Walajabad Well Project with People Water
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
The first well project with Rising Star Outreach and People Water was located in the leprosy colony of Walajabad. This is a small colony started in 1972 with a population of about 54 people, 12 of which have leprosy, leaving 42 others without. There are 14 total families who live without proper water, toilet and electrical facilities. We are here to help with their water issues, with the assistance of People Water's Cody Barker.
The day started off with high hopes of fixing this well in just a few hours. This feeling changed when we did not have access to the tools needed. Each step of this well was challenging! From removing the rusted bolts by saw, no clamp to hold the pipe we were raising to a lack of wrenches or spinners as the Indian's call it.
We decided to use the wrenches to lift and hold the well pipes while the other part of the team went looking for a clamp option. With a lot of faith in our wrenches we lifted the pipe and leveraged it with the wrenches.
Soon help arrived from a local plumber working down the road. He brought a clamp to hold the pipe and we proceeded to lift out the old pipes until we reached the one with the problem. The problem was a long thin crack that kept the water from reaching the top of the well.
From here things went a little smoother. Together the pipes were welded, replaced and lowered back into place.
Our Construction Coordinator, Nery was in the tree helping to stabilize the pipe and to keep it from getting caught on the branches.
After everything was lowered into place, the parts were assembled into the pump for the final test... would it work?
Success! The Walajabad Colony now has a working pump that will soon be supplying the colony with clean water, whenever they need it.
Thank you to People Water, Cody Barker, Rising Star and their team as well as the colony and locals that came to our aid. Without all involved this project would not have been possible.
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