#Ojojona
#Marcala
#Tamara
#Cuatro Comunidades
Ojojona
On Thursday 9.18 we visited the Ojojona plant with Cornell water treatment plant operator Chris Bordlemay. The plant was funtioning well (the sed tanks were crystal clear) and Chris seemed impressed with the operators' abilities to maintain a sludge blanket. We could even see the sludge blanket in the bottom section of the lamella.
On Saturday 9.20 we took part in the Ojojona Water Board meeting. The main points we discussed were inputting the plant data in electronic format, contracting a night operator during the rainy months, selecting a permenant plant operator, and building a roof for the plant. The water tariff was just raised in July, and not all of the users have paid yet. Even with the increase, the Junta says it had a deficit in July and August. Despite the scarcity of funds, they agreed to look for a night opperator to cover the last two month of this rainy season. They don't seem prepared to name a permenant operator until their funding situation improves. The Junta also agreed to find a way to input the plant data into the computer. The Junta does not currently have funds to work on the roof, but agrees that it is a necessary addition to the plant.
Marcala
On Tuesday 9.16 Antonio and Tamar visited the Marcala treatment plant and met up with Chris Bordlemay, Fred Stottlemyer, and Tammi Aiken. On Wednesday morning we had a meeting with both plant operators learning about their difficulties with the plant and further training them to better dose the aluminum sulfate correlating with how flocs are forming. The Marcala plant works very well and consistently yields water with turbidity less than 5 NTU as long as there are chemicals to run the plant. The operators have some difficulty obtaining the aluminum sulfate and the chlorine at times from the Municipality. There is no water board in Marcala that is in charge of the water tariff funds, they act as an 'advisory council' but cannot insure that money collected to maintain the treatment plant is used for its maintenance and operation. The municipal water tariff has still not been raised to reflect the operating costs of the plant.
Tamara
On Friday 9.19 Fred, Tammi, Chris and Nick Wobbrock (a Cornell Alum and current Peace Corps Volunteer) visited the Tamara plant.
Cuatro Comunidades
On Friday 9.19 and Monday 9.21 we worked on the design for the new shallow plant. Due to our own concerns and the advice of Chris Borlemay and Fred Stottlemeyer, we are increasing the size of the entrance tank to 0.70m x 1.00m. Engineer Wilfredo Serrano is currently working out costs for the construction design. We hope to complete with this design and move on to the Gracias plant later this week.