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Well No. 24

Y'Apy Indian Reservation High School

 Sponsor - Holston, Tennessee Conference of the

United Methodist Church

The indigenous peoples of Paraguay are the Guarani - a very broad, diverse people group that covered much of southern South America before the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500's.  In Paraguay there are many "reservations" that have been set aside by the government for the various Guarani tribal groups.  In the area where we work is located a group of Avá Guarani at the Santa Isabel Reservation.  There is a Methodist Church located at the Y'Apy community which is the site of our Well 10.   The government of Paraguay recently installed a very nice paved highway through the area which required the taking of a portion of the reservation property.  In return for the donation of the property the government built a high school and health clinic. Although a "hand dug" well was installed with a small pump and tank at the time of construction, it is no longer operational due to thieves and vandals.  

The Pastor at the Methodist Church in the community of Y'Apy, Agustin Vera, asked us to install a well at the facility to provide water for the people in the area, many of who previously had to obtain their water from a nearby polluted stream.  We agreed and decided it best to install a hand pump rather than an electric submersible pump to avoid a repeat of the previous problems of thievery.  Also, the hand pumps require very little maintenance and no electricity.

The families in the area live in very humble homes - most of which are made of all natural materials.  Life for these folks is indeed difficult and we are always blessed to have the opportunity to assist in any way that we can.

The well was installed in record time, however, our air compressor developed a problem and would not lift the water to clean the well.  So we installed the hand pump and used it to remove the dirty water from drilling.  The well was dosed with a strong chlorine solution and is already in use.  Once more we give God the Glory!

 Technical Details

Sponsor:    Holston, Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church

Drilling date: Nov 5-15, 2007

Location:   Latitude -   S24° 30.471’       Longitude - W 056° 07.611' 

Elevation:     226 meters above mean sea level

Total cost:    $1,804

Drill depth:  31.9  meters

Soil types encountered:    clayey sand and sandstone

Static groundwater level: 15.2 meters below top of casing

Dynamic groundwater level:  NA - hand pump

Installed well depth:  31.6 meters

Length of screened section:  12 meters

Length of gravel packed section:   21 meters

Length and type of sealed section:  1 meter of bentonite pellets

Pump description:    Hand pump

Depth to base of pump:   30 meters

Flow rate:    NA - hand pump

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