In collaboration with the Aarhus-based company TEMcompany in Denmark, DACAAR has introduced a new method for locating clean drinking water in Afghanistan.
So far, DACAAR has invested more than a quarter of a million Danish kroner in a so-called geoscanner called sTEM profiler, which will make it easier to find water.
Geophysicist and PhD Thue Bording from TEMcompany was in Kabul in early January to teach a local team how to use the new equipment. In short, it consists of two coils of 3×3 meters and a yellow box with computer equipment, from which electromagnetism is used to measure the earth’s ability to conduct electricity at depths as low as 200 and 500 meters, as well as a mobile phone with an APP where measurement results can be read. Once the soil layers have been measured in one place, the sensors are quickly moved on to the next measurement site.
Thue Bording explains that the geoscanner does not directly search for water but uncovers the soil layers that may potentially contain water, so that test drills for water become more targeted.
For example, layers of soil that contains a lot of air cannot conduct electricity – and there is therefore no water to drill for.
– On the training team in Kabul, I had both geologists and water engineers. It was quite clear that the geologists had the easiest time understanding the often slightly ambiguous data that we received about the soil layers. But I am very optimistic that the geoscanner will be used well in Afghanistan in the future, says Thue Bording.
– Especially out west in Herat, where there are several places with water in the upper soil layers, this method makes extra good sense in Afghanistan, says Thue Bording.
Company on the rise
TEMcompany is a fairly new, Danish company, which has only been in business for five years, but already has 25 employees. The company supplies both smaller and more advanced geoscanners, primarily to the United States, but there is also a desire to develop the easier-to-use systems, which not least NGOs can use in the field under challenging conditions.
– We are constantly trying to become even better at making systems specially designed for the needs of the NGOs, says Thue Bording, who had an extraordinary experience during his stay in Kabul.
– It was very exciting to visit Afghanistan for the first time, but security considerations also meant that I was driven everywhere. My impression of Kabul was like from any other Central Asian city, and I simply didn’t get to see the poverty that is also there, says Thue Bording
Locally, the method is predicted to have great potential
Engineer Jawid, as head of DACAAR’s hydrogeology team, participated in the five-day course, which included theory, practice, and data analysis. He sees great potential in the new method. And so far, the team has not encountered any technical problems.
– One of the main advantages of this method is the availability of a sTEM application on our smartphones, which enables us to evaluate and verify the accuracy of our field data in real time, says engineer Jawid
– The electromagnetic method is user-friendly and efficient when using the sTEM instrument, allowing for quick and comprehensive area studies with minimal personnel. The approach can be adjusted depending on the depth of analysis needed, engineer Jawid points out
DACAAR expects that with this technology, the organization can improve water localization in Afghanistan and optimize efforts to ensure access to clean drinking water.
