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Project
Reports Los Toros Mission May 2008
Water Filter
Project
We met with
the Water Committee and separately with Kinko the head of the local
water utility.
The Water
committee has expanded and added new members; they are a dedicated group
that wishes to serve their community in an effective manner.
We brought
two new Ceramic filters to the meeting and gave them to Jose and to
Johnnie to take home for testing. The first results of the testing
indicated that one of the rubber washers for attaching the spout to the
filter was defective and caused problems. Jose was able to get his
repaired and is using it. At first the filter ran very slowly, but after
a couple of uses it was a little better. Though the flow continues to be
a bit slow it does provide safe water for drinking and it is providing
enough for a family of four on a daily basis. These filters are more
expensive than the String filters but they do not need chlorine and the
water seems to be very clear and have a good taste to it. String
filters cost RD $350.00 (US $ 10.30) and the ceramic filters cost
RD$700.00 (US $20.60).
We also
observed a new Sand Filter in the house of Nuris. The flow is very fast
and the water comes out clean but needs chlorine before use. We are
trying to determine availability and cost of these filters.
We were not
able to visit homes that have water filters because of the heavy rain in
Los Toros; however the information we have is that they are working
well.
We took some
instruction sheets for using the water filters and they were well
received. They thought the pictures clearly explained how to use the
filters and asked us to bring more that are laminated and could be
attached to the filters.
Though there
were a few water leaks in the village it looked like most of the leaks
have been fixed and maintenance of their water system has improved. The
water service was good while we were there and there were no
interruptions of service during our stay in the village. INAPA has not
done any testing of the well in Los Toros nor have they made any plans
to extend water service to outlying areas of the village.
..more
Project Reports to come
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