Asociación Salvadoreña de Agua Quarterly Reports

Second Quarter Report April, May, June 2011

Second Quarter Report July, August, September 2011

Partnering with Locals

In El Salvador, IRWA works together with La Asociación Salvadoreña de Sistemas de Agua (ASSA), a network of local Water Boards, to provide technical assistance for the water and sanitation needs of underserved communities.

Restoring Clean Water After Natural Disasters

Currently, our Circuit Riders have their hands full fixing and restoring water and sanitation systems damaged, and in some cases destroyed, by Hurricane Ida and the subsequent land slides. IRWA, in partnership with ASSA, is working to identify the most critical needs of affected communities, and to address water quality issues, especially for those families who were displaced by the disaster. Since Hurricane Ida struck, we have maintained close contact with the Water Boards in all of the affected areas. In response to the crisis, we have mobilized all of our resources.

To date, we have carried out 25 training sessions; provided technical assistance to 12 water systems; provided 250 buckets of hypochlorite to 125 water systems; measured the free chlorine residual in at least 30 water systems; installed Norweco hypo-chlorinators in 3 critically damaged water systems; and tested for the presence of E.coli in 30 systems.

In 2010, a grant from the Laird Norton Foundation allowed U.S. based Circuit Riders to assist the ASSA Circuit Riders in evaluating the water and sanitation needs of 15 communities. Based on the data, a basic plan of action and conceptual design was developed to address the communities’ most pressing needs. This will hopefully lead to the development and funding of community-based projects.

International Rural Water Association