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On Saturday 10.18 was the 'Groundbreaking' event of the plant in the Cuatro Communidades. Present to sign the contract were Arturo Diaz representing APP, Oscar Rivera of CESAL, Alan Montenegro representing the Municipality and Tamar signed on behalf of Monroe. About 60 people from the community came, most of which were present at the first presentation we gave to the community where they voted in favor of the plant. Since there are about 250 homes in total, we were slightly disappointed with the turnout. Our next steps are to strengthen the water board to represent each of the four communities more. We are planning to visit 'Aldea Bonita,' and 'Rio Frio,' to have more presentations to explain more about the plant. Speaking with some of the attendess on Saturday, they explained that since many houses were not present at the initial meeting, they are still not on the same page and do not fully understand the plant's benefits.
Ojojona
On Monday 10.13 the The Ojojona Water Board accompanied us to visit the Tamara plant. From the Board Julia and Martin came, and all three plant operators, Juan, Alexis and the newly hired night operator Jimmy came to Ojojona. We first had a meeting with Danny, America and Moncho. Afterward we toured the plant and had lunch together. We felt that is was a highly positive experience to unite the operators, and we hope to take a trip to Marcala in the late November.
purchased enough alum to hopefully last them for the rest of the rainy season. In the last year the price of alum has risen from 12 to 16 Lempiras ($0.64 to $0.85) per kilogram.
Tamara
On Thursday 10.16 we visited the plant to obtain pH and temperature data on the plant. The Tamara water board, with their own funds, has initiated construction of a pressure break box about 50m before the conduction line arrives at the plant. They hope this will help remove air from the water before it enters the plant. APP has not been involved in the design of the box, but we took some crude elevation measurements when in Tamara and think that their design should function hydraulically. This box could be a good location to install the aeration device being researched by Tiffany.
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