Help Bring Water to the Thai Child Foundation

This report is meant to be a quick progress check in and to have July 20 marked on your calendar as that is the day the irrigation system at the Thai Child Development Foundation is to be installed!

Leading up to the installation, the equipment has arrived including the solar panels, pipe, filter tank and other pieces.

However, because of the current COVID wave in Thailand there's a number of items that must be addressed in the next couple of weeks and these include:

1. Seeking formal approval from the local authorities for the team to enter the general area.

2. Setting up a "quarantine system" for the team.  They will need to have regular COVID testing and will sleep and eat at TCDF's EcoLodge which is currently closed for guests.

3. The installation team under no circumstances will be allowed to go into the village.

TCDF has already applied for all of the necessary approvals from the local authorities and have prepared the EcoLodge for the team's arrival on July 15.

As the situation in Thailand continues to change daily, we are working quickly and hard towards July 20 and being able to complete all the work before the rainy season.

Over the last few reports, we've provided insights not only into this project but some of the other activities at the Thai Child Development Foundation (TCDF) as well as the impact of the COVID pandemic on our work in Thailand.

In this report, our goal is to provide some insights into the technical side of the water management system which will be implemented as soon as the current COVID lockdown is lifted.

This project faced several technical challenges and one of the biggest was to provide a system that allowed for movement of the water from TCDF's well, situated at the base of a mountain, up the mountain to a newly cleared and planted land plot. This new plot contains a number of fruit trees and plants ranging from coffee to black pepper to bananas and all require a consistent amount of water.

The other challenge was to provide a solution that could be easily managed by TCDF's team, didn't require expensive replacement parts that might be difficult to source later on and was energy efficient.

As many of you may recall, the original plan was crafted by our Australian corporate partner following a visit to the site in pre-COVID times. The plan's water filter system was then adjusted by local water system experts to reflect local conditions. It is unfortunate that our Australia partner will not be able to participate in building out what they created but we're very grateful that the local engineering team has agreed to step in to help not only now but down the road when called upon.

Technically speaking, the system will utilise solar power to operate the pumps, a tank filter system, submersible pump and storage tanks situated at the top of the mountain.  From the top, using sprinklers and drip pipes the water will reach the trees and plants. We're including with this report a copy of the engineering team's design to show how all of the pieces connect to create the overall system.

We can also confirm that all of the components noted in the drawing have replacement pieces readily available in Thailand!

Next steps?  As soon as the current lockdown is lifted all of the components will be transported from the warehouse to TCDF's site and the build out will begin.  At the time of writing this report we don't have a clear end of lockdown date but news and reports coming from the country would indicate in five weeks. 

For now, we send our best wishes for the health and safety of everyone in Thailand and that soon we’ll be able to share pictures with all of you of the work underway!