General
I made a statement to David Soro from Kokoda that I would
provide 500 Kina for every person that I take to Kokoda towards projects.
David is on the committee of the Kokoda Track Authority (KTA) and also the
Kokoda Track Association. While the big villages have running water the
smaller villages and campsites do not.
After investigation into methods of lifting water out of the
creeks, a Glockeman pump
was
purchased and taken to New
Guinea. This pump now has a
traveled history as it has been taken to 2 sites and is still not in
use. The quantity of water available to run the pump was insufficient
at Ioribaiwa and although the pump was working at Iora Creek the flow was
only a dribble. The pump may now be used to supply water to the
Kokoda hospital
Ioribaiwa
Subsequent to the Glockeman pump not being suitable at this
village a decision was made to install a gravity fed system. This was
completed in October 2007. This entailed paying 10 porters to carry
600 meters of piping from Owers Corners to Ioribaiwa. The fittings
for the system were purchased in Cairns
and carried with our party to the village.
Jim Armstrong kindly donated his time to help install both
systems at Ioribaiwa and Iora Creek. Jim is a fellow Vietnam Veteran having
been a member of the 4th Battalion of the Royal Australian
Regiment that served in Vietnam
during 1971-72.
The villagers were very enthusiastic about the project and
everybody turned out to assist. Eventually after working out the
water levels by the simplest of methods, one tap and one shower were
installed.
The shriek of excitement by the youngsters of the village
when the shower was turned on made all the efforts of this project
worthwhile.
Addition to Ioribaiwa
On each subsequent
trip the village chief, Elso, requested, further taps and showers.
So each trip we took
out more piping and fittings. By October 2008, we had installed three taps
and three showers. We also installed an inline valve so that the flow
between the village and the camp area can be controlled.
In all 800 meters of
piping was used.
Iora
Creek
After a discussion with Sam Seka of Allola Village,
a decision was made to install the Glockeman pump at Iora Creek campsite.
Warren Bartlett (KTA) assisted us in obtaining parts and
paying for the charter flight from Port
Moresby for Jim Armstrong, 200 meters of piping
& four 250-litre tanks.
It took a real community effort to transport this equipment
from Kokoda to Iora Creek. The pump was duly installed however as stated
above the water flow was insufficient. We reverted to a simple rain
collection system using a tarpaulin to run water into the tanks. This
simple method has proved sufficient to supply one shower and one tap to the
campsite depending on how water wise the trekkers are.
Nauro 1
Anybody who has passed
through this village, knows how far and difficult it was for the villages to
fetch water.
Over two trips, 500
meters of piping was towed out and two taps and showers were installed.
On the last trip, 16
porters were used over five days to tow 1000 meters of piping which was used
in Nauro1 and Nauro2.
Nauro 2
Although Nauro2 village is not on
the Track, I decided to install a water system as some of my porters come
from there. The village is 2 hours walk off the Track. Early in 2008, I sent
600 meters of piping to the village. The only way to know distant and
elevation between the water and the village is by the old water level. At
Iriobaiwa we simply went further up the creek until we had the flow we
required.
GPSs do not work in
creek beds or under canopy. An altimeter I purchased only measures 20 meter
increments( and obviously does not measure distance). A shower only needs 5
meters of pressure.
In October another 600
meters was towed out. Because of the distance and the fact that this village
is high on a ridge, it required another 1400 meters, 2600 meters in total.
Mervyn Hains was at the
village on 09/10/08, and was told by the village chief that he was the first
white person ever to visit the village The chief offered Mervyn land and a
holiday home for his efforts. This was declined with thanks.
Kagi
Bevan Clayton, an
engineer from Cairns, offered to examine the water systems along the Track.
Most villages have
water but need repairing or improving.
Bevan discovered a
number of breaks in the pipe at Kagi which were caused by high pressure.
This pressure in turn is caused by the height difference between the intake
and village. At Kagi the drop was 300 meters and subsequent research
revealed that the pipe was designed for 100 meters.
Chris Pillage, who had
been on a previous trip and had booked again, purchased the required parts
for the repairs. On arrival at Kagi, we discovered that the breaks had been
fixed.
We travelled to the
intake and installed a strainer and then left a snorkel enabled the water
supply to be turned off safely.
Chris then installed a
pressure relief system at about the 200 meter mark.
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