Engineer delivers water to villagers

COMMUNITY

By SONYA KILAGI
LITTLE known Kawaso village on the outskirts of Erave station in Southern Highlands was filled with life and laughter over the Christmas period when a local civil engineer successfully delivered a water supply project he funded, among other gifts.
Kawaso village, population about 700 people, is accessed by a 2.7km foot track from Erave station, and 1.32km via fallen logs over a swampy flood plain.
Engineer Eddie Leteng, 42, from Central describes the event as “my heart melted in praise”. It was a moment of joy and happiness seeing the first flow of water reach the village after two weeks of ground work over 2.1km long pipeline traversing around a mountain top to the village.
Leteng was not new to giving. He also delivered new metal basketball posts and new boards/ring, new volley-ball metal posts, installed street solar lights to the entire village area and gifted each household with a set of lanterns, gardening spades, bush-knives, towels and buckets. Apart from spending the Christmas break with the Kawaso villagers, Leteng also sponsored a two-week Christmas soccer completion at Lontis in Buka island, Bougainville with a K10,000 prize money.
“In 2023, I revisited the Kawaso village where I grew up 25 years ago. Due to my profession as a civil designer, I really wanted to have the village get access to clean water. The only notable stream was the Wabeamu underground stream.
“However, the problem was it was located in a gully, at the back of the first mountain that is about 100m high on direct face with the village. Another problem was it needed to be pumped uphill first to about 70m -80 meters to a head of 50 meters vertical height.”
The water supply utilises an existing underground stream from the foot-hills of the second mountain at the back of the village gardening area called Wabeamu. For generations, that underground stream was used by ancestors to collect precious water with bamboos and only were given to village elders and or special guests. The water comes out of the ground with a constant flow rate of 2.31L/s, flows on the surface and then disappears into a sink hole about 25m further down at the foot of another mountain blocking off direct access to the village.
“I did some feasibility studies for two days, checking on the flow rate, the village population and altitude obstacles.”
Leteng had adopted two phases of water-flow systems, the first being pumping the water uphill and secondly allowing gravity to assist supply to a two 5,000 liter storage tanks prior to supplying the village.
The project consisted of a damned underground stream, supplied to a single 1,000 liter container and then via a 40mm and a 50mm drive pipe downhill to a pump at head “H” of about 5.4m.
Based on site conditions, Leteng had to adopt a pump system to overcome a 60m high hill with a distance of 90m at about 45-degree slope and thereafter depend of gravity to assist the flow to two storage tanks located about 1.5km downhill.
“I utilised a ramp pump system which I assembled and built in Port Moresby. This ramp pump uses water-hammer effect and only needs flowing water and moving valve parts to pump water from a lower source to a higher storage tank. Reversed valves open/shut as pressure to each chambers change that repeats the momentum and the cycle keeps repeating. No external energy is required.
“After so much testing and pump modifications in Port Moresby and Crystal Rapids at Sogeri, I was lucky enough to achieve a 60m-plus vertical height against gravity. The pump is maintenance free and very easy to assemble and operate.”
From 100 per cent of water entering the pump, only about 10 per cent of water was being pumped thus very ideal for such settings and no harm done to the existing natural eco-system of the water-ways.
“That first small hill where I needed to pump up was a big concern. Thoughts of good luck and uncertainty filled my mind when I commenced the testing. The villagers believed in me, I had to deliver.
“The pump managed to pump water uphill about 90m distance at a vertical height of about 55m.”
“The villagers shouted with joy seeing water out of the pipe uphill. I burst into tears thanking the Good Lord in my heart. I cried in front of them as I was filled with joy. There was dancing (waipa) and chanting all over,” he explains.
A mumu of 13 pigs was then held to celebrate the success of the project.
With the help of the villagers, they cut through jungles ensuring to go downhill creating a trench pathway for the 20mm diameter polyethylene (poly) pipe. They were able to achieve a constant flow rate of 0.1litres per second to constantly fill up 2 by 5,000 liter storage water tanks placed about 1.5km downhill to supply the village eventually.
“I installed about 13 common water taps in and around the village.
“I delivered so many national projects, but seeing the villagers dancing to this water supply was the greatest, most satisfying thing I ever seen and felt in my heart. The cooperation from the villagers (men, women and children) in digging the 2.1km trench, carrying builders mix gravel, stones and cement bags and coils of water pipes up the steep mountain is something I commend them for.”
The village has access to two rivers, Wara Bibi and Wara Ambili, located at the downhill of the village on swampy localities. Both rivers have excess turbidity and are not good for drinking water.