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Once upon a mountain time, Mon Bouton. |
Schlepping water over hill and dale taxed the residents, particularly children, in terms of caloric input. In an area of severe malnutrition, every calorie counts. In collaboration with the habitants, a system for pumping water with solar energy was designed, deployed and then, significantly, re-deployed in-situ by our expert partners.
Last summer on Mon Bouton, the panels and pumps and tanks were vulnerable to rock falls - and the reach of the water could have been better deployed than in the original design, conceived here in the U.S. ("
site unseen"). With a better understanding of the terrain, and using gravity
sans pumps,
sans solar, and PVC simply, Elisee Abraham and the region's residents relied on momentum and gravity to propel water from the reservoir down, and not up, but to a place where pumps and solar panels would be safe from rock fall.
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Elisee and a trained crew (by now!) expertly move the assemblage, dig new trenches and place PVC, protected by primer, along a new route, so the water will be closer to settlement areas/ |
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The 2nd stage intermediary tank |
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A bit of work to flatten out the terrain,
not too much had to be carved out from the slope at the new sites. |
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Soon, Nelis constructs a bamboo fence around the apparatus. |
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Meanwhile, testing the, uh, waters...and the system. The sun is strong, the pumps are going and here is the intermediate tank with overflow during the test. More PVC pip will continue up from here, pumped up to a huge, 300 gallon tank a goodly 250 feet or so (pump's capacity) higher. From there, Elisee Abraham and team rely on gravity once again, to propel the water downward, and closer to settlements. |
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Adjustable solar panels for slight season shifts. |
Everyone helps in a cement nd sand carrying brigade. After learning this summer, 10 year old Zanda wants to become an engineer. Let's help her family make it happen!