#Cuatro Comunidades
#Tamara
#Santa Rosa de Copan
#CCC Study
#Gracias

Cuatro Comunidades

Wednesday night 4.15 the plant was faced with its first large rainstorm. Incoming turbidity jumped to over 100 NTU. Gustavo, the operator, was not at the plant when the turbid water came so the plant failed. This was understandable since it was the first storm of the season and he lacks experience. It also suggests that two fulltime operators are necessary for optimal operation.

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Inauguration of the plant is tentatively planned for Saturday 6.6.

Tamara

The Tamara plant was also hit by the same rainstorm that affected the Cuatro Comunidades. The operator was present but lost control when very high turbidity arrived suddenly at the plant. By the next morning the plant was under control again and producing 5 NTU water. Jose Luis, the operator we were training to relieve Carlos during his days off, has resigned. We will need to encourage the water board to look for another operator. Construction of the operator's house continues and should be completed soon.

Santa Rosa de Copan

The manager of Aguas de Santa Rosa, the business that runs the water system in Santa Rosa, and the municipality's director of water quality came to Tegucigalpa Wednesday 4.15 to learn about the AguaClara plants. After a presentation in the office, we took them to the Tamara and Cuatro Comunidades plants. Fortunately by the time we got there both plants were up and running satisfactorily after the rain storm.

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The representatives from Santa Rosa, both quite knowledgeable about water treatment, were very impressed with the AguaClara plants. The city already has multiple water treatment plants and operators, so would be well equipped to operate an AguaClara plant. We think this could be a great location for a plant, since the plant would be run by an experienced organization and because it would be a chance to try the plant with filters after it. The representatives from Santa Rosa said they would call us in the next week to set up a time for us to visit the city and make a presentation to the municipal corporation.

CCC Study

The SANAA technicians have not had as much time to supervise the project as we had hoped. Very little monitoring has been done in the communities. We will meet with the SANAA personnel involved Monday 4.20 to discuss how to proceed with the project. As the rainy season is fast approaching, it could be hard to get very reliable data from communities where the water gets turbid and untreatable with chlorine.

Gracias

Progress continues on the construction budget. We are trying to make a very detailed budget format that we can then use for future plants. We came out significantly over-budget on some materials for the Cuatro Communidades plant so will analyze those errors to avoid making them in Gracias. By early next week we should have a budget to present to the mayor.