The newly set plaque thanking Texas Water Mission for supporting the construction of a new water tank in Ojo de Agua.
On Thursday, Texas Water Mission celebrated the inauguration of a new water tank for Ojo de Agua, home to lead Maestra Marlene Barahona and Well Maintenance manager Luis Fernando Zuniga. Their 35 year old tank was leaking and the community of over 10,000 inhabitants needed to get a new tank constructed before the start of the rainy season (May-November) The community put in the labor and TWM supplied the materials. They sent photos and videos throughout the construction process, some of which are below…
Upon our arrival Thursday, community members came out to celebrate with us.
TWM Board Chair Bruce Flohr opened the spigot controlling the flow of water from the source in the mountains above, and the community brought out wine and sparkling grape juice with a snack of tortilla chips and tuna salad. We sat around and enjoyed each other’s company.
Later that afternoon we returned to the Kellogg Center at the University of Zamorano where we met with Profesoras Erika Tenorio and Lourdes Espinal who run the water labs at Zamorano.
Kellogg Center, Zamorano University
We had a fascinating conversation with the profesoras where we learned:
who to talk to at Health Department to get the well water tested on a regular basis
about the Guatemalan ceramic Eco-Filtro that filters out 99% of pathogens - available at Walmart in Honduras for $100
the Agua Clara approach developed at Cornell University, which is a water treatment plan being used in Latin America that are completely gravity fed and constructed with local materials
how they could do a demonstration of different water purification types for communities.
The profesoras invited us to come tour the Agua Clara plant at Zamorano the following week.
Recycling station at Zamorano classroom building