Water Filter Project

As mentioned in the Braddock Carnegie Arts Program post, Jeff Schwarz has been working with the Water Filter Project.  The Project primary mission is to assist people in being able to convert ground water to safe drinking water.

5,000 children die each day from water borne diseases.
Eventually water will be more valuable than oil.

Old Tech/Low Tech
In 1998 Ron Rivera developed the ceramic water filter.
The ceramic water filter has been proven 99.9% effective in removing water borne bacteria.

More information about Ron:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Rivera_%28public_health%29

More filter information:

http://s189535770.onlinehome.us/pottersforpeace/?page_id=9

www.purewaterforall.org  and www.pottersatwar.org

 

The Filter
The ceramic filter is a combination of clay and sawdust
The filter is fired to a low temperature to maintain porosity
The fired filter is treated with colloidal silver

Screening the sawdust

Pushing sawdust through the seive

Making the clay/sawdust mix

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At the Braddock studios they use a Soldner Professional mixer to do the mixing work.

Weighing the mix

 Preparing the mix for the press

The press

Pressing a filter

Raising the press arm

Freshly pressed

Trimming

After firing to about 1800 degrees, the inside of the filter is coated with a silver compound.  The combination of the small pore size and the silver serve to kill the bacteria present in most ground water and renders the water in the receptacle safe for drinking.  

The ceramic filter is sized to fit into a 5 gallon bucket with a spigot.  The actual ceramic filter is reddish brown. Every filter and receptacle is ready to filter water. Each filter has a flow rate of 2.5 L -3.5 L per hour.  Every filter/receptacle includes directions in the language of the user. 

 Jeff and his team are working on a method to incorporate the silver into the mix to see if it improves the process.  It has worked well in thousands of cases, but they are engaged in research to try to constantly improve.

It is impractical to ship the filters to the countries where it is needed from the United States, so Jeff's team's role is primarily research.  Production facilities have been set up in locations close to the need and so small factories around the world are utilized and provide income for each local business.  

Each year many lives are saved and improved because of this low tech solution and the people dedicated to making it happen.  For more information, contact Jeff Schwarz at jeff@jeffschwarz.com

Preview of coming attractions.

I am going to be doing a documentation of the wood kiln firing at Clarion University that Greeny is doing.  Also will do a piece on the Ceramic Water Filter project that Jeff Schwarz is participating in (Finished).  Also planned are profiles of Karen Howell and Jeff Schwarz.  Any suggestions, please post in the comments section.  Terry

Masked King by Jeff Schwarz 

 Cat by Karen Howell

Braddock Carnegie Art Program - Braddock Carnegie Library

A profile of the Braddock Carnegie Art and Pottery Program with Jeff Schwarz

The Braddock Library was funded by Andrew Carnegie in the 1889 for the workers at the Edgar Thomson Steel Works as a place for the workers and their families to have an easier and more enjoyable life than their work environment.  The Music Hall, Pool, and Gymnasium were added in 1893. At a time when few homes had indoor plumbing and a bath was a rarity, this was the place where employees could come to shower or bathe, take a swim, enjoy a book, play billiards, and get a haircut. Credit to Wikimapia and more information about this at:
http://wikimapia.org/581369/Braddock-Library

A few years ago, Dick Wukich, a potter and professor at Slippery Rock University, became involved in promoting a project to bring the arts to the residents of the Braddock area.  Funds were secured and Jeff Schwarz, Jason Pascuzzi, Tom Gaudi, and Richard Miller, also potters, became involved, and with the support of the library management and later Vicki Vargo, the Director of the Braddock Library, converted the former baths and furnace room in the basement into a pottery.  Many other people helped and if you know who they are, you can give credit to them in the comments area which follows this post.

  

There are 10 potters wheels in this room which is used by both children and adults in both organized classes and open studio.  Fees for adults are very modest and children can receive materials and instruction for free.  Jeff supervises the studio and does not receive a salary for doing so.  He is assisted by Denny, Justin, Bob, and KT in keeping the place humming and the work moving through its cycles.

The studio contains a Soldner Professional mixer.

A Vanho de-airing pugmill that Jeff likes very much.

There is a glaze mixing area with a well organized set of chemical bins.  Denny is mixing glaze for the studio with a power mixer.  Justin was also there weighing out the chemicals.

The is the glaze test area and a ware cart of bisque pots.

A well organized glaze board gives their students the advantage of seeing the glaze results which are fired to Cone 10 reduction.

 Wet pieces going through the drying stage.

Not sure who this piece belongs to but it sure was a whimsical creature!

They have an L&L programmable kiln which is used primarily for bisque firings.

The glaze kiln is a 20+ cu ft gas kiln designed and built by Gerry Wagner.  It is a downdraft with venturi burners firing up through the floor and is fiber lined.  Thanks to Gerry's industrial background, this kiln employs some pretty hefty steel in its construction.  Jeff reports that it is easy to fire, sensitive to adjustment, and very conservative in gas consumption.

This shows the back of the stack with the damper.  The lined metal stack flows into a 60 foot tall brick chimney that was already in place because of the original boilers that had occupied this space.  I was surprised to hear that the stack draws well with aspirator burners and such a tall, cold stack, but Gerry knows what he is doing and it functions well as both Jeff and the results verify.  Of course, it comes with all of the necessary safety devices.

For those who are kiln curious, this is the view with the door closed.

This is some of the bisque ware awaiting glaze.  

Picture of a fired kiln load.  I did not see many glazed pieces laying around because those are removed quickly after the glaze firing.  Due to the support of the Library and all those involved, it seems that they have created a great asset for the Braddock area residents and the programs are well attended.  From these kinds of programs and dedicated people come our future potters.
You can get more information by clicking on the below link:
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/braddockarts/home.html

At some point in the future I will do a profile of Jeff Schwarz, who is a talented and interesting potter.  Jeff is also involved in the International Ceramic Water Filter project and I will do a post on this process of bringing clean drinking water to areas of the world in need of it.