#Cuatro Comunidades
#Guaimaca
#Atima, Santa Barbara
#Gracias, Lempira
#Agalteca

Cuatro Comunidades

Construction continues in the Four Communities. They are still working on the inlet manifolds in the bottom of the sed tanks. At the end of the week they made several of the plaques that will be used to form the inlet manifolds. Next week they will begin making the long, narrow covers that will cover the sed tank sludge-removal manifold.

When at the construction site Wednesday, 2.04 we met with Jorge and Antonio of the water board to discuss the advancement of the project. They were concerned that the water board might run out of funds before the end of the project. The construction has consumed more local materials (sand and brick) than we originally anticipated. Since the community has to purchase these materials, they were concerned they would have to pay for the extra. Engineer Wil said that we would cover any more extra costs due to shortage of materials. The water board was also worried that the project would drag on and that they would not have enough money to pay unskilled labor. We explained that the project should be finished before the end of February and they agreed that they had sufficient funds to pay workers until then.

Next week we hope to start work on the fabrication of sed tank lamella modules. Justo, one of the potential plant operators, will participate in order to become familiar with the process.

Guaimaca

Tuesday 2.03, Wil and John went to Guaimaca to better assess where the city's two treatment plants could be located. Because of the size of Guimaca and the investment involved in constructing the AguaClara plant, we think it is important to leave enough elevation between the plant and the tanks to be able to add filters in the future.

Tank #1 is partially buried in the ground, so that the maximum water level is only about 1.8 m above the surrounding ground. Building up the land about a meter, and with a 2.8 m deep plant, we think 2 m of elevation could still be left between the plant and the tank for the construction of filters.

The site at Tank #2 is more problematic. The tank is located on the point of a hill, and there is no higher ground nearby. One option would be to divert the 8" conduction line to higher ground 400m away and across the main highway. The water would then have to be piped back to the existing tank. Another option would be to build a retaining wall next to the hill and fill in the land to build the plant right next to the tank. A third option we discussed was to build a new tank on a nearby lower hill and build the plant in the location of the current tank. The current tank is only about 12 years old but was poorly built and is not in very good condition. The base and perhaps some of the walls of the current tank could be used for the treatment plant. All three of these options imply added costs, which would have to be calculated to decide which option is more practical.

We also collected the turbidity data the public works manager had been taken. It showed that both of Guimaca's sources have significant and similar turbidity, meaning that two treatment plants are necessary.

We left preliminary plans and a budget with the vice mayor and are hoping to meet with the mayor soon to discuss the possibilities of a project.

Atima, Santa Barbara

The week before, the mayor from Atima, Santa Barbara had visited the APP office to learn about the AguaClara plants. He seemed very interested so this week Wil and John made a trip to Atima to present to community leaders. Thirty-two people showed up to the meeting, including several members of the water board, the mayor, the vice mayor, leaders of the coffee industry, teachers, a doctor, and neighborhood leaders. They were very receptive to the presentation and seemed to think the project would be feasible. Wil also went to the site of the tanks and found an ideal location for the plant.

Someone from the municipal environmental office had been measuring turbidity in November and December with a turbidimeter we sent. The community's water is supplied by two sources of about the same size. One source did not get above 3 NTU, even though it was raining in November and the other one got up to a maximum of 18 NTU. While treatment is necessary for one of the sources, the turbidity problems are not as severe as we were expecting. However, it is possible that the rains in November were not very intense. Perhaps data from May - October would give us a better sense of the situation.

Gracias, Lempira

Friday, 2.06 Jacobo, Wil and John went to Gracias for a meeting with the mayor and community leaders to work on a plan of action for fundraising for the treatment plant. The mayor and about 20 community members were present, including a Peace Corps volunteer, representatives from PLAN International and Solidarity International, a doctor, a member of the municipal transparency commission, a teacher, and another member of the municipal government. The mayor suggested they name a commission to be in charge of the project. An 8-member commission, headed by the mayor and including representatives from various sectors of the community, was named. This commission will likely travel to Tegucigalpa to solicit funds from agencies there.

Solidarity International has completed a master plan for water and sanitation for the city of Gracias, which includes $1.3 million of water system improvements in addition to the treatment plant. The $1.3 million budget includes a 250,000 gallon tank. Because of the size of the master plan, improvements must be prioritized and completed piece by piece. The mayor is hoping to start with the construction of the tank and the treatment plant in the same location. APP could also build the tank as part of the same project. Wil gave the mayor preliminary plans and budgets for the tank and an 800 gpm AguaClara plant.

Agalteca

On Thursday 2.5 Antonio and Tamar gave a presentation in Agalteca. 14 people were present and very enthusiastic about the potential partnership. This community had been approached by FHIS, (Fundacion Hondurena Inversion Social) to build a FIME plant, but it ultimately did not go through because of resistance to installing flow meters in people's homes.
The entire Junta was present, along with a representative of a local mining company, 'Five Star Mining,' Patronato (Similar to elected community representatives), and a representative of the police force. We are planning to send a letter of intent that we will work on the design, and have a meeting scheduled for Feb. 27th with Jacobo and the Junta to talk more about the terms of the agreement.