Sun Up to Sun Down

Today was a busy day. Our friends from the general mission team left today around lunchtime, and we were sad to see them go. We completed a lot of project stuff today, and it felt great to get things accomplished.

Some of the guys dug more trenches today. There is so much digging that has to be done for this project, and they have been awesome about doing it with a great attitude, despite the hot sun.

A group of us worked on the instrument well, which is the box that will hold the ammonia sensor. We hadn’t figured out yet how to mount the sensor in the box because the specifications of the sensor were very particular about the mounting angle. Using some on-site design skills, we were able to build a stand out of extra pieces of PVC that will hold the sensor at the proper angle. Getting to work with this team was pretty cool because I don’t have a ton of experience with design work, especially a mechanical design like this one, so it was a great experience to work through the whole process, from brainstorming to implementation.

Another exciting task completed today was finishing the piping to go in the two filter tanks. The pipes to feed the intake through the nozzles were cut. Joe and Kyle got in the tanks to install a piece of rebar to support the pipe that feeds the nozzle.

Joe and Kyle adjust rebar inside the tank, while Leah, Kirsten, and I offer encouragement.

Once the work in the tanks was complete, the tanks were moved over to the site. At first, we were worried that the trenches wouldn’t be deep enough for the pipes to be able to make the proper connections. They decided that they would fill the holes in a little bit to move the tanks higher instead of digging the trenches deeper. The guys moved the filter tanks over first.

The guys move a tank from our house to the site.

More dirt was added on top of the concrete pads to ensure that the tanks would be level. With the filter tanks in place, the clarifier tank was brought over. The clarifier tank also had to be elevated, so some cement blocks were used to fill in the bottom of the hole. After putting the blocks in place, the guys had to lower the clarifier tank into the hole. This was really entertaining to watch. Sam and Kyle got down in the hole to help lower it down while Joe, McKenzie, Stephen, and Austin handed it down from above.

Joe and Kirsten making sure the filter tanks are level.

With all the tanks in place, it was time to start installing the pipes to connect everything together. It was fun to be hanging out at the site as a team, all working on different tasks. Some people dug a little more or filled some of the holes a little bit. Other people were in charge of measuring, cutting, and gluing the pipe for the system. Once school got out, a group of boys gathered around and watched while we worked. I like how excited they are that we’re here and how much they want to hang out with us, but it was a little nerve-wracking to have them hanging around the trenches and power tools.

The girls carry more pipe over to the site.

Carson, Salah, and Billy worked to figure out some of our electrical issues today. We have had a lot of issues with the wifi, which could be problematic for the data collection aspect of the sanitation system. The signal that we were counting on being able to access from the site has not been available for us. They worked with the community at the Village of Hope to try to determine what could be preventing the wifi signal from being transmitted. They are also talking about possible ways to move forward because we lost the wifi after a big storm, so there is potential that this could happen again. Also one of the sensors isn’t working with the raspberry pi technology that we had planned on using, so they are trying to figure out what the issue is there.

Salah, Billy, and Carson work through the some issues with the rain gauge.

Overall, it was a pretty good day. The only major downside for me was not having time to hang out with some of the younger girls, but it’s awesome to see it all coming together. The tanks are at the site and some of the connections have been made. It really feels like we are getting something accomplished. My job on work days has been to record all the parts we use, so pieces and lengths of pipes and basically all the details. It’s an important job because we’ll need to know those things for reporting later, but I haven’t felt super connected to the project because I hadn’t really done any of the hard work. Today I was involved in working on the instrument well and cutting pipe and being there at the site as an extra hand, and it was nice to feel helpful. I think the project is coming together, and I feel really happy to be a part of it with this group of amazing people.

Stephen and Sam celebrate the work done today, with the tanks in place.