• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.19-25
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• 1988

It is very important to supply safe drinking water for rural area not only a prevention of entric diseases but also a promotion of health life. It is estimated that 6,981,000 rural inhabitants were covered by the simple piped water supply system at the end of 1987 in Korea. The programme for improvement of water supply system in rural villages was initiated by the government since 1967. But most of these systems have been operated carelessly by the hands of villagers who have no proper knowledge and experience. Since most of water sources were located nearby farmland, there might be a possibility that the sources could be contaminated by pesticides and fertilizers. For this reason, it is recommended to take underground water as a water source rather than surface water such as a pond or streamwater in rural areas. However, the system is supplied from the surface water, its water quality can be improved by using of simple sand filter and simple chlorinator inexpensively. On the basis of an on-site study, conducted during 1986-87, in San-Buk Village, Keum-Sa-Myon, Yeju-Gun, Kyong-Gi-Do, the new simple piped water supply system was designed by the Institute for Environmental Research, Yonsei University, and constructed by the villagers themselves in September 1987. This simple system which is protected by metal fences consists of three main parts, pump house, vertical sand filter and water tank. The pumped water from underground flows into the upper part of the sand filter, through the sand, and out the water tank which is connected to the bottom of vertical filter. And the simple plastic-bottle chlorinator was installed in the water tank for chlorination. The water quality was remarkably improved after completion of construction. The total bacterial count was not detected from the tap water in households distributed by this simple piped water supply system. The construction cost of this system which was connected 34 households in San-Buk Village, was 4,851,000 won (approximately 6,020 U.S. dollars : 1$=805.8 won) in 1987,77% of expenses was supported by the Community Development Foundation in Korea. This case study for simple piped water supply projects will be applicable to other programme for improvement of water supply system in rural areas of Korea, and other developing countries.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.62-69
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• 2019

Supplying stable electric power is one of the important objectives of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) because it is strongly related with improving living standards and income levels in the region. However, rural areas in many developing countries are not properly connected to national power grids, and even areas connected to national power grids are frequently blacked out due to limitations in power capacity. These lack of electric power is a major obstacle to improving income levels and improving living standards in those areas. The Korea-Tanzania Innovative and Energy Center (iTEC), which was established by Seoul National University in cooperation with the Nelson-Mandela Africa Institute of Science and Technology and Technology (NM-AIST) try to build a small solar power plant using a smart-off grid in rural area of Tanzania, where there is no electricity. 10 kW and 7 kW solar power plants are built in Mkalama Village in Kilimanajaro Region and Ngurdoto Village in Arusha Region to provide power to about 50 households each. In addition, smart monitoring systems were installed to collect data about status of power system and power consumption of each house. iTEC seeks for sustainable improvement the income level and quality of life of rural residents in developing countries through the construction of small solar power plants using smart-off grid, and the implementation of various connected projects.