#Gracias
#Tamara
#Ojojona
#Peace Corps Presentation
#Future Work

Gracias, Lempira

We are still waiting to hear exact numbers on the flow rates. According to the engineer, the conduction line will be designed for 92.98 liters per second and they want the capacity to treat 100 liters per second (1585 gal/min). He says the current population is only 10,408 people but that with a 4.6% growth fact or over 20 years (compounding geometrically) they want to build for a future population of 26,764 people. With that many people, that would be 85 gal/person/day, way over the normal 35 gal/person/day. Even though the flowrate is so high, if they are building the conduction line for that much, the plant will need to be just as big.

So we need a design for a 1585 gal/min plant and preferably within the next week or so. That's 8 times bigger than Tamara and 3 times bigger than Marcala. Perhaps we could have two rows of sed tanks, one row on either side of the channel, to keep the plant from being too long. We look forward to hearing ideas from the Cornell Team.

Tamara, F.M.

The salary of the plant operator was raised from 4000 Lempiras to 4500 Lempiras. Construction of a house for the operator has also begun.
Up to date information on how the plant is operating can be found on Tamara Plant Operating Data page.

Ojojona, F.M.

Current plant data can be found on the Ojojona Plant Operating Data page.

On Friday 9.12 a group of 60 industrial engineering students from the UNAH (National Autonomous University of Honduras) came to visit the plant in Ojojona. They are taking a class in environmental issues and policy that is taught by Guadalupe Nuñez, a professor who saw our presentation at the RAS-HON. The students toured the plant, talked with Alexis the operator, visited two of the three water sources and visited the Junta office to talk with Julia the treasurer. Prof. Nuñez is also interested in getting a group of mechanical engineers to help fabricate float valves here in Honduras and in researching the operation of the Ojojona plant as part of a thesis she is doing.

Peace Corps Presentation

On Thursday 9.11 we presented to the water and sanitation volunteers working with the Peace Corps in Honduras at their annual 'Reconnect' meeting. It was a great way to find potential partners in other communities. It would be great to have a plant in a community where a Peace Corps volunteer was stationed. A potential site might be San Francisco del Valle, Ocotepeque, where APP has already been working.

Future Work

We are leaving to visit the Marcala Plant today and will meet up with Fred and Chris. We hope to be at Tamara and Ojojona with Chris later this week. We also plant to finalize a plan for the Cuatro Communidades Plant and hear back from the Cornell Team on the design for Gracias.