In cooperation with the Cameroonian company AURA Cameroun Sarl, Lena Löchte from PAULA Water GmbH has installed the first PAULA water treatment plant in Cameroon, which is located on the property of the health center “Centre de Santé” in Soa (suburb of the capital Yaoundé). The plant treats water from a well which is standing on the property.
Inside the plant there are ultrafiltration membranes removing pathogens inside the well water by filtration (e.g. Escheria Coli, Salmonella, intestinal enterococci, cholera). The pores of the membranes have a size between 10 and 100 nanometre. They are smaller than bacteria and viruses, so that these are retained on the membrane surfaces by a simple “sieving effect”. Only germ-free water passes through the membranes. The LRV (logarithmic removal value) of the membranes used in thens PAULA plant is between 4 and 6. The construction of the plant house and the water distribution points was carried out by the Cameroonian company AURA Cameroun Sarl. The installation of the plant itself was accompanied by PAULA Water GmbH on site between 28.06 and 07.07.2022. Mainly local materials were used for the construction and installation of the plant. Only the membranes were imported from Germany. Furthermore, a system was installed which facilitates a web-based monitoring of the produced water quantities of the plant.
The local water laboratory “Centre Pasteur du Cameroun” took samples of the filtrated water to analyze various biological and physical parameters. The results show that the filtered PAULA water is sterile and has a satisfactory drinking water quality according to Cameroonian requirements.
The health center as well as the residents from Soa use the treated water from the PAULA plant for their drinking water supply. However, due to the flood-proof location of the plant, safe water can also be provided during catastrophic events. A water committee will be formed for the operation and maintenance of the plant and will receive practical training from PAULA Water GmbH on the necessary operation and maintenance work during another trip in August 2022. In future, the safe drinking water of the plant will be sold to the community at a small price in order to enable the sustainability of the system.
Another PAULA plant is currently being planned for the second pilot site in Douala (Makepe II).