After the group of four students and one teacher of the Malage VTC finished constructing the first device on friday, we were able to put it to use on saturday. The input tank was filled with water from a cistern and the device correctly positioned so that it faces the sun. We were very happy, when the device started to push boiling water in the output container at the predicted time. We can now safely say that SoWaDi also works as expected in Tanzania. In the afternoon Elli gave a workshop on hygiene and water safety.
On sunday we equipped the device with measurement electronics and started more comprehensive tests. Unfortunately one glass pane broke during the assembly of the device and some of the connections are still leaking. This will be fixed in the coming week before we can celebrate the inauguration of the device. We will also continue to conduct tests, both microbiological and regarding the output and other parameters like temperatures and sun radiation. We will also start building a second device with a second group of students. We will try to use our experience from the first construction to already build a slightly improved version.
