14 August 2021 Apia Samoa, Source: JICA Samoa Office.
A presentation on the Ecological Purification System (EPS) by Year 9 Samoa College students won them the school science fair first prize award for their year level.
Held at Samoa College on Wednesday 11 August 2021, the Head of the EPS team, Year 9 student Ms. Keira Pogi, said their interest in the project was a result of a visit to the country’s main agency that monitors water supply, the Samoa Water Authority (SWA).
During the team’s SWA visit they were introduced to a system that can purify water with local materials.
Ms Pogi said this gave them an idea, to present this as their project to the school Science Fair.
“We would like to promote the EPS system because it’s designed to make germ free safe drinking water by using a natural process without chemicals,” said Ms Pogi.
An EPS unit consists basically of 3 Rota mold tanks with a volume of 2,700 liters each.
Mr. Olaifale Pili from SWA introduced the EPS system to the Samoa College students and four other districts in Upolu as a pilot project.
An engineer by profession, Mr. Pili was a participant in a training held in Okinawa, Japan in 2013 to learn about the EPS system. He was also an important partner of JICA’s technical project to improve the water quality in Apia and prevent water leakage.
For JICA, it has been a pleasure working with Mr. Pili and the students of Samoa College, and especially to see the Samoan engineer passing on the Japanese method to promote and develop a system that is affordable and environmentally friendly. The system also uses local materials easily accessible and available to students.
