Posted by Mary Jo on November 20, 2016, 9:55 pm
Edited by board administrator November 20, 2016, 11:12 pm
1) We were given attention from the CEA (State Water Dept) and the pump house, and the entire town system was vaccumed clean.
2) 2 fellows were hired (and salaries paid for through your donations) to maintain the cleanliness. They have done a terrific job! They have been recording every day the kw usage of the pumps, the flow measure depending on the time of day and when there is an influx of tourists among other interesting data.
3) Especially through donations from Tierralegre, a new ladder, tools and supplies were bought to do the job of cleaning.
4) LaHuerta engineers moved the electric boxes away from its old exposed space, into the small, protected bodega, also to prepare the way for the gantry which we hoped to build.
5) LaHuerta “gave” us 2 brand new pumps from Europe.
6) New floats were required and one pump was set up as “automatic” and one as “manual”. We have since learned that the “manual” pump was supposed to be automatic also, but they needed an “arancador” (a starter). Since they said they would be back soon we let it go. They are now saying they are going to bring the part.
7) On the less used manual pump, we had a faulty “Check Valve”, which was fixed with a bolt and 2 washers.
8) We now have another faulty “Check Valve” on the automatic pump and the pump is really working hard to pump the sewer water out to the oxidation plant in Los Injenos double time. LaHuerta is looking into a new/used check valve, depending on the LaHuerta treasurer.
9) We have been able to keep the sewer flow out of the crocodile lagoon and were very satisfied until it rained. After only 2” rainfall, the pump house rapidly filled up and overflowed into the escape drain, which ends up on the street in front of crocodile tour ticket booth. We soon learned that the 4” tube flowing to Los Ingenos is not big enough to send an 8” flow of sewer water. So we had to send the flow to the crocodile lagoon again, much to our dismay. We did not want the sewer water on the street in front of the tourists. We KNOW the water flowing into the pump station is more rain water than actual sewage. We KNOW the connecting drains to the houses (Who haven’t connected yet) are un-capped, inviting rocks, dirt and ground water to flow into the sewer system. We KNOW the rings around the manhole covers are not sealed. We KNOW some people have connected their laundry, shower and rain gutters to the sewer system, adding one more burden to the already overwhelmed system.
I am glad to write this report as I see so many good things have happened. There is just one thing. I am getting tired. I’ve been on top of this volunteering for over a year. I need another woman or man to step up to the plate and help me.
We need to meet with town's people and committees to determine a sliding fee for paying for the sewer system.
We need to figure out a way to collect the fees and place in the CARCAMO account in La Manza- nilla’s caja town bank.
We need to stay on top of government promises and be a squeaky wheel.
We need to host the Engineers Without Borders tentatively arriving Jan 7-14.
So please respond with the thought , if we are not a part of the solution, we are part of the problem. It has been very rewarding to be a part of ensuring health and welfare in this paradise town, I hope you will feel the same way too.
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