El Marañón, Vilanueva
Water
The entire El Marañón area receives its water supply from one existing well and two storage tanks. The water well is reported to deliver 120-130 gpm, feeding an 80k gallon storage tank that pressurizes the distribution system below.
Numerous communities share the supply through manual operation of distribution values. Each community receives approximately 20 minutes of supply every other day of water that is non-potable. The communities use this limited supply for bathing, clothes washing, dishwashing, and other non-potable uses.
Community members depend on bottled water for consumption when they can afford it. Those who cannot afford bottled water are forced to consume non-potable water. Routine illness occurs as a result in most of these villages.
Part of the supply problem involves pipe disjointing or breakage when the storage tank is filled beyond a certain level, which may be due to insufficient pipe restraint on the main distribution line exiting the tank. Addressing this issue early should provide some immediate benefit to the community.
El Marañón has immediate water quantity and water quality needs. The local engineer responsible for area infrastructure reports that the existing water well was intended to yield approximately 300gpm and be of higher quality. He suspects that a deeper, larger well may access a deeper and cleaner aquifer source as opposed to existing well’s alluvial source. In addition, the local community leaders reportedly believe a more remote spring water source is the long-term solution to the area’s water needs.
Global Community Development recommends cleaning the sand out of the main storage tank. This would result in a significant improvement in the water quantities. In addition, an inexpensive 2-3” PVC distribution loop could be built around Marañon. This should also increase flows significantly.
Finally, Global Community Development recommends drilling a deeper well at the existing well site. Drawing from two wells is guaranteed to deliver more water than drawing from one. Finally, depending on water quality tests, a filtration system will be proposed to deliver high quality potable water.