What we have achieved - online reviews

The supply of clean water is an important issue that has accompanied the town twinning for many years. While the situation in the city center has improved significantly in recent years thanks to the plant for treating water from Lake Nicaragua, the situation in the more remote sub-communities is often still very different. We would like to take this opportunity to present one example of the various activities aimed at improving the water supply.

To get to the sub-community of Caracito, a four-wheel drive vehicle is required and the journey can take up to 90 minutes (depending on the condition of the road). Before the project was implemented, the more than 200 inhabitants of Caracito only had access to poor quality water (not actually suitable for drinking). In addition, the existing water network was in a very poor condition. In an initial project phase, the existing surface water source was improved through various construction measures so that contamination could be avoided and the water could be filtered and treated. With the active participation of the inhabitants of Caracito, pipes were replaced or newly laid so that 78 people in 14 houses, a school, the health station and a church could be connected to the water network at the end of the first project phase, giving them access to clean water.

Just a few months after completion of this project phase, the medical staff at the health station reported a significant reduction in diarrheal diseases, which they attributed to the improved water quality.

In a second project phase, a further 34 houses were connected to the water system, so that by the end of the project, more than 230 residents had access to clean drinking water at home.

The project was supplemented with various measures, e.g. information events on the responsible use of water.

This project could only be carried out thanks to the cooperation of several partners. In addition to the city of Erlangen and the Erlangen Partnership Association, the twin cities of Nuremberg, Groningen and Linz also took part. The project was implemented locally by the San Carlos-based NGO ASODELCO and supported by the San Carlos city council and the state water authority ENACAL. The local population in Caracito was also involved, for example by carrying out the necessary excavations themselves.