Pignon Water Supply System

Pignon is a town of 7,500 people located in the central plateau of Haiti. The majority of the population has to walk miles to reach rivers, springs and wells to obtain water. A water distribution system exists in Pignon, but it is completely deteriorated.

Haiti Outreach has been working with the town of Pignon to improve the situation and provide potable water to the entire population. Haiti Outreach partnered with IIT engineering students for the design and planning of the project. A group of five students flew to Pignon in March 2007 and spent a week surveying the topography (pictures below) of the town. The data collected permitted the creation of Population and Topographic maps critical for sizing pumps, pipe, and water tanks.

 

In August 2007, three more students from IIT, assisted by Professor Krishna Pagilla, flew to Pignon in order to update the town (pictures below) on our progress and to perform a socio-economic survey of the population. Two hundred and fifty households responded to a questionnaire providing us with valuable information needed for design.

 

 

With this information, the students prepared a Preliminary Design Report. The report consists of a detailed assessment of the existing system, literature review, feasibility study, socio-economic survey results, design criteria, preliminary design of a water supply system, preliminary design of a water distribution system, and implementation / management strategies.

This detailed report was completed in April 2008, and a group of students flew to Washington D.C. to compete in the EPA People, Prosperity, and Planet (P3) competition. Students had received the Phase I $10,000 grant the previous year and were competing for the Phase II grant.

P3 – Main Poster

P3 – Supplemental Poster

Although they fell short of winning the grant, the IIT student group was awarded an honorable mention. Despite this setback, design work on the project continued and an NGO from Virginia, Community Coalition for Haiti (CCH), pledged to help out with the project (picture below). In fall 2008 CCH began some preliminary work in Pignon. Phase IA included some maintenance work on the existing Cistern (pictured below) and rehabilitation of the spring basin; including replanting hundreds of trees.

 

 

With Phase IA complete and a preliminary design complete, efforts were focused on how to make the project a reality. Some initial cost estimates for this project topped $300,000, so a system of phases was used to guide construction of the system. Phase IB is currently underway and involves repairing spring caps, water supply lines, and installing new ram pumps to feed the existing deteriorated distribution network. CCH applied for and received a rotary grant making Phase IB a reality. Construction for Phase IB will be managed by Haiti Outreach, with a completion date projected to be around June 2009.

The rest of the project was laid out in such a manner that each phase would provide water to more people. Work includes installation of a new water distribution network with public water kiosks, a new cistern above the town, a water treatment system, an electric pump, a photovoltaic system, and eventually private water connections. The details of each phase will be revisited following the completion of phase IB and at this time IIT students will work on detailed design for the project.

An important component to the success of the project was the donation pledged by PVC manufacturer JM Eagle. In February 2009, CCH approached JM Eagle about taking a stake in this project, and asked IIT students to help write the proposal. The combined effort led to a donation of PVC pipe for the entire distribution network.

Initial JM Eagle Proposal

There appears to be a bright future for the project. We will continue to update this page as progress is made.