Construction has recently begun on the latest AguaClara water treatment plant, which is being built in the municipality of San Francisco de Becerra in the Honduran department of Olancho, approximately three hours northeast of Tegucigalpa. This plant is designed to serve a population of 9,450 people in 20 years and serve the current population of 6,000 people, providing them with safe, clean drinking water.
The plant is designed by Agua Para el Pueblo and AguaClara Reach, and is being constructed by Agua Para el Pueblo, a non-profit organization that provides clean water to underserved communities in Honduras through the use of AguaClara technology.
The San Francisco de Becerra plant is a 36 liter per second plant, which means it has the capacity to treat 820,000 gallons of water per day. The project is being financed by SEDESOL, which is the Secretary of Social Development in Honduras, and it is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
This will be the second AguaClara plant to use components from the new designs produced by the AguaClara Infrastructure Design Engine. The Becerra plant will include the latest design for the internal piping of the Stacked Rapid Sand (StaRS) filters and will likely include some of the updates for the chemical dosing system.
As an AguaClara plant, capital expenditure for San Francisco de Becerra is estimated at around 100,000 USD + 10,000 USD per L/s of production. Operational costs are also highly efficient, and are estimated at 7 to 13 USD per person per year, depending on the size of the community. These costs are dominated by labor and chemicals, but also include savings for minor repairs over the plant’s lifetime. The plant is designed considering the population growth for 20 years. With normal maintenance it can serve many more years and they will just need to expand the plant to increase the flow rate.
During the construction of the plant, plant operator candidates will be trained in all of the hydraulic processes required to operate the plant on a daily basis. They will also be tasked with fabricating the plant internals, and will become the experts on how their local water treatment plant works. This capacity building provides a stable foundation for long term sustainability of the plant. Once completed, the San Francisco de Becerra plant will then be maintained and governed by the local water board.
Site excavation is currently underway, and progress is being made every day. The San Francisco de Becerra AguaClara water treatment plant will be a vital resource for the local community, providing them with access to clean, safe drinking water for years to come. We look forward to the inauguration of the 25th water treatment plant in Central America!
We are grateful for our supporters who share our vision of safe water on tap for all communities. We might be a small organization, but our work has a big and lasting impact. If you are grateful every morning that you can turn on the tap and get safe water, share that gratitude. Your support enables us to invent better technologies and provide the designs and technical support so that more communities like Becerra can have the safe water we take for granted.