Brigaders, check out all these awesome updates and photos from Water Brigades:
As February Brigades will bring the completion of the water system in Guaricayán, the Water Brigades Team has started working with the community of El Canton to identify a solution to their water problem.
In February, the Water Brigades Team spent three days in El Canton investigating the current water situation, meeting with community members, and visiting houses in different sectors of the community.
The team observed several houses that have no household connection to the water system and even more with connections that provide water inconsistently , forcing community members to go to a nearby stream to bathe, wash clothing, and collect water for cleaning, cooking, and drinking.
With groups from USC, UVA, SLU, Boston U, Johns Hopkins, and Stony Brook, Water Brigades is well on its way to completing the new water system in Guaricayan. Community members and volunteers accomplished the following in just 3 short weeks!
- A new dam and storage tank were both completed
- Over 1.6 km of trench was dug in which pipes were installed to transport water from the dam to the tank and then to the homes in Guaricayan. Once installed, all 1.6 plus km were buried.
- The piping between the dam and the tank site was tested and worked perfectly, delivering 60 gallons per minute of water to the storage tank. This is twenty times the quantity of water that was arriving (occasionally) to the old storage tank, and will allow the community to grow far into the future.
- Over 200 trees were planted in the watershed of Guaricayan’s new water source.
- A complete community cleanup was performed with women and children of Guaricayan.
- A drinking water storage bucket with cover and faucet was delivered to every home in Guaricayan to ensure that community members do not re-contaminate their water in their homes.
- Education seminars were given to the children of Guaricayan on the following topics: Water & the Environment, Watershed Protection, Water Quality, and Sanitation & Hygiene.
