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Springing into action in El Ojoche

The sight of rainwater harvesting tanks in construction in El Ojoche in the municipality of Somotillo in the north of Nicaragua was nothing new to community members.  Two tanks were built two years ago when Nuevas Esperanzas worked with Food for the Hungry to introduce rainwater harvesting to the community.  This second project, funded by the Rotary Club, saw the construction of a further seven large ferro-cement tanks, each one able to collect 50,000 litres of water to be stored and used during the five month dry season.  Six of these tanks will collect rainwater, but the seventh has a different purpose.  Following suggestions from the community themselves, this tank will collect water from a spring on the edge of the village.

The spring is a vital source of water for the community and the water it provides has, up till now, been carefully managed by the local water committee during the summer months.  Due to its relatively low yield the spring only provided enough water to fill a 3,000 litre plastic tank once a day during the dry season.  The water flowed from the plastic tank through a gravity fed distribution system to the homes of 35 families.  Spread between so many, that amount of water was simply not enough.  The other challenge with the old system was caused by the lie of the land.  The 90 metre plastic pipe connecting the spring protection box to the plastic tank went up and down across the rough terrain.  This meant that air sometimes got into the system when the spring was drained down too far stopping the water from flowing.

The water committee asked Nuevas Esperanzas to build a ferro-cement tank close to the site of the old plastic tank, hoping to operate it in the same way, carefully rationing the precious resource the spring provides.  Stories from a neighbouring village of a spring which dried up due to over exploitation left the committee in El Ojoche very nervous about the impact that changing the demand put on their spring could have.  The Nuevas Esperanzas team took measurements from the spring and observed its behaviour over several months.  They reached the conclusion that a different way of managing the water could significantly increase the water available for the families in El Ojoche who depend on the spring.  By installing a permanent pipeline, with a constant gradient downhill, water could continuously trickle from the spring to the tank without the need to open and close valves.  The water committee was initially rather dubious about this proposal, but the combined efforts of hydrogeologist, Andrew Longley, and civil engineer, Arturo Juarez, persuaded them to give it a go.

Then the hard work began!  The route for the new pipeline was surveyed and community members helped dig a deep trench where it was necessary to lay the pipe underground to maintain the constant downhill flow, clearing away the boulders and earth which stood between them and a better water supply.  Ninety metres of galvanised iron pipe was laid, checking the gradient as each section was connected.  The trickle of water flowing out of the pipe as the work continued encouraged everyone that the plan really was going to succeed.  Once all the connections were in place, Luis, the local builder who had supervised the construction of the ferro-cement tank, drilled a hole through the tank wall and connected the pipe.  Within seconds the water started to flow and fill the tank.

A  couple of months later the Nuevas Esperanzas team went back to El Ojoche to give a training course on the operation and maintenance of the rainwater harvesting tanks and good hygiene practices.  The water committee were delighted to report that they had not once had to turn off the water supply from the spring to the 35 families and that since the new pipeline and tank had been connected everyone had had as much water as they wanted.  There were no regrets about having taken the risk to improve their precious water supply.

05/07/11