Location
Russey Village, Tani Commune, Angkor Chey District, Kampot Province, Kingdom of Cambodia
Community Description
Russey village is a small, rural village in northeastern Kampot Province in Cambodia, with a population of approximately 1,000 residents. The village is located 4 kilometers east of the Angkor Chey district town of Tani, 70 kilometers northeast of the provincial town of Kampot, and 110 kilometers south of the national capital of Phnom Penh. The village is also about 4 kilometers east of Highway 31, the closest secondary national road.
The majority of families that live in Russey village survive by farming rice and on subsistence agriculture.
Serey Songkhum Primary School is the only primary school located within Russey village. The school has 8 full-time teachers, and it serves 110 students in grades 1 through 6. Due to the high birth rate in Russey village, which is similar to that in the rest of Cambodia, the enrollment at Serey Songkhum Primary School is expected to increase by approximately 5% annually over the coming years.
Serey Songkhum Primary School is directly adjacent to the Serey Songkhum Pagoda. Four monks reside within the pagoda. Three to four times a month, over 60 village residents go to the pagoda for religious celebrations. During major holidays and religious festivals, which occur four times a year, over 500 people gather at the pagoda.
Problem Addressed
Currently, Serey Songkhum Primary