Within the aspects to consider regarding the environment, special attention must be paid to the hygiene of populations, an aspect that has direct impact on the quality of life and levels of health of citizens.
Cities and citizens alike must care for their environment. Protecting it and any existing natural resources and increasing the wellbeing of citizens must be a sole issue.
In terms of this, the collection and treatment of waste, road cleaning in cities and the maintenance of any existing septic tanks are especially relevant.
Every day, all cities around the world, regardless of their population, face the complex and difficult challenge of managing the urban waste generated, in two different ways. On one hand, reducing the generation or production of waste and, on the other, encouraging recyclable or reusable fractions.
Solid waste includes all waste from activities involving animals and human beings, which is normally solid and is considered useless or superfluous waste. The basic goal of waste management in any case must be compatible with environmental and public health concerns and with the wishes of citizens regarding the reuse and recycling of waste materials.
WASTE COLLECTION
Waste collection, if carried out, is often performed using obsolete resources that do not meet actual needs. As a result, the waste is accumulated in the streets and is often eliminated through “on-site” incineration. In other words, it is burnt in the street itself.
This generates a two-sided problem:
- The accumulation of waste until it is incinerated, with the subsequent increase in rodents, flies, mosquitoes and insects in general, which could transmit disease.
- A problem of environmental pollution, caused by burning the accumulated waste, which could affect the airways of the population.
In addition to this situation is the fact that street sweeping is limited to the main roadways and is often completely manual, scarce and mostly deficient.
In other cases, the waste itself leads to the appearance of mafias who use the destitute to collect cardboard, glass, scrap metal and other reusable items that can be found in the waste.
Managing this situation and the problems arising from it efficiently could avoid many different health problems and, therefore, improve the general health of the inhabitants of these areas.
WASTE TREATMENT
Waste being treated is often accumulated at uncontrolled or barely controlled dumpsites, enabling leachates to be released directly into rivers or into the different water tables, with the subsequent pollution of river and underground water that is used to water plants or for human consumption.
Furthermore, populations formed primarily by destitutes often arise at these dumpsites. These people survive by eating the waste and any recycling reusable items they might find, such as cardboard, paper, glass or scrap metal, etc.
In light of this situation, the construction of relatively non-automated waste treatment plants could be advisable so that those scraping a living at the dumpsites can be used, reusable materials can be recycled and existing organic matter can be used to produce compost and its subsequent use as fertiliser.
SEWERAGE
Where they exist, sewers and septic tanks are very often extremely deficient in population nuclei and, therefore, they must be provided with the necessary equipment for maintenance and upkeep under the minimal health conditions required.
When inspecting sewers and septic tanks, they are often found to be in an extremely deficient state of repair and are a true hive of disease.
In light of the challenges posed by the three areas described, the services that PdePS can offer are structured around the following:
- Analysis and study of the existing situation, with remedial proposals in line with the size of the population and the financial resources available. These studies assess the situation of waste collection, waste treatment, road cleaning and the condition of sewers and septic tanks.
- Supply of the necessary equipment in line with the study of needs performed and with the target population in order to ensure its operating and sustainability over time.
- Training of users in the handling of the equipment supplied and of maintenance technicians to ensure the utmost operability of the equipment over time.
The experts and colleagues of PdePS have the knowledge, experience and references required to present Community managers with the most flexible solutions, adapted to meet their needs and resources. The different projects completed in the Middle East, Africa and America are a guarantee of solutions provided successfully to solve a problem based on the health and wellbeing of the affected populations.
In close connection with the environment and with a basic infrastructure that offers the population initial development, towns and human settlements require an energy supply to make an elemental quality of life viable.
THE ENERGY...
The energy reaching the Earth from the Sun is in the form of electromagnetic radiation, which is the basic source of energy for life on Earth.
Obtaining electricity directly from sunlight is known as the photovoltaic effect. To achieve this, a material is required that absorbs sunlight and is able to transform the radiating energy absorbed into electrical energy. This is the capacity and use of photovoltaic cells.
The drop in recent years in the price of photovoltaic solar panels has meant that this type of installation has become generalised and widespread.
This energy can be used by way of two electricity production systems. The first, known as the isolated system, is suitable for places with no energy connections and consists of the self-consumption of the electricity produced. This type of energy generation is generally used for minor consumption, such as rural homes and facilities with low energy consumption, where the electricity supply is extremely expensive and complex, due to the distance of the electricity grid. It is also often used in communities in developing countries that do not need high electricity consumption and, therefore, have no suitable electricity distribution grid.
In the case of the second type, known as the connected system, the electricity produced is dumped to the general grid. In this type of installation, all of the generated electricity production is dumped to the general grid, with the kw injected being sold at a price that depends on the country, total installed load and the type of installation.
One type of installation or another is selected, depending on the needs to be met.
The services that PdePS can offer in this area consist of the detailed and case-by-case study of needs so that, based on this study, it is possible to design, supply, build and operate a given installation project.
