Projects | ecoderivatives

OUR PROJECTS

We are positioned to design and implement environmentally sustainable development projects for sporting activities across Nigeria. We can partner with the government, international donors, funders, non-governmental organizations and the community focusing on sustainability, inclusion, clean water and sustainable infrastructure in sports and other sectors.

RAIN FOR SPORTS

Project Description: This is a IOC Young leaders program funded project that involves the development of a rainfall harvesting system as an alternative source of water for school sports in a school in Lagos, Nigeria. Water is trapped from different angles on the roof and piped down to a tank that has a natural filtration system. The tank feeds the water to different taps across the sporting Centre for use during and after sporting activities. The project was designed to be sustainable, very simple, easy to use and maintain. No fossil fuel nor electrical power is required to run the system.

The project was delivered simultaneously with a two-day workshop in the host school. The agenda of the workshop was to educate the students of the school that will host the project, between the ages of 10-13, about the rationale behind the project.
Since they are the direct beneficiaries of the project, we found it important to explain to them the rationale behind the development. We also discussed about climate and Water management and invited a young and promising Climate change enthusiast to join us in the workshop

Problem Rationale

Water, as important as it is, is not an infinite resource. In many parts of the world, there is acute water scarcity. There is a need for a more regimented approach to the management of water across the world. The main source of water for drinking, domestics, agriculture, and even sports is groundwater and this is not sustainable. The reality is that if we continue to tap from groundwater for every water need, there would be a time when we wouldn’t have enough water to the basics of life again. How do we marry these realities? How do we ensure the consumption of groundwater drops without reducing water usage? A lot of sporting facilities do not have access to enough water to effectively run. A lot of reasons are responsible for this depending on the prevailing conditions that suffice and we have to find a way around it.

The impact of climate change is biting us hard because of years of negligence. Reports have shown that a lot of the waters, both surface and ground, used for sports are poorly treated. This has inadvertently lead to algae growth on surfaces in sporting facilities which causes player infections. Is there a way we can reduce the demand for water for sports from groundwater?

We went into this project with a mandate to develop a system that can provide water for sports to people who do not have the resources to connect to a complex water system.

Just as the world is moving away from fossil fuel to green energy to mitigate climate change, we need to also kickstart the shift from groundwater, as the only source of water, to other renewable sources. We can start with sports and when it works, we will lead the change.

Project Milestone

We have delivered the rainfall harvesting system in the school. We tested and noted that the system can trap as much as 200litres of rain water in less than 2 hours rainfall. We also noted that the natural water purification system put in place is effective as it has been certified clean for domestics by local health officials in Lagos, Nigeria.

OUR PARTNERS

International Olympic Committee's Young Leaders Programme