The Fiji Times had a little blurb about our work in Vunikura. We did not choose the headline!
"Americans to the Rescue"
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Success in Buca
August 25, 2010
Success!!! We turned the water on in Buca last night and it all works! Even the furthest connections in the distribution system had good pressure and flow. Our design was solid, but we were certainly sweating initially placing the system into service - the most nervous time for an engineer is before you hit the ON button. It felt like a ton of bricks were lifted off our shoulders as we drove through the village and saw people using their new taps as usual.
Now it's time for a weary victory lap. Buca is planning a six-hour party for us tonight, and we're hoping we make it through the festivities without falling asleep!
Success!!! We turned the water on in Buca last night and it all works! Even the furthest connections in the distribution system had good pressure and flow. Our design was solid, but we were certainly sweating initially placing the system into service - the most nervous time for an engineer is before you hit the ON button. It felt like a ton of bricks were lifted off our shoulders as we drove through the village and saw people using their new taps as usual.
Now it's time for a weary victory lap. Buca is planning a six-hour party for us tonight, and we're hoping we make it through the festivities without falling asleep!
Friday, August 20, 2010
The final push
August 21, 2010
We are in Savusavu right now making our final (yes, we really mean it this time) trip to Gulabdas Hardware Store. I think we have gotten the final truckload of supplies to finish the projects. Things are going great - the bridge crossing in Vunikura is finished, the new pipeline has been installed, and all we have to finish up are some pipeline fixes inside the village and backfill the new pipe. In Loa, we finished all of the pipeline repairs needed inside the village as well as upstream near their source (the source is basically in the middle of the jungle - the Fijian guys make it look so easy to climb up steep embankments through heavy foliage, but that is definitely misleading as I almost took a header off the side of the cliff while climbing up there). We have also installed one of the biosand filters in Loa and will construct the remaining two next week. In Buca Village, we are approximately 3/4 complete with the pipeline installation - all of the new 4" and 2" pipelines are in the ground. We plan to install the remaining 1" and 1/2" laterals by Tuesday and turn on the water by Wednesday (crossing our fingers).
It is hard to believe that we are in our final week here - the time has flown! Despite a few mishaps - a few of us have gotten what we have termed the 'black virus' (basically a pretty nasty stomach flu) - we are all hanging in there. We are taking a well-deserved rest day for the rest of today to prepare for the final push next week - it will be very busy but great to see everything get finished. The villagers have already started planning our going away parties and we have been told to get our dancing shoes on (the villagers LOVE to dance) so that should be good fun, though I think we have all sworn off the kava (famous last words).
That's all for now. See you all next week!
We are in Savusavu right now making our final (yes, we really mean it this time) trip to Gulabdas Hardware Store. I think we have gotten the final truckload of supplies to finish the projects. Things are going great - the bridge crossing in Vunikura is finished, the new pipeline has been installed, and all we have to finish up are some pipeline fixes inside the village and backfill the new pipe. In Loa, we finished all of the pipeline repairs needed inside the village as well as upstream near their source (the source is basically in the middle of the jungle - the Fijian guys make it look so easy to climb up steep embankments through heavy foliage, but that is definitely misleading as I almost took a header off the side of the cliff while climbing up there). We have also installed one of the biosand filters in Loa and will construct the remaining two next week. In Buca Village, we are approximately 3/4 complete with the pipeline installation - all of the new 4" and 2" pipelines are in the ground. We plan to install the remaining 1" and 1/2" laterals by Tuesday and turn on the water by Wednesday (crossing our fingers).
It is hard to believe that we are in our final week here - the time has flown! Despite a few mishaps - a few of us have gotten what we have termed the 'black virus' (basically a pretty nasty stomach flu) - we are all hanging in there. We are taking a well-deserved rest day for the rest of today to prepare for the final push next week - it will be very busy but great to see everything get finished. The villagers have already started planning our going away parties and we have been told to get our dancing shoes on (the villagers LOVE to dance) so that should be good fun, though I think we have all sworn off the kava (famous last words).
That's all for now. See you all next week!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Pictures of the implementation trip!
Hi everyone!
Arrived safely in San Francisco this evening so I'm finally uploading some pictures of the trip! See below for all the activity in Buca Bay...
Arrived safely in San Francisco this evening so I'm finally uploading some pictures of the trip! See below for all the activity in Buca Bay...
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| Thomas, Maggie and Adrienne on the way to Savusavu in a tiny plane (see the captain behind them)... |
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| Beautiful morning in Buca Bay |
| Construction Prep Work: | |
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| Hiking in Vunikura with Williame and Arone |
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| Jesoni showing us major distribution line leaks in Loa |
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| Trenching in Buca |
| Construction (!): | |
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| Tying up the galvenized steel pipe in Vunikura for the bridge crossing |
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| Constructing pipe in Buca |
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| Sifting sand in Loa |
| Water Quality Work: | |
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| Checking out the Slow Sand Filter at the Mission at Natuvu Creek |
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| Taking Water Quality Samples with Adrienne |
| Group Photos: | |
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| Travel team with workers in Loa |
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| Team with Vunikura workers |
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| With Buca Water Committee at the farewell party for the two of us leaving early (didn’t get a group shot yet)… |
| Having some fun! | |
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| Volleyball on Sunday night... |
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| Dancing at farewell party in Buca |
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| Moce Fiji! | |
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