Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 - (Page 32) AQUA CHOCOLATE NO MAS Water Treatment in Honduras BY FRED STOTTLEMYER, INTERNATIONAL RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION WHEN INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT Rider Lupe Aragon and IRWA volunteer Fred Stottlemyer visited the small mountain town of Marcala Honduras in 1997, the town’s mayor, holding up a bottle of chocolate colored water, asked, “Can I clean up this water with filtration?” After examining the water, Lupe and Fred advised the Mayor that they felt it was going to be necessary to use chemical coagulation prior to filtration. This initial visit occurred prior to Hurricane Mitch ravaging the country, and it was over a year before Lupe and Fred had the opportunity to return to Marcala. On their second visit, they were surprised to fi nd that with the advice of Honduras engineers and the support of a North American development group, the town had proceeded with construction of an up-flow fi ltration plant. The new plant was now in ruins after the walls had collapsed, apparently during the backwash process when the tanks had to be fi lled to the brim. On a visit a year later, the IRWA team found that the fi lters had been rebuilt but were no longer in use due to the fact that they were not effective in reducing the high turbidity levels of the Chiflador river source water. The people continued to draw the chocolate water from their water taps and had apparently given up on ever having clean water. 32 • Fourth Quarter 2008 Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 Contents From the President Rural Water: Where are We Headed? The Future of Water in America Bank Collateral Controls in Nervous Times Bottle of Water or Billion Dollar Bully? Aqua Chocolate No Mas Why Even Small Water Systems Should Have Personnel Policy Manuals Safe Drinking Water Regulatory Update 2008 NRWA Industry Event Throwing My Loop Advertisers.com Index to Advertisers From the CEO Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0412 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0312 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0212 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0112 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0411 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0311 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0211 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0111 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0410 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0310 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0210 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0110 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0409 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0309 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0209 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0109 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0408 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0308 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0208 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/NRWQ0108 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com