Bucknell Brigade

The whole system works well and we have been told that the well is tapped into some kind of underground river which has no danger of drying up (as far as we know). From the water pump, we walked with Juan along the steel pipeline and saw the concrete supports that guide it along the route to the water tower just a couple minutes further. The water tower is about 20 feet off the ground and I would estimate it is a cylinder of about eight feet in diameter and 10 feet in height. It had recently been emptied and Juan told us that it was the last point at which they have water in El Porvenir during the dry season. This was right at the beginning of our walk.

From the water tower, we followed Juan as he took us on the route that he felt would be the easiest to install an underground pipe. This is what we would ideally like to find because PVC pipe can be used underground, whereas steel would be appropriate for above ground applications due to the outdoor wear. PVC is a lot cheaper, easier to install, and, therefore, referable as long as the route is not much longer. We followed Juan along his route all the way from the water tower up to the water storage tanks at the top of the mountain. Almost all of the way was along some kind of trail, although there were portions which Juan pointed out that the pipeline would cut through the woods although we would walk around those areas so we could stay on the trail. We recorded all points where underground installation was difficult or where a ravine or other obstacle had to be crossed and marked it on a GPS as well as recording some notes on the obstacle. Our GPS also kept track of our walking trail, showing elevation gain at all points along the route. We noticed that most the route near the bottom had tree cover and would thus make it difficult to use solar power. The second half of the route had wide open areas that would be perfect for solar power. By the time we got to the top, it had taken around two-and-a-half hours and we were sunburned and exhausted.

At the top, we documented all of the water storage tanks and Mike Woodard explained how the coffee processing works and why water was needed at the top of the mountain. We had a meal in the home of one of the locals, consisting of rice, beans, and fried eggs. I have never had a better meal in my life. But being the good engineers we are it wasn't long before we were headed back down the mountain.

On the way down, we were looking for the straightest path possible, which would most likely be installed above ground. This meant that Juan put his machete to good use as he chopped his way through the jungle and took us down gullies and back up hills. It was extremely painful because every bush and vine that scraped me reminded me how sunburned I really was. We again recorded all important points for this route that will be used to compare the two options.

We got to the bottom at around 4:30 and then we met up with the rest of the group and it was a l-o-n-g ride home. On the way out of El Porvenir, we had to navigate our way through herds of cows and bulls and sheep and little kids that all seemed to be traveling on the dirt road at the same time as us. When we finally made it back to paved road, the ride went a lot quicker as we all discussed what we had done that day. At about 8:30, we got back to JHC and after a quick dinner and a group reflection on the day most people were ready to hop into bed.

It was a long day, but I am really optimistic about the project after seeing how feasible Juan's route was. It was definitely the best day so far and views from on top of El Porvenir will never leave my mind. Off to the south, was Telica Volcano which had been smoking for the past few days and off to the north was San Cristobal Volcano which had destroyed the region years back when it erupted. The whole community was gorgeous and I would go back any time. I just hope that the next time we talk to these people we can tell them that we are coming to bring them water.