Another water treatment plant

This morning Samuel and I got an early start because we had an appointment at 8:00 a.m. to meet Monica Marca, another engineer with the Cuenca water department. She and Pedro took us out of Cuenca to a slow-rate sand filter that they operate that serves about a thousand people. I'm not sure how the district boundaries are set, but these customers are WAY out of town. On the other hand, because they are in the district, they get clean water at a subsidized rate, which is probably the only way many of them could afford it.

Given that my research project for my Master's Degree was on slow-rate sand filtration, I was very excited to have an opportunity to see one in operation here. It turns out that in addition to the three main plants that provide water to Cuenca, the water department also operates fifteen small plants for rural areas around Cuenca, four of which are slow-rate sand filters.

They took us in their 4x4 SUV, which was necessary, as the road to the plant was not passable for a lesser vehicle. On the way we had to wait for a school parade to clear the road, then they waited a moment for me to take pictures, as shown here. The traditional outfits worn by the girls are so colorful and cute, and the variety indicates that they probably come from different tribes.
In this one, the little boy looking at the camera would be expelled from most schools in the US, as those are real, pearl-handled, toy pistols he has on, and the way he walked, he was sure that he was the best-dressed kid at school today.Shortly after that we arrived at the plant, and I was very impressed. There are two filters, each about 5 m in diameter, and they treat about 6 liters per second, or about 95 gallons per minute. The water arrives by pipe from a source about 22 km away, and it is a gravity flow, with the plant at almost 3000 m of elevation. There is a banana tree growing right next to the treated water storage tank. They said that it was somewhat colder at the plant than in Cuenca, but it turns out that that means highs in the 60s and lows in the upper 40s.

Here is a picture of the filters with the valley in the background.
And here is a picture of Luis, the man who lives at the plant and takes care of maintenance, Monica, the supervising engineer, and Pedro, who drove for us, and whose other duties I am not clear about.
This afternoon, while the power was out, Samuel and I went out exploring Cuenca by bus. Almost four hours of riding around cost us 75 cents apiece, and we saw a good bit of the city. It turns out that they do not have a map of the bus routes here, or at least not one available for distribution to users. Therefore, we have decided to ride some of the buses just to see where they go.

The price is 25 cents per person for as far as the bus goes, and that can be as much as an hour from end to end. I thought sure that when the bus reached the end of its course and turned around they would want us to pay another 25 cents, but they did not. In the process we found another market of fruit, vegetables, and many other things even a little closer than the one we have been patronizing, and which can be reached with a simple direct bus ride. Susan and I plan to go shopping there tomorrow.