Success!!!

Monday June 29, 2009

Well the US almost pulled out their biggest football victory in their history. We found a small house in the village watching the match. The US’s first 2 goals were not enough to hold off the powerful Brazilian squad. The final score was 3-2 Brazil.

Today was a very wet day. We did some more clearing by the catchment and small amounts of plumbing. Bakassi worked with us at the catchment and moved hundreds of large rocks. The other quarters were partially backfilling the trench. By completing a partial backfill, we will ensure the pipes will not shift when we turn on the water for testing. Boa Camp managed to royally screw up today. They placed pipe in the trench that was supposed to be elevated so that the plumber could place an air release valve on the line. I spent much of the rest of the morning helping them dig the pipe back up and place it onto supports. If they had only asked a simple question instead of just making their own choice, they would have saved themselves hours of work.

Plumber John and his assistant Edison arrived in the afternoon and cemented a few pipes at the sedimentation tank and aeration chamber. The three of us headed to the palm wine bar to celebrate passing our FE exam. The results came via email while we were in Kumba.

Tuesday June 30, 2009

The rain was heavy overnight and continued in the early morning. It had rained for almost 24 hours straight. We saw the true power of the storm when we reached the tanks. The whole area was flooded and mud was piled up behind the tanks. The mud had flowed down the pipeline as no vegetation existed along the trench. We worked quickly with the plumbers at the aeration tank and headed up to the catchment.

At this point, I understood the difference between appropriate and inappropriate technology. The NGO that had supposedly helped design the catchment made many mistakes. First of all, there was no way to stop the water from flowing out of the catchment. We had to use plantain stems so that we could connect the pipes in a somewhat dry condition. Secondly, the village has no method to clean the catchment if it gets dirty. The oddest decision though must be the placement of the sedimentation tank. It sits about 2 meters from the centerline of the catchment. Therefore, you have to bend the pipes severely to make them fit. The final head scratcher was the original use of a 75 mm pipe at the outlet of the tank when the feasibility study clearly called for 90 mm pipe. The NGO did a good thing by designing the catchment and tank, but they never thought about the end users’ future problems.

John made some pretty interesting bends in the pipe as well as homemade reducers using the blowtorch. We installed the valves and turned on the flow. Much to our surprise, one of the valves had cracked and was spewing water. We will have to replace that valve when the plumber returns. Our next plan of action was installation of air release valves at local highpoints along the line. These valves discharge any air that is in the line. If air was allowed to build up long enough, it will block water from flowing through the line. The first air release valve went on without a hitch. However, the second one gave us multiple problems. The gasket provided was too large to fit in a precut groove. So, we used Mark’s knife to cut out the plastic groove so that the gasket fit properly. Then, we found out that one of the bolts was about a 1/4” too short. Out came the hacksaw and Mark’s knife once again as we cut more plastic to make it work. We probably spent well over an hour installing a very simple piece of the system.

Before we could proceed to the last valve, John informed us that the pipe did not lay down in the trench at the previous high point. There was no way to move the pipe now due to the partial backfilling. The solution was to cut the pipe and make a new bell end so that the pipe would lay flat in the trench. But, it can never be that easy. The blowtorch gas had been leaking from its tank most of the day and was now finished. Have no fear though; John and Edison started a bush fire with palm leaves to heat the pipe. Once the pipe was heated, they slid a piece of 90 mm pipe inside to create the large bell end. The bush fire worked well and we were off to the last air release valve in no time.

We met Mr. Benjamin along the way. Somehow, he was managing to wear a sweater in 90+ degree heat. The last valve went on with ease. We decided to test the line to the aeration chamber since all necessary fittings were in place. Mark walked up to the catchment to turn on the water. Brian and I waited at the aeration chamber to hopefully see the first water pass through the line. I still had some small doubts about the water even making it to the aeration chamber. The wait was agonizing. It was probably well over 45 minutes of sitting and thinking about the project. After 45 minutes, there was still no water and Mark had walked down to join us at the aeration chamber. At this point I was legitimately worried, but Mark said he could hear water running in the line as he walked down.

Then it happened. It sounded like a burp at first. I asked around and everyone else heard it too. Then, water made its way into the tank. It was a great moment to see muddy water slowly flowing out of that pipe. The water was extremely muddy due to dirt that was inside many of the pipes because villagers placed them into loose dirt along the trench. The flow wasn’t full, but it was a good sign. Everyone was shaking hands and congratulating each other.

The walk back to the house was much happier than normal today. T.O. (one of the hardest workers and a law student in Yaoundé) made me realize the significance of today. For as long as the system is operational, people will have access to a clean reliable water source thanks to our efforts. We stopped for some celebratory Exports at the chairman’s bar. In the evening we went out to the local bars to celebrate some more. I felt like I was back at Tim’s dancing and having an awesome time. The first bar we went to had to close because they ran out of beer. So we traveled down the road and continued the celebration well into the night. Good day. Good night.