Summary
Implement a Water Distribution System in Los Gonzales, Guatemala
This plan was funded in mid-2013 as part of four sub-projects in San Jacinto municipality, Guatemala. The budget for this particular system was revised downwards by $3,394.
Background
Community members in this mountainous area currently get bacteriologically-contaminated water from an intermittent stream 1500+ meters from the community. They have dammed the stream to provide more water for longer periods of time. In the dry season, there is much less water, if any. Women and children spend lots of time getting water for all needs, including drinking, cooking, sanitation, bathing, and minimal irrigation of household garden plots.
We have implemented water similar systems in four neighboring or nearby communities over the past 5 years, all of which are well-maintained and properly operating through the fees charged and maintenance provided by the communities. The Los Gonzales community members want to replicate these successes, as they have seen the beneficial effects of their neighbors’ water systems.
Location
Los Gonzales, Guatemala Water Distribution System
Los Gonzales, Guatemala
Impact
Focus
- Primary focus:
- Drinking Water - Households
- Secondary focus:
- Drinking Water - Community
People Getting Safe Drinking Water
239
37 families
Females – 0-5years, 16; 5-15years, 30; 16-49years, 28; >49years, 47
Males - 0-5years, 19; 5-15years, 31; 16-49years, 32; >49years 36
From San Jacinto municipality five year plan.
People Getting Sanitation
0
Schoolchildren Getting Water
0
People Getting Other Benefits
There are no other benefits for this plan.
Implementation
- Application type:
- project
- Start date:
- February 1, 2014
- Completion date:
- February 28, 2015
Technology Used
Municipality and community members have built a horizontal well (normal hand-dug well with concrete casing and horizontal infiltration galleries) close to the intermittent river. They need to build a concrete storage tank near the well, electrically pump the water to the storage tank, gravity feed the water via PVC pipe to a concrete distribution tank (1500 meters away), chlorinate the water, and then build a PVC distribution system of 1800+ meters in five sections to the homes in the community. Chlorination will be done using hypochlorite tablets in a float within the distribution tank.
We helped design and build a similar well-based, chlorinated system in the neighboring community of El Carrizal 5 years ago, and the system is operating properly today (water tested yearly by a local university lab that was funded with another project). The municipality partnered in the start of the Los Gonzales project by constructing a copy of the horizontal well we designed for El Carrizal as the water source. The new well in Los Gonzales is operating effectively and will be able to meet the community’s water needs year-around. The community members provided the manual labor for the well construction.
Phases
One phase
Community Organization
The community owns the land. The community will own the system. The community has a trained community development council (COCODE or Consejos Comunitarios de Desarrallo) and a womens organization. The community members will provide all non-technical labor for the project and each family will pay a monthly fee for maintenance of the system. Community members will be trained in how to maintain the system. This includes taking free chlorine measurements (with Hach Chemical Kits) periodically to set the proper chlorine level.
Government Interaction
The San Jacinto municipality leadership and staff are very supportive of the community and of this project. Their personnel will be actively involved in the implementation of the project, as they have been with the three previous systems we helped install in nearby communities.
Ancillary Activities
Training for current and future water testing to make sure that the system is working as planned were explained above as well as training for maintaining the system.
Other Issues
There is no information about other issues currently available for this plan.
Sustainability
Maintenance Revenue
Community members will contribute monthly to a fund to maintain the system. This is similar to the what has been done with prior systems that are working well. The community will own the system. The water at homes will be tested yearly at a lab in the department capital funded with a previous grant. The chlorination level will be tested periodically with free chlorine test kits supplied by Hach Chemical.
Maintenance Cost
$200
Metrics
The treated water will be tested yearly for harmful biologicals. The water samples will be collected by trained CUNORI University staff. The chlorination level will be tested periodically with free chlorine test kits supplied by Hach Chemical. Community members will be trained in the free chlorine testing.
Financial
Cost
$15,394
See attachment
Co-funding
$10,394
Water for the Americas $3,394
Rotary Clubs and Rotary Foundation $7,000
Community Contribution
$1,356
1356
Funds Requested
$5,000
Ratings
7
This project is well shaped and provides an appropriate response to the needs and specific constraints of the local community of Los Gonzales. The involvement of the beneficiaries is also a key point of the action.
It would have been instructive - both for experience sharing and to reinforce the present application - to have more information on the actual outcomes of previous similar interventions in terms of health and social impacts among populations, especially as the website of WFTA mentions that a survey has been conducted.
7
Overall the project appears to be serving the community in an adequate manner. The presence of a local Guatemalan Rotary Club is a great asset in this project since it is difficult to find Guatemalan Clubs to enter the rural project areas because most of the clubs are in large urban areas.
