Day One - 13th September 2016
When
Lee Carter and I arrive, the Salitrillo cistern build team had already laid out
a base layer of chicken wire. As a first-time visitor to a cistern pilot, I’m excited
to learn the basics of ferro-cement cistern construction.
Once
completed, the cistern will hold 12,000 liters, harvesting enough water during
one rainy season to serve all of the potable water needs, both drinking and
cooking, for a family of 6-8 for a year.
It turns out that the metal structural elements of the
cistern walls form a kind of layer cake—a layer of chicken wire folded over a
layer of heavy-gauge iron mesh, then covered with a second layer of chicken
wire all woven neatly together. Or rather, a layer cake that rolls up into a cylinder
to create the walls of the cistern which are then set on a concrete base and
lined with a temporary barrier of bendy plywood designed to support the application
of an exterior coat of concrete until it dries.
Members of the community are hard at work weaving the
chicken wire together under the watchful eye of Señor Abel, a technical expert
from CEDESA in charge of teaching community members the basics of cistern
construction.
What stands out for me right away is the ratio of women to men in
the work group: most of the team consists of women. And it’s obvious, that the
team is already a well-oiled machine. Tasks are carried out with little
discussion and a light-hearted atmosphere prevails.
This Salitrillo Pilot is cistern number 48 out of 319 cisterns funded by the Rotary
Club’s recent Global Grant (GG1524911) and implemented in collaboration with CEDESA and
COCIRA.
It’s the first cistern for this little community of just 52 families. A
total of eight cisterns are planned for Salitrillo. Once the core group is
trained, they will cooperate to assist their neighbors with subsequent
cisterns. Señor Abel from CEDESA will then make weekly visits to monitor
progress and ensure quality-control.
Guest post by Roger Brudno.
