Most of Haiti does not have potable water and many rural communities to not have access to water except by carrying it by buckets from distant streams or springs.
Water wells with solar powered submersible pumps equipped with purification filters greatly enhance life for Haitian families, especially the women that have to carry water great distances by bucket.
<A basic water well will cost about $10,000 for a 200 ft well.
Two kinds of water pumps can be installed:
The first is a simple hand powered lift pump. The cost is approximately $???? The advantage is there is no security required and the local population simply pumps water into their own container and takes the water home.
Minimum maintenance is required
The second kind of pump is a submersible electric pump powered by solar panels. The cost would be about $2,000 US including a tank.
This system would operate by the pump connected directly to the solar panel with no batteries and no inverter. The water would be pumped only when there is sunlight into a storage tank. A simple float switch would turn the power off when the tank is full and when the tank reaches a specified minimum level a switch turns the pump on. If there is power (sunlight) the pump refills the tank.
An added enhancement is that if the tank is elevated, it can discharge by gravity through a filter that removes 99.97% of contaminants including bacteria viruses.
The advantage is there is water available on demand with no hand pumping and the water can be potable.
The disadvantage is the system is vulnerable to theft and vandalism and some security must be provided. Also some maintenance is required for the pump and filters.
A simple design can easily be duplicated for multiple sites with no additional engineering.
In some cases a well already exists and the pump needs to be replaced. Gebeau in the Jeremie Circuit and Durocher in the Les Cayes circuits only need pump replacement.