11 Blog Malingua Yaku Intake Minga 23Feb113

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Another Technical Monitoring Blog for water quality nerds + WashRag (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Rotary Action Group) friends.

I traveled to Latacunga to shop for plumbing materials with various members of the Sacatoro clan, focusing on materials available on short notice + small pieces in addition to materials we were able to scavange in Malinguapamba. Materials list =

* 1 ea 10-foot stick of 4-inch (sched 20?) PVC, drilled perforations 5-7 mm

* 7 bags crushed rock gravel, used 2-10 cm crushed rock left over from road work

* adapter 2-inch to 4-inch PVC

* T 4-inch PVC

* 50 cm 4-inch riser

* 2 ea 4-inch caps

* 4 meters of 1-meter wide filter fabric (looks like screen-door material only green plastic)

Estimate cost of materials < $100 probably closer to $75.

On site after obligatory safety/design meeting, we started by measuring flow before disturbance at 14 liters/minute (filled 6-liter jug in 25 seconds, check my math), then dug out old infiltrator and cleaned up a 30-cm wide trench from 30-60 cm deep, following existing line of pipe. Trench was bedded in 5 cm gravel, then laid in fabric, more gravel then perforated pipe, then covered and wrapped in gravel, then more gravel to surface. Note pipe is temporarily stubbed with riser and caps allowing future modifications. Note also the thin pipe is delicate to work with but ductape is readily available at hardware stores (se llama Tay-Pay).

Some minor modifications to deflect overflow down hill, and discharge returned to 14 liters/minute, nice and clear, before we were done.

Marvelous experience for me helping with my first construction minga, including technical training on plumbing the infiltrator, also survey techniques using readily available tools. Team is ready to move on to next sediment-troubled site, might be a "T" shape or maybe "H" fitting into the Fuente de la Cueva (my Intake 5), we'll see.

Final note on serious hustle: before leaving the site, Alcides took the opportunity to hold an impromptu Water Committee Meeting to announce they would be making more improvements to the system, including water infiltrators, in coming months and how critical it is for everyone to pay thier water bills promptly.

Thank you Minga friends for the opportunity to work with you-all!

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