Our project consisted of creating a new rainwater catchment system located at the pharmacy in Las Malvinas. Our group made the appropriate calculations and developed an easily accessible rainwater catchment system that captures, filters, and distributes water that can be used by the local community. It is our goal that available rainwater can be captured efficiently and filtered sufficiently to be used for a variety of other purposes, thus providing the community with a cost effective solution to their water shortage, with the cost of the materials listed below.

Background

This appropriate technology project is located in the Dominican Republic in the Las Malvinas neighborhood of Santo Domingo. The team includes 3 students from Cal Poly Humboldt and 4 students from UNIBE and is taking place in the month of June, 2014. Concurrent to the project, the Humboldt State students are taking classes at UNIBE in Santo Domingo. The classes are focused on appropriate technology and engineering and are paired with one Spanish class. The system in Las Malvinas is a new rainwater catchment system which has been developed using spare parts from the La Yuca System.

Objective

Our objective for the water project for the 2014 Practivistas Dominicana Program at the Las Malvinas pharmacy is to design a new catchment system using spare parts from previous systems and make non-potable water readily available for the community.

Literature Review

Here is the link for the information we collected to help us understand and review information that will allow us to build the appropriate rainwater catchment system in Las Malvinas for the 2014 practivistas dominicana program.

Location

An Interactive Map for Las Malvinas.

Construction

Steps to ensure a proper catchment system

1

Set up a line to follow when setting up your gutter. Make sure the gutter is at an angle so the water can flow. We used L-brackets to putter the gutter on.

2

Secure your gutter. We used metal U-brackets to secure the gutter to the wall. We also eventually put a water shield on the far side of the gutter to ensure no water spilled over.

3

Direct the gutter into the botellon.

4

Make sure to build a first flush system that can store the first ten minutes of catchment water, for the water will be as much as 90% cleaner after the first ten minutes.

5

Make sure the tinaco is nice and clean. Direct the water from the botellon into the tinaco after the first flush.

6

If needed, add a curtain on gutter to ensure no overflow of water from the gutter catchment system. Make sure to use a thick plastic.

To replace filters refer to this table to find AQUA TEC:

AQUA TEC SRL
La Julia
Santo Domingo de Guzman 10107
Republica Dominicana
info@aquatec.com.dom
809-732-1572
http://www.aquatec.com.do

Video

Here is a quick run-through of the Las Malvinas system.

Team