The introduction of a water testing lab will be a great asset to these communities since the only labs available are in large urban areas. I was not able to review all of the designs for the water system elements because the municipal designs were not in detail and in some instances varied from the photos of actual structures such as the suspension bridges. More detail should be available in proposals. The distribution tank designs seem to be varied with no standardization other than what the skills of the local masons posses.
Dependence on local and / or government designs should be verified
by independent civil engineers since I have seen many failed government designs in 20 years. The use of pvc piping should be discouraged at the point of use or exposure to extend the sustainability of these lines.
Serious consideration should be given to some form of treatment of grey water produced in a village as a result of a water system project. Simple designs for "sumideros", and seepage pits are available on line.
It is normal now in Guatemala to ask the home owners for a cash buy in to a water project for the facilities that exist on each family home site so that they take ownership of at least these personal facilities.
Water projects that have a goal of improving health are strengthened by a consistent effort to change hygiene habits and it appears that some thought has been given to this aspect of the project in the contemplated health clinic improvements ,but not so at the point of use with individual family members where change of habits and attitudes is critical to success to improving hygiene in a community.
7
The design details of this project are not very complete, whether the distribution network or the water intake part of the project are concerned. Alan's tendency is to answer by saying the system has been properly designed.
i still have doubts about the ability of the riverbed to retain enough water during the dry season, something which cannot be assessed wihout drawing out of the holding tank at the rate of the village consumption.
i also would have liked more details about the actual nature of the present latrine situation.
5
My queries were not all answered, so i have to make assumptions.
Rotarians come generally from a business background where outcomes are measured. And the main fault found with NGOs is that they are not professionally run.
So, its interesting that most Rotary projects have not be measured as the Rotarians measure their work. The 'new requirement of Rotary' for results is hopefully a sign of change needed for not just one report, but ongoing long-term assessment.
This project is managed from far and while the board of WftA looks good, i did not see the team of locals in the staff.
Is PROTEC a non-profit or private? - both descriptions are present. I would be more comfortable if a local non-profit was 'owning' the execution and impact assessment.
The arrangement involves a local club, the university, etc. but where is all the data captured, analyzed, and acted on? One comment mentioned that if there is a chlorine smell, the complaint would have been registered with WfA or the local club. It is then possible that operating issues are likely to get lost in the mix.
I accept that some good work has been done in the past. And it is likely to have yielded good results. I am looking for all the learnings that came out of this not-so-simple arrangement of different organizations in execution and outcome. Things rarely go according to plan and so documenting and evolving is necessary.
6
Working in rural areas can present a challenge to implementation of water projects and water systems. It appears that similar water systems have been implemented in other neighboring communities and have been successful to date. It would be good to see what changes or improvements have been made from the first project to this project through monitoring, evaluation.
8
It is a good model of PPCP (Public Private Civil Society Partnership) . Wish the very best for the project and recommend it
Will the Chiquimula Rotary Club provide inspections for a number of years after water systems are installed?
Will all of the funds for the project be managed by the Rotary Club and will they be able to give a final audit of the project to PWE?
Will any of the funds from PW be used by Rotary members for personal expenses such as international travel etc; ?
Do you have an analysis of the water system design which includes the hydraulics of the pipelines; tank size; and distribution flows to insure that the funds will be spent on properly sized water flows (pipe size) and community consumption ( average rural per person use)? Does the municipal planning office have a resident engineer?
Thank you for your questions.
The Chiquimula Rotary Club is partnering with the Rotary Club of Fort Collins, CO (and other Rotary clubs) as in all previous water projects in the San Jacinto Municipality. (www.rotarycluboffortcollins.org)
We expect that the Chiquimula Rotary Club in cooperation with the San Jacinto Municipality will be testing the water in the lab we funded at the local university each year, just like they are testing water from projects completed in 2008 and since.
The Rotary Club of Chiquimula will manage the funds for the project in a separate account. The Rotary Foundation requires all receipts and bank statement to be sent in a final report, which will be done on this project. All previous projects have met this standard. An account certifies the statements.
Yes, the project includes funds for approximately two trips by either Rotary Club of Fort Collins or Water for the Americas staff to visit the project. As you can see in the budget, both Rotary and Water for the Americas are investing about a third of the funds (around $10,000 of the approx. $15,000) for this project.
The municipality of San Jacinto has skilled personnel that have worked with the civil engineers and hydrogeologists that are members of Water for the Americas in the past to design the systems that are currently in place. You can see the background of the staff of Water for the Americas at: http://www.waterfortheamericas.org/board.htm
Alan Ashbaugh
In the budget you note management is paid $30.00 an hour. Could you identify this individual? Are funds for this individual included in your fund request?
