Day 2 Field Work

I found Humanitarian Engineering because I wanted a more “boots on the ground” experience rather than lab work or strictly design work, so our field workdays were one of the things I was most excited for. We started in the Mewat district where the Sehgal Foundation has a few established sites that have been in operation for a few years now. These sites are a combination of rainwater collection projects and aquifer recharge areas.

For this study abroad our team is working to test the water at these sites for contaminates and check the general chemical composition to ensure safe use. Many of the tests and the equipment we are using are expensive, require training, or have other elements that cause them to be inaccessible to the people of the villages. Our team is looking into low cost-effective testing solutions so members of the villages can test the water they collect without the constant help from the Sehgal Foundation or other similar organizations. To do this we are comparing the accuracy of color changing tests strips to the more high-tech tests.

Our first site was a local middle school that had been fitted with a rainwater collection system with the help of the Sehgal Foundation. In the rainy season the rooftops of the buildings collect the water, and it is directed through filters into a storage area. In this case the water is stored in an open bottom tank so the water can seep into the ground. The natural water level in the area sits just a few feet below the surface but is too salty to use, additionally the area is very flat meaning there isn’t enough of a gradient for the water to flow. These characteristics coupled with gravity and the pressure of the water above allows for a pocket of fresh water to be created below the tank. Due to the differing densities of saline and fresh water the pocket doesn’t mix with the standing water and because there is not movement it isn’t swept away.

The middle of our day was focused on the water recharge sites. These areas are closer to the mountains, often using the mountains themselves to collect and direct the rain into basins that are blocked off by check damns. The topsoil in this area is highly contaminated with salt and other minerals, due to the region being formed below sea level and a long history of farming, so if the water was allowed to run off the mountains freely over the plains it would pick up too many contaminates before percolating into the ground. By trapping the run-off into basically temporary artificial lakes the water is able to enter the aquifer as freshwater with fewer impurities.

Today communities can access this water through modern bore wells or crank wells, which we used to gather samples. However, hundreds of years ago, when there was still a supply of fresh ground water, it was accessed using dug out step wells. These wells would be dug down to the water level and would fill in the rainy season, they would hold enough water for some or all ofix the dry seasons. They also provided areas for travelers to rest in the alcoves along the walls. We were able to visit an abandoned step well near one of the check damns; this well was over 800 years old but had been abandoned due to the lack of fresh water for many years. Now the community has dug out the first two levels of the ruin and believe there is about 30 more meters below what they have dug out. The goal is to fully excavate the site after successfully recharging the area to allow the well to be used once more.

Nearby there was another Sehgal site where they had built a check damn to close off a bottle-necked part of a valley. This damn traps the water flowing off the mountains in the valley to create a temporary lake. as the water sits it is able to drain through the soil to recharge the aquifer. Durring the rainy season these areas are completely flooded, but in the dry season (now) they dry back out and, as you can see from the picture, are apparently great field hockey pitches.

Something we were warned about before traveling was that we will be very noticeable as we are traveling as a group and don’t exactly blend in very well to general population, especially outside of tourist areas and in the villages. It seemed that everywhere we stopped to draw a crowd of at least 50-100 people where that had been no one 30 seconds ago. What really took me by surprise was the lack of what the social norms I’m used to. We would stop in an area, and it wouldn’t be uncommon for people to stand inches away from us to watch what we were doing or try to pull us away to give us tours or show us something. The lack of personal space was a shock as in the States in my experience we’re more likely to watch from a distance and particularly after the pandemic I’m used to a few feet of space. Testing becomes a little hard to focus on when there’s a group of strangers surrounding you, but we were able to get used to it fairly quickly. What I am still trying to get used to is the constant pictures. We would visit these villages and be surrounded by these groups of people and almost all of them would be openly taking pictures and videos of us just existing or follow us asking for selfies. It felt a bit like being in a zoo at times and as a massive introvert it was really stressful for me. It’s something I’m trying to get used to, we’ve really only had issues with it in the rural areas. Logically I know that they are just curious and particularly in the areas we are in there isn’t the diversity we often see in the States so while I’m used to seeing people who look and act different to me, due to the ethnic density in the region it may be their first time seeing someone who isn’t Indian so of course they’re curious. I’m getting used to it, it was just a shock.

Despite being initially thrown off balance by the crowds, we were able to get a lot of really good data and I’m really excited to have time to analyze it in the next few days.