More On the Water Project

The project in Akid is truly almost finished now! It feels like I’ve been saying that to myself for quite a while now (because I have been), and I don’t want to get my hopes up too much, but I think it’s really within sight now! We’ve had to adapt our plan yet again, but hopefully it will make for a more sustainable and lasting system. The river we initially wanted to use has become to powerful for people to enter it to manipulate to our purposes, and it looks like the dam will sustain damages every rainy season. Therefore, we have decided to use a nearby smaller stream as an additional source. This stream dries up in the dry season, but is clean and pure and is sufficient in the rainy season. We will hook it up to the system so that in the rainy season, the small stream (which they have named “Albert Mndep” or Albert Water) will provide the water to the filter, but that in the dry season, when it is workable, the larger river will again be responsible for supplying the system. In some ways this is preferable because if one source fails, the other will serve as a backup while the community fixes the problem, and the smaller stream provides better quality water anyway. The people have already made the initial connection of the small stream. They have also created a holding pool for the water and a place for the pump and finished all the pipeline. Our last steps will include installing the pump and laying the pipes and then building standtaps.