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Spring cleaning underway

At first glance the spring at Agua Fría may appear to be an idyllic place.  Nestled in a cleft in the hillside, in the shade of the tropical forest, water trickles out of the ground.  However, this spring is far from being just a natural beauty spot.  It provides a water supply for almost three hundred people who walk from surrounding villages to collect water for drinking and cooking, to wash themselves and their clothes and to find water for their animals.  Its heavy use has turned the spring into a muddy and unhygienic place where thirsty animals jostle with people collecting drinking water and where there is no privacy for anyone who comes to wash.

Nuevas Esperanzas called a meeting in March for all those who use the spring.  Around fifty people came and recounted how, in the wet season, there is almost always water but in the dry season, the flow dries up and people have to queue for hours to fill their containers.  Hygiene issues were discussed too, and most people recognised the way the spring is being contaminated through dipping dirty buckets into the water source.  Some of the women were rather reluctant to participate in the meeting but found the courage to say how much they would like some showers and the privacy to be able to wash.

To turn these ideas into reality, a lot of work needs to be done.  We began by forming work groups led by men and women from the different communities represented.  On their day, each group provides up to ten people to help Nuevas Esperanzas’ building supervisor with the manual labour at the site.  The hard work began with a large excavation  to clear an area so the new storage tank can be built.  To ensure that water would still be available while the work was progressing, a temporary supply was put in off to one side.  It is far from easy to undertake construction work in a pool of water so a pump had to be carried up to the site so that the spring could be dewatered regularly.  One side of the tank is permeable, allowing the water to trickle into the tank.  The tank is big enough to store the spring flow captured overnight to ensure that the supply will not run out at times of high demand as it used to do.

The design for the spring and washing area has been modified to take into account the comments and suggestions made at the meeting and all being well, the spring cleaning in Agua Fría will ensure a safe supply of water for people and animals all year round.

04/04/11