presence of bacteria in a water sample.At the end of the test you can count the total coliforms and e-coli. E-coli strongly indicates the presence of fecal matter in the water sample,” said Ryan.

The group from True North Church split into two teams and travelled around Charleston collecting water samples from various locations - public fountains, grocery store bathrooms, and creeks. They made a competition out of it to see who could collect the dirtiest water sample. The group later shared this story, “We made Lauren go over to a firehouse to ask for some water from their hose. The firemen seemed confused and said ‘You mean you don’t want drinking water? It’s going to be real dirty.’” To which Lauren replied “Great!”

Later, Ryan walked the groups through the steps to perform the membrane filtration test: sanitize the equipment, run the water samples through the filter, place it in a petri dish, add a bacteria growth syrup, and then leave it to incubate for a day. The entire group had a fun time learning about how water quality is assessed and the way Water Missions International ensures clean, safe water.

 Sterilizing the equipment.

As Ryan placed the petri dish into the incubator he finished the workshop saying “We only distribute safe water. If the membrane filtration test doesn’t come back clear, we aren’t drinking it and something needs to be improved.” Tomorrow afternoon the team from True North Church will come back and check their water samples to see who won the competition, and whose water was truly the dirtiest.