Honduras Interns Progress Report
Date: 10/12/07
Location: Ojojona
Work Completed This Week
¿ Improvements to Plant
o All of the sediment tank influent pipes now have holes to let air escape while we are filling the tanks.
¿ Progress in Problem Solving
¿ Capacitation of plant operators, Sustainability in Ojojona
o We talked to Martin and Julia and decided to make a schedule for the fontaneros so that they are at the plant during the most important times of the day (5-9am, 2-6pm). They agreed to talk to the fontaneros about the schedule.
o Alexis has been at the plant this week and has been doing a good job.
o We met with the Junta on Monday October 9th. We gave a brief presentation that included why its important to have clean water, how the plant functions, the changes we've made, the job of the fonteneros, the tariff and finally a video. The video included interviews of people who receive water from the plant talking about the changes in the water. All members of the Junta who were present were in support of seeking a raise in the tariff, but they said it would take a lot of convincing to achieve this.
o We plan to meet with community leaders in the next few weeks to drum up support for the plant and a tariff hike. Nov 1 we plan to give a presentation to the Alcalde on the plant and the need for a raise in the tariff.
¿ The Next Plant
o Lamina cost comparison on laminas for a full width tank and a tank split into two. For a full width tank we would need 44 panels with dimensions 6' by 42" which is 22 panels of dimensions of 12' by 42" which would cost around 23,000L. A half width tank would need 44 panels with dimensions 6' by 21" which is 10.75 panels with dimensions 12' by 42" which would cost around 11,000L.
o Ing. Serrano met with us on Tuesday October 9th at the Ojojona plant. He already had a preliminary AutoCAD drawing based on the PowerPoint sketch we had shown him. He needs a more final layout and the water levels before he can do more. We said we'd try to get this for him by early next week.
¿ Serrano said that 15 cm walls (bricks with their length parallel to the wall) will be sufficient for all of the tank walls.
¿ We are concerned that this will not leave enough area on top of the walls to walk on when working on the tanks. We discussed the idea of having a removable platform to place over the tanks, but Antonio thought it would be preferable to walk on the walls.
¿ We are also concerned that such thin walls will not be strong enough. One width of brick seems a lot weaker than the double concrete block walls that were used in Ojojona.
o We've been playing around with layout ideas and sent a couple new drawings to Monroe and the design group Wed, Oct. 10.
o Because the improvements to the Moroceli conduction line could take a long time, APP is considering other sites. They are currently involved in two water system improvement projects in communities north of Tegucigalpa (Tamara and The 4 Comunities). Both communities have Juntas and turbid water. APP's existing involvement in the communities and with the conduction line is a big advantage.
¿ We visited both communities Wed, Oct 10. Attached is a report of what we found.
Questions, work for Cornell Team
¿ What type of brick walls did the brick team think we needed when they did the analysis last year?
Plant Improvement Ideas
¿ Antonio mentioned that built-in ladders would be helpful in all of the tanks.
¿ A built-in concrete step to make it easier to get up on the chemical barrel tables.
Plans for the Future
¿ Trips:
o Trip to La 34 - not scheduled
o Trip to Marcala - not scheduled, plans to contact Fred to see when would be convenient for him.