Day 19

By elissam

We spent the morning back at the reservoir and tank for the Mari Pata system.

Lucho and Jeremy returned from Mendoza late- about half an hour before the the water board meeting started. We discussed the organization and formation of committees to finish and/or mainatain any work we start during our stay, to help us while we are here. We spent the majority of the meeting discussing what our group will be doing when we return. We mentioned that we could refill the old filter and put the Maari Pata system back into operation when we return in January, and we gave the town the option of having us build both of the new filters, or letting the government build the filters with our supervision. While we are skeptical of allowing the government to work on another water system in Chirimoto, given the state of the last four, we have an offer for government funding and our group will be able to work with the government to agree on designs and supervise construction. Alone, our group would take several more years to complete the filters, so the board members agree that it would be a better idea to involve the government. Details will be discussed and confirmed at the next meeting. The board can not seem to decide if they want us to revive the old system or start right away in January on the new filters; they say that the project might not be worth it because we know nothing about the condition of the pipeline. Our thought is to revive the system as a model for the town and government to follow.