Updates on the Bluefields water program

By Casey Callais -- The last six months have seen big changes brought to the blueEnergy water program and the local beneficiaries of our latest water projects.

Leoniza and her family with their water filter

A summary of our accomplishments so far, direct from the water program coordinator, Thibaut Demaegdt:

We have installed 34 filters. We have built a total of 77 filters built, so 43 are waiting to be installed. We also have drilled seven wells and the eighth is under construction. We have improved our working equipment (to make the construction process more efficient): We have a concrete mixer, concrete vibrator (to reduce air in the mix), electric sand sifter (of our own design), water recycling machine (to automate sand washing and reduce water consumption, also of our own design) and have built sand drying racks. We have certified approximately 100 families through our classes about water, sanitation and hygiene.

Alonso with the well he shares with 6 families

The plan is to build 200 water filters  and 30 wells in Bluefields, and we have nearly reached the halfway mark. We have contracted more water team technicians and have been given a larger space to work. This coupled with the aforementioned improvements, we hope to achieve our goal by December of this year.