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Tlamacazapa is an indigenous village of approximately 8,000 people located high in the mountains of the state of Guerro, Mexico. The villagers of Tlamacazapa face numerous problems due to centuries of oppression and poverty. One of the most serious problems is a shortage of safe drinking water, which leads to a variety of health problems that the majority of villagers suffer from either occasionally or chronically. Thanks to a generous donation of $3,000 US from the American Society of Dowsers? Water for Humanity Fund, Caminamous Juntos, a non-governmental organization working in the village of Tlamacazapa, was able to work with villagers towards improving the water situation.
In February 2000, Caminamos Juntos and village volunteers began work to protect a well that collects water for the village water distribution system. The current system is plagued with problems, both social and technical, however the protection of this well was an important first step towards resolving thee problems. This project also showed Caminamos Juntos? commitment to working with the people of Tlamacazapa to improve access to safe drinking water.
Prior to project initiation, the unprotected well, located approximately five kilometers from the village, was an open hole approximately two meters wide and two meters deep. It is suspected that during initial construction in 1997, the well was left unprotected and unconnected to the piping system that drains the water to a storage cistern due to difficulties working in the shallow groundwater. The goal of our project was to protect this well and increase water flow into the well. All work was executed using manual labor of village and Caminamos Juntos volunteers.
The project began by digging a 50 foot canal perpendicular to the groundwater flow (Photo 1). The canal was lined with laminate on the downstream side, and filled with gravel and a perforated 4 inch PVC pipe on the upstream side (Photo 4). The laminate serves to intercept the groundwater flow, and the gravel and pipe serve as weeping tile, directing the groundwater flow towards the well. The well was then deepened until a cistern could be placed in the hole. The cistern was perforated on the upstream side to allow inflow of groundwater. The 4 inch perforated PVC pipe was connected to the cistern, and the cistern was then connected to the existing piping system that carries the piping system that carries the groundwater to the storage cistern. Only one length of pipe had to be laid to connect the cistern to the piping system (Photo 4). The upstream side of the cistern was backfilled with gravel to approximately one foot above the perforations and the downstream side was backfilled with native material (Photo 2). The entire area was then backfilled with native material to above grade, to allow surface water to drain away from the well. Photo 6 shows the inside of the cistern, the inflow of water from the weeping tile and the pipe connecting the well to the piping system. Photo 7 show how the area has grown over nicely, and apart from the extension, looks as though we were never there! Following protection of the well, water samples were sent for laboratory analyses of routine potability parameters, bacteriological parameters, metals and pesticides. (See photos, below)
Currently, the well and weeping tile are working very well. When last measured in September 2000, the flow from the well and weeping tile combined was approximately 265 US gallons/minute. |
