Bondye Bon

 "Bondye Bon" - "God is good"

I'd had this update ready to post yesterday, but internet issues contrived for delay until now. I'm taking the time to mention that because as of yesterday, Ashley has officially been in Haiti a month! It has been a month full of adventure and an equal amount of work. She'll have a while in Haiti yet, but we couldn't pass this milestone without some recognition. The past week has had sufficient amount of adventure and work of its own and our final week doesn't look like it'll be any different, but I prefer it this way; this way, we have plenty of interesting things to share. Today's proverb is straightforward, celebrating the milestone of a month in conjunction with occurrences of the week past, I think the reasoning of my choice will be obvious. Without further ado, let's begin. 

Picking up where we left off last week, on Saturday night (25/11/2017) after returning from Port-au-Prince, Ashley and I solidified our plans for the next day to re-work piping in the Filter Building to incorporate the new pressure relief valves. Our final plan consisted of two objectives and three changes to the piping:

            The Objectives 

1. First of our objectives was to install the new pressure relief valves we acquired in Port-au-Prince in strategic locations through which water could easily be bled off in relief at a pressure more than 150 PSI.

2. The second was to create more distance between the flow-meter and control valve installed on the chlorinator’s inflow line before replacing the caps. An oversight during our initial installation of the chlorinator saw the flow meter and control valve for the line next to each other with little space in between them. As we began attempting to regulate flow in the pipe, we found it difficult to have an accurate idea of how much water was flowing through the pipe as every time we adjusted the control valve, turbulence skewed the flow meter’s readings. Detailing the problem with David previously, he stipulated we create twelve inches of space between the flow meter and control valve. Reviewing Hayward’s (manufacturer of the chlorinator) manual of the model we were using, we learned that more PVC (as opposed to galvanized pipe in our case) before the line was ideal. Learning this, we set upon going above our given twelve inches to as much distance as was possible for us to create with the materials we had on hand.

The Piping Changes

1.      If you’ll recall, we used vacant space where the non-functional UV treatment was previously located for the installation of emergency chlorinator (nouvo nouvo machin klowoks.) The first part of our plan involved dismantling the other line of the old UV (still intact until this point) to place the first pressure relief valve there. Doing so would place a relief valve between the chlorinator and the filtration system (where we monitor the pressure of the incoming water.)

2.      The second change was set for just after the chlorinator. Parallel to the line which passes through the chlorinator is another line, unfiltered, which is rejoined by treated water from the chlorinator before a static mixer. The now mixed filtered and chlorinated water flows together before it is split into two lines going to the Summit Cistern (from which the water for Zl’s campus and the top-most fountain in the village are sourced) and Village Cistern. We decided the best location for the second relief valve was after the static mixer but before the separation of the line to the two cisterns.

3.      The first two changes realized the first of our objectives, and this last change accomplished the second. The galvanized pipe nipples making the distance between the ball valve for the chlorinator’s inflow line and the control valve was vital to our design for the piping of the first pressure relief valve. We had twenty-four inches of one inch PVC which we aimed to use as the chlorinator’s new inflow line. The only thing we needed to figure out was if we had sufficient fittings to put our new pipe together.

We met with the team early Sunday morning (26/11/2017) showing them everything we’d bought the day before and explaining our objectives, we set to work. I’m pleased to say that the work progressed very well and we achieved everything we’d set out to do. However, the day was not without its challenges. These manifested in a culmination of trouble at the dam in Bas Cangé relayed to us by Djapanou. Pausing briefly for lunch, we descended to Bas Cangé to see what was happening down there.

Before we actually left for Bas Cangé Djapanou described to Sadrack and I what the problem was down there. Admittedly, I did not understand Djapanou’s explanation even after Sadrack tried to re-explain it to me. After which, I told them that for more reasons than one now, I needed to see what was happening at the dam for myself. It turned out that what Djapanou was explaining to me was earlier that morning when he was shutting the water to Pump Two (which currently needs to be turned off at the dam due to a separate problem with its butterfly valve normally used for regulating flow,) he noticed that the rod connected to the pipe’s door below was not properly seated and turning effectively. After he’d succeeded in shutting off flow to Pump Two, he saw that the rod simply turned in place instead of rising, thus preventing us from opening the door to Pump Two’s pipe would not be possible until the rod was successfully re-seated. To accomplish this, we actually had to detach the rod from Pump Two’s door along with the threaded bracket through which the rod is meant to rise and descend. Unable to have the rod and bracket seen by the welder that day (as it was already early evening just before sunset,) we knew we would have to wait until the following morning to see the welder and return to Bas Cangé.

The following morning (last Monday 27/11/2017) we met with the team again and saw the welder immediately after breakfast. Grinding down the inside of the bracket, smoothing chipped areas on the thread of the rod, and reinforcing the integrity of the aging bracket, we descended again to Bas Cangé to replace the rod and bracket. This went relatively smoothly and we were once more able to open and close the door for Pump Two. We would soon realize, however, that we were not finished for the day in Bas Cangé. In draining the dam to a level where we could work on the door for Pump Two, we needed to route water through the overflow. When we went to reset the door for the overflow to its normal place, the housing for the rod on the door itself broke. With the rod now separated from the door, we were unable to move the door in the intended way. To fix this, the team produced a replacement door stored in one of the pump houses, with which we replaced the door for the overflow. Now able to adjust the flow for Pump Two and the Overflow pipe at the dam as intended, we were finished for the day with our work at Bas Cangé. All that was left for us to do was await the pipe glue we’d applied the day before (needing to wait until Tuesday morning following a modification we’d made after discovering a leak in our new piping) to finish setting and we could replace the tops on the chlorinator and use it once more.

All of our piping set and not leaking, we were at last able on Tuesday morning (28/11/2017) to add chlorine to the system via the chlorinator for the first time since its original caps had both blown. We spent much of the remainder of the week reviewing what we’d learned about how the chlorinator was working in the system its first week and are working to fine-tune its integration in the system. The last couple of weeks have had their challenges, but with determination and teamwork, we developed effective solutions for each of them. Much of this week will be spent wrapping up for the year as Ashley and I are scheduled to return home next week! Though this month (Ashley’s first officially as of today) has passed swiftly as has my time in Haiti. I expect to pen one last post before we depart, so stay tuned for that by this time next week. Until then, be well and enjoy these pictures!

P.S. If you’ve already read the post from last week, those pictures (as promised) are now posted, so don’t forget to go look at those!

One of the finished products, the first pressure relief valve set up before the chlorinator, parallel to the emergency chlorinator we installed. 

The second pressure relief valve placed strategically after the rejoining of all the lines before distribution to the cisterns, but before the separation of the lines to the different cisterns. 

Here, we have Djapanou, Nol, Sadrack, and myself putting together the rod and the replacement gate for the overflow pipe. We needed to come up with a clever array of pulleys to lower and set the gate from the top of the dam, but we did figure it out and successfully reset the new gate. 

Here are Kolón and Sadrack taking apart what was left of the UV piping so that we'd have the space to install the new pressure relief valve (they were big fans of the new 24'' wrenches we picked up in PaP so they wouldn't have to use the 48'' ones for anything bigger than inch and a half.)

Ashley is usually behind the camera and as a result, not in many of our pictures, but here she is getting her hands dirty helping Sadrack apply some Teflon to the pipe before we fit it in its new home.