Ministerio Agua de Vida

The village of Villa Rotario was built in 2007 by the Rotary Club to house families displaced by Hurricane Mitch.  Amigos for Christ later drilled a well for the 37 families living in the village, but since there is no electric service, the submersible pump has been powered by a generator. 

Child feeding center at the Villa Rotario primary school

Well site with San Cristobal and El Chonco Volcanoes in the background

The high cost of generator maintenance and fuel led Amigos to consider other options.  Mr. Tim Sewell, a long time Amigos partner agreed to fund the cost of the solar panels and pump system.  We were called in to assist the Amigos team in the removal of the old pump and the installation of the solar pumping system.

Tim helping with pulling 420 feet of galvanized riser pipe!

Neighborhood kids helping carry pipe (and little brothers)

The community really pulled together to help in the project.  They had been without any water in the community for over a month and the closest alternative source was a 1/2 mile walk downhill - and back uphill with full buckets!!  It was a great joy to even see the children pitching in to move the riser pipe to the safety of one of the residents home at the end of the work day.

Solar panels provide up to 700 watts of power on a sunny day

Ladies and children are enjoying getting water

This was the first solar powered system that any of us had installed - and we didn't know a lot about DC current pumps.  But the Lord is faithful and sent us a wonderful helper - Tony Richards was at the Amigos facility with a work team from the Buford, Georgia First Presbyterian Church.  He has 20+ years experience in DC power systems!!  With Tony's help we were able to get the system in and functioning.  In short order the queue of folks with their buckets was forming.  Not only is the water close - it is FREE - a solar gift from God!!

Technical Details

The well at this site was drilled previously by the Amigos for Christ.  The scope of this project was limited to replacement of the previous generator driven electric submersible pumping system with a solar powered pumping system.

Project date: June 21 - 27, 2009

Location:   Latitude -  N 12° 42.491'     Longitude - W  087° 05.285'

Elevation:     619 ft. above sea level

Well depth:   500 ft. below ground surface

Static groundwater level:     366 ft. below ground surface

Dynamic groundwater level:      Estimated 370 ft. below ground surface

Depth to base of pump:   420 ft. below ground surface

Pump description:    Grundfos 3 SQF-2 Helical Rotor Solar Groundwater Pump

Solar Panel description: 4 panels rated at 175 watts each mounted on an elevated platform, aligned east-west and tilted at about 15° toward south.

Flow rate:    2.2 gallons per minute with minimal cloud cover producing 300 watts of power