We told you about it in our previous article, , the Simien is full of water and its catchment was planned for a long time in our construction project for the Sona school. Very quickly, we had identified a source less than 2 kilometers from the school. It is also about a hundred meters of vertical drop above. The source therefore has excellent potential to supply the school. It is not for nothing that the Simien is nicknamed " Africa's water tower "!
A source for Sona's school!
The water supply to the Sona school has always been a priority. This is to meet a basic need for drinking water. It is also about making it possible to carry out a quality health education policy. After 2 years of studies and negotiation, the location of the source catchment was defined and an agreement was obtained for the work to be taken over by the water administration. The work started in March 2021 and lasted a month. Here is a summary in video!
Water collection and supply: the video
The collection of the source was therefore taken care of by the administration of Janamora. The adduction was therefore the responsibility of the Foundation. It was carried out with the help of manpower from the community of Sona. The following rules have been observed:
- the trench was dug at 80cm to protect the pipe from field work (plowing) and temperature variations
- the pipe was unwound during hot hours, when it was at its maximum flexibility
- on the contrary, the connections were made at dawn, in a cool temperature, when the expansion of the pipe was minimal
- the pipe is placed on a bed of fine earth, and covered in the same way to avoid any risk of notching.
The water battle
Here is to finish the text of the voice-over of the video which tells the construction of the catchment and the adduction of the source of the school of Sona:
This spring of 2021, the end of the dry season with its bare soil ready to turn green as soon as the rain soaks it, will go down in the history of the Sona school as the battle of the water. What does the metaphor of war have to do with our eminently peaceful educational project? Quite simply because this episode in the life of Children in the Cloud has all the attributes of a fight.
Let's set the scene. The school buildings are almost finished, photovoltaic electricity was installed last February. The last major project is then the water supply from a source identified 3 years earlier. It is more than 1.5 km from the school and nearly 100 m of elevation above it. The challenge is therefore considerable!
The local water administration had promised us the construction of the catchment of this source. It's up to us to build the pipeline that would connect the source to the school, through the rugged and very rocky terrain of the Simien mountains! This imposing infrastructure is the only one capable of guaranteeing excellent quality water for the children of Sona.
Eric and Ignacio were the first, at the end of March, to go on site to supervise the work and support our local team. Because the obstacles are immense. The route first of all, over more than 1500m of slopes and rocky bars, was difficult to determine in order to minimize high and low points which could be causes of trouble in the future such as accumulations of sediment. obstructing the line in the low points or air bubbles preventing the circulation of water in the high points.
As regular as possible, the route had to go around a few rocky areas that are too difficult to pierce. In other sections, the basalt rock was relatively easy to fracture with a crowbar but then became sharp like axes. Great care had to be taken to smooth these parts of the trenches so as not to risk leaks due to the aggression of the polyethylene by these mineral blades!
The trench also crosses 6 torrents, which are dry at this time of the year, but which carry rocks and strong water flows during the rainy season, risking then carrying the pipe. It was necessary to find and transport metal tubes which make it possible to reinforce these passages and protect the polyethylene pipe. Rip-rap to break the flow of torrential water and protect the passage of the pipe should allow the structure to calmly face the rainy seasons to come.
The source of Sona's school
Finally after two weeks of efforts we were able to bury 1.5 km of polyethylene tube 80 cm deep in order to protect it from agricultural work and temperature variations, while respecting the rules of the art: unwind as much as possible when the sun makes the pipe more flexible, then put the unions at dawn before the pipe expands. At the same time, make sure that the tube is placed on loose soil without stones and that it is covered with a large layer of soil without sharp elements, then compacted with a mixture of soil and stones.
Despite the Lent period, we were able to count on a large mobilization of the population of Sona. But it was necessary to deal with the constraints of fasting which imposed short working days, and the lack of tools, in particular picks and bars to break the rocks.
During this time, the mason commissioned by the District was building the spring catchment and a buffer tank nearby. At the end of the long dry season, we were able to measure a flow of 5000 l / day, sufficient to cover the needs of the school and the neighboring inhabitants, which bodes well for having an excess of water for the rest. of the year.
However, this mission did not allow the storage tanks and the water treatment to be installed at the school, as the building to accommodate them has not yet been completed. This will be the next step, once the rainy season is over.