Field Visit day 1

 So tired!

So this weekend we have been off visiting the different locations for my proposed irrigation water capture sites. This would have been easy if they weren't in the middle of nowhere! The first stop was the intake chamber for one of the water sources for the community.

There Mr Crythantus showed me his ideas for where he wanted the new system to be built to harvest water for the farms.

It utilises a simple damning technique where the natural flow of the stream is slowed and allowed to settle, then a pipe siphons water away from the river and houses it in a chamber, which is then attached to a pipe for transport.

The pipe borne irrigation system will be used for typical farms, as shown below. As at the moment, due to poor access to water during the dry season, many farmers don’t plant for half the year missing out on revenue and food.

Whilst we were walking I was using my GPS system to mark where each of the water treatment and storage was located. As currently they are using a rudimentary map based on the Bambui quarters

From this I was able to create a cross section for the water supply system using altitude Vs distance

This shows the head between the different points and will allow calculations to be made for the distribution capacity of the water, as the land here consists of many hills and valleys.

I’ve added some pictures of the terrain we had to cross to get access however this was quite easy going compared to today’s walk :D