Ethiopia

2012 EPP fellow at Siam, Hong Yang

Demeke Achiso Hirgeto
January – March, 2012
PhD student, School of Political Science, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

During my stay at Eawag under the EPP programme, I carried out the finalization of the two scientific papers entitled "Institutional and Stakeholders Analysis of Defluoridation Options in the Rural Rift Valley of Ethiopia" and "Drivers of Clean Water Supply in the Rural Rift Valley of Ethiopia."  The study involved making extensive use of existing recent institutional literature. I really appreciated a lot in the way Eawag is organized and the level of coordination and communication which contributed a lot to get things done. Both papers will hopefully be duly published in international journals and will also constitute chapters in my PhD dissertation.

I would like to thank my supervisors: Prof Hong Yang and Dr. Yacob Arsano for thier constractive guidance and comments. I am really humbled by the EPP committee to be chosen  for the programme and your good job will remain in my memory!  Very special thanks also goes to Dr. Annette, Lars, Caterina, Karin and Franz who supported me multi-dimensionally. Finally, it is my honor to acknowledge the SIAM staff who remained my close friends during my stay. Thank you all and keep this exemplary  and praiseworthy performance forever.

2010 EPP fellow in Water Resources and Drinking Water, Dr. Annette Johnson

Damte Eyobel
January 1 - April 30, 2012
January - April , 2010
Ph.D student, Analytical Chemistry, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

During my stay at Eawag, I was able to work on my PhD research proposal entitled “Development of Household Defluoridation Technology for Drinking Water in Rural Ethiopia’’

During this time, I have been doing physical and chemical characterization of solid filter materials (aluminium hydroxide), which is used for removing fluoride from drinking water. I determined the elemental composition by digestion and anlaysis and by themogravimetric analysis, the surface area and density and the mineralogy, using X-ray diffraction. I also carried out column experiments. By using the state-of-the-art facilities at Eawag and I have obtained knowledge on how to understand the chemistry of sorption processes taking place at the surface of the solid and how the material needs to be pre-treated to make the technology suitable for field application.

I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Annette Johnson, for her dedicated assistance, consistent guidance, invaluable comments, and suggestion. I also appreciate the staff and experts at (W+T) and Sandec-Eawag, who supported and allow me, to use the facilities through my research work. Thanks to Eawag for offering me fabulous working conditions.