Would you supply more detail on the pipe suspension bridge such as the length of the bridge; size of concrete anchors for the cable; distance of the anchors from the towers; anchor design; and the size of the cable and pipe?
My experience with block tanks in Guatemala has not been good. Most of these break during any seismic activity. Have you had these tanks reviewed by a civil engineer in the US?
Is the water systems tubing and conduction line flow from the spring designed using the 80 liters per day per person for a 20 year population (68 families)?
Rotary clubs do not have any restrictions on paying for trips. For example, many clubs pay for their representatives to attend the International Conferences and members of Rotary student organizations (Interact) to visit international projects when they help fund projects.
The individual could be one of several or a combination of professional engineers from PROTEC. This team has been used in most of our past projects, members always accompany our team members when we visit to plan, inspect and celebrate projects at no charge. They are instrumental in helping to write final reports to the funding organizations and in providing pictures of the projects at different stages.
IDENTITY: PROTEC, Guatemala is a private, specialized in providing technical services - professionals, linked to the planning, implementation and evaluation of projects, technology transfer, infrastructure construction and general consulting services in sustainable development.
PROTEC is inscribed in the register of prequalified consultants with the code 1241, title 1093 at the secretariat of planning and programming-SEGEPLAN presidency. Inscribed with the registration number 354,639 in the book 316 business enterprises and tax identification number 548857-5.
The basic details needed for suspension line over a ravine are span, pipe type and diameter, soil type, material to be used for the anchors (concrete, rubble and mortar masonry, dry-fitted rock, etc.) A spreadsheet that gives the calculations used to determine what you asked can be obtained at our site on PWX under “Calculations……” You can see the anchor and suspension line in the Agua Zarca Water Project PowerPoint presentation downloaded to this site.
We have funded water storage tanks below ground, above ground and ones part way under ground made of concrete and cinder block since 2008 and have had no damage. Yes, engineers have reviewed the plans and construction. You can see pictures of an engineer inspecting a tank in one of our PowerPoint presentations downloaded at our PWX site, the El Carrizal Project.
I do not have that details, but based on previous projects, the system was designed to deliver the amount of water, measured at the end of the dry season, produced by the well with a safety factor built in. Designed to deliver what you expect to get. In one of our PowerPoint presentations at this site there is a picture of a hydrogeologist measuring the water flow from a spring high above the community at the end of the dry season to determine if there is enough water for the current and expected population growth and to help design the size of tanks used to store the water over a days collection period and to design the size of pipe to be used.
Alan Ashbaugh
I noticed in the Power Points that in one case you were using poured concrete to construct the tanks with wood forms and in this project you were using block with poured concrete in the voids in the blocks. Is there a reason for the change? Do you have horizontal reinforced support such as "U" block with iron and concrete (solaras) to tie into the vertical concrete columns prescribed for earthquake zones?
I also noted in the PPs that all of your exposed pipe at homes and bridges is PVC. We have found this to me a serious maintenance problem in the future due to climate,and vandalism . What has been you experience?
It would be helpful is you could supply the expected water flow into the tank (liters/sec or gallons/min) for this project so that a review of the hydraulics and family water use can be complete.
We have not had to replace and of the exposed PVC pipes at the homes from our earliest installations. Protecting the pipes would be great, but just another cost. We have not had any vandalism. All of the communities that we have installed water systems are very remote and the inhabitants would be very disturbed with vandals and as we have been told when asking about security in the areas, the men are very good with machetes.
Here are the figures of the measurement of the water supply.
En temporada de verano según aforo realizado:
• Caudal Medio Diario:
Qmd=0.40 lt/seg = 6.34 gal/min
• Se estima un Caudal Máximo Diario:
Qmax= 0.60 lt/seg = 9.51 gal/min
Para temporada de invierno no se tiene un aforo realizado pero se estima que sea un 30% mayor al que se obtiene en verano.
Por tales motivos se decidió realizar el tanque de Distribución de 30,000 lts.
I will send you some information about alternative tank construction between 2000 to 50,000 liters that we have found works very well. We also are willing to train masons, with NGO help, in this construction type so as to standardize design and flexibility of use.
In our watershed rehabilitation work we trained about 15 inhabitants in masonry and carpentry with the aid of INTECAP. This was to get them to stop the harmful farming and earn income from other ways. So if asked, we can get INTECAP to train others, Just need the priority and funds. Thanks for the suggestions and information about tank construction.
Keep us posted if that happens.
Regards,
Rajesh