Aqua Culture

While we were in the US during the summer, friends we met in the Philippines sent us a wonderful gift - two Crown Berkey water filter units, one for us and one for our ministry center. Because you cannot drink the water here (more on that later), we have been buying filtered water since we first arrived. It is not a huge expense, but between the cost and the inconvenience the water filters are a huge blessing.

The SSM students are glad to have a filter unit at the YWAM ministry center also. They were getting their water at a spring about 1.5 kilometers away. (Free, but really inconvenient.) Below are some of the students with the filter unit.

After using the unit for a while, we noticed that the flow rate was much lower so I took the one at our place apart to clean it. It is not a complicated device. You pour water into the upper chamber and it filters using gravity into the lower chamber. As I was cleaning the upper chamber, I found the little friend below. He was about 1 cm long and bright red in color. Interesting to investigate under the microscope (a benefit of homeschooling is that you have such devices around), but you just don't want to become home to such a critter.

After cleaning the water filter and putting it all back together, I tested it as directed. A whole bottle of food coloring goes in along with the water and is supposed to come out clean. This time, the red food coloring was still in the water after passing through the filters. Bummer! So until we get the failed filter replaced, we are back to buying water. We are not interested in trying our luck with any of the creatures lurking about in the municipal water supply.