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Project
Report Central Water Treatment For Oliveros and San Martín Chiquimulilla, Summary: This is a saga
of success. It is the story of design,
prefabrication, shipment, installation, and operational training for a water
treatment system in two adjacent poor communities in southern Beginnings: The Guatemala
Medical Relief Program (GMRP), a Wisconsin Rotary club project, for several
years has served hundreds of local people in a weeklong clinic in the Oliveros,
The Hartford
Rotary Water Team visited Oliveros in January 2007, in the company of the
GMRP. They were surprised to find a good
quality deep well drilled through efforts of Mr. Gandara. The local people, using charitable donations
for materials, had constructed a tower and had buried several miles of pipe in
trenches that reach 250 households in the twin communities of Oliveros and Preparation: The Project: When the truck
became mired in Mexican Customs, the Water Team purchased a week’s supplies and
continued the work. When end valves were
needed to enable flushing the underground pipes, the Water Team purchased them in
a city some distance away and local volunteers dug up the pipe by hand and
installed the valves. Leaking pipes were
found and repaired. The water tower
tank was leaking, and it was sealed with hydraulic cement. The inside was coated and the inside scrubbed
for sanitation. Pipes at the tank were
braced with steel brackets specified and constructed at the site. A new electrical
panel was installed to control the water pump.
Floats were installed in the tower tank to control the water level
automatically. Bright fluorescent
lighting was installed in the treatment building. A second electrical panel was installed to
control the treatment pumps. Included
was a meter to measure consumption of the precious water, enabling local people
to regulate its use for the proper domestic purposes – drinking, cooking,
personal hygiene, washing dishes, washing clothes – but not for animals or
irrigation. Chemical
treatment pumps were installed, and the water supply pipe was re-routed through
the treatment building. Test equipment
was inaugurated, and the local people provided leaders who could learn to test
water. Training sessions were held, and
testing proceeded. For two weeks, one
obstacle after another was overcome, until a professionally equipped water
treatment facility was completed and operating.
A reporting
system was established, and monthly reports are expected from the local
technicians. During the
project, the Water Team ate and slept at Mr. Gandara’s facility, and one of his
ranch helpers cooked delicious (local) food for them. The convenient location and readily
accessible help of this facility made the whole project possible. As a side
benefit of the project, serviceable used computers were provided to the school,
and Spanish software installed. CD’s and
DVD’s relating to personal hygiene and sanitation were
presented to the teachers for classroom instruction on those subjects. To guard against theft, the Water Team paid
in advance for steel bars for the school windows. Results: Although the
project was completed only recently, it is possible to predict that there will be
an improvement in health. It is not
inconceivable that the life expectancy of the people will be improved,
especially that of children under five years old. It is certain that there will be less harmful
coliform bacteria in the people’s drinking water far into the future. In addition, there will be fewer teeth
extracted from 10-year-old children. Conclusion: Seldom is there
an opportunity to make as great a difference as is expected from the Oliveros
and San Martin Water Project. All of
these results make the project a great privilege for those involved, and they
are grateful for the opportunity. Submitted by the
Greg Ledesma John Spielmann By Dave Wolbrink, Chair
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