Day 19 - Friday March 7

Today was our last day on site. We managed to get all of the piping for the wetland placed and connected. So basically all of the piping is in from the edge of the proposed pad location to the end of the infiltration gallery. The inlet and outlet of the wetland has been backfilled with the large gravel (completely covering the collection and outlet pipes). Approximately one foot of small gravel has backfilled in what will be the wetland bed itself (this is the area the reeds will need to be planted in). We did not want to completely backfill the wetlands because it would be extremely difficult down the road to dig through 2 feet of small gravel to plant the reeds (the reeds need to be planted after the station is up and running otherwise they will die).


Since we did not have a translator, we called a friend back home that speaks Telagu so that he could inform the villagers that today was our last day. We also told them that Mike would be coming to finish up the project, so they are expecting him on the 9th or 10th. It is unfortunate that we could not communicate with the villagers over the course of the project. Not only would we have liked to tell them about the project and provide education about water quality and maintenance of the facility, but also to get to know them and learn more about their lives. They were very kind people and I can only hope that this project makes their lives better at least in some small way.


The villagers gave us beautiful flower lays (spelling?) upon our departure. It was a bittersweet departure as we would have liked to see the project through to completion; however, at the same time this has been an exhausting experience.

Tonight we take the train to Hyderabad.