ASSA QUARTERLY ACTIVITY  
REPORT FOR OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2009

This report provides a summary of the activities of the ASSA team, within the framework of the El Salvador Circuit Rider project, which receives financial and technical help from IRWA.  At the beginning of October, the last quarterly activity report was submitted to IRWA covering the period ending September 2009.  This report was also placed on ASSA’s web site.  It covered activities in each of the key areas of Training, Technical Assistance, Automated Billing, Laboratory, Chlorine Bank and Organizational Assistance. 

In the October to December framework covered by this report, ASSA was presented with a substantial challenge and increased work due to catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Ida and land slides in November.  The storm caused widespread damage to the infrastructure and water quality of the water systems making up the members of ASSA.  This required a reorientation of ASSA’s work to address the recovery of the damaged water systems and to address water potability.  Attention was concentrated on the Board of Directors of the water systems and on the people affected or displaced by the tragedy.  Stress was given to maintaining an adequate use of water and its potability through the use of hypochlorite.  Constant monitoring and laboratory analyses were carried out on the concentration of free chorine residual in water for human consumption. 

These general activities allowed the provision of systematic and continuing assistance to the people affected by hurricane Ida.  From the day of the catastrophe, ongoing contact was maintained with the boards of directors of the water systems.  During the period covered by this report, we have carried out 25 training sessions; technical assistance to 12 water systems; operation of the chlorine bank; the provision of 250 buckets of hypochlorite, weighing 10 pounds each, to 125 water systems; measuring the free chlorine residual in at least 30 water systems; the installation of Norweco hypo-chlorinators to water systems of Amatitan Abajo, San Jacinto la Burrera and Parras Lempa; testing for E.coli presence in 30 systems; help in automatic billing in 23 water systems and continued work on obtaining legal organizational recognition for the water systems of El Caragual and Nueva Esperanza.

We did not complete the studies on the Young (or perhaps New) water system administrators; the certification of water systems nor a mechanism by which the activities and finances of the systems are made more transparent.  During this period, due to the extra costs of providing help to people and water systems affected by the catastrophe, additional financial help was requested from IRWA.   Also a call was made to the international community, through the friends of ASSA, requesting help in our efforts.  We are satisfied to announce that in this period we launched our web site for national and international audiences.  We have received excellent commentaries and offers of help for the work that we are carrying out through the Circuit Rider program in El Salvador.