Peter and Jorge Working on a Pump
On our second day, Sunday, we hired a taxi for the day and traveled with Abraham and Jorge, our friend from the University, to some communities outside of Cochabamba where two water-pressure driven chlorination pumps had been installed. We spent the bright and surprisingly warm day at 10,000 feet evaluating the pumps and the overall water systems in Tola Pampa Alto and Tola Pampa Bajo. I was deeply impressed by the community effort that had gone into installing these systems. In “Alto” the families had dug a 30 inch deep ditch 6 kilometers down a mountain to bring the spring water to the tank. The pride of ownership they had in their water system was evident. I would predict that these systems will remain in excellent working order for many years to come!
The performance of the pumps was not so impressive. It became very clear during the course of the day that the erratic water pressure, the sporadic flows combined with air surges, and the harsh conditions were all too much for the sensitive devices. Jorge and Peter tinkered extensively with both the pumps that had been installed as tests. It seemed unlikely that they could be properly calibrated, and the silt and sudden changes in flow made it impossible to keep one running longer than a few hours. In short, although there may be applications SOMEWHERE in Bolivia for these pumps, they are not going to be effective in the conditions presented by most of our gravity-fed systems.
On our return to town, Jorge showed us a venturi-based chlorination system developed at the University that he says is being used effectively in many gravity-fed water systems. Although it seemed to be working smoothly in the protected well-water situation at the hotel where he took us, Peter and I weren’t convinced that it would function in harsh, erratic conditions such as those presented at Tola Pampa. However, it would certainly be worth trying one such setup at some point. The cost is about $500 US per installation.
At 9 PM on Sunday night we made a pilgrimage to the airport to see if our luggage had arrived and, wonder of wonders, it was there! Clean underwear never felt better …
Peter and Jorge Working on a Pump
Tola Pampa Alto Community with Their Water Tank
The Spring Site is at the Top Center Behind the Knoll