Many Meetings

We have met with eight potential new clusters for new rainwater harvesting system. A cluster is a group of families that share in the cost, maintenance, and use of the rainwater harvesting system. So far each group has been enthusiastic but will see if that enthusiasm continues when it is time to collect money. A major problem with the existing tanks is that many neighbors use the tank but did not pay as much as the owner of the house where the tank is located. The community and we believe this can be solved by requiring each neighbor to contribute equally. Many clusters also prefer above ground tanks to the below ground tanks because pumping can be tiring. Peter suggested we look into a cheaper brick foundation to reduce costs for above ground tanks. At the meetings there are often several conversations going on at once and our translator Sarah does her best to explain the most relevant information but we are definitely missing some of the conversation. At any rate, we have lots of data on the size of roofs and on the family size of potential tank users so the team at MIT will be ready to design more tanks if they decide to do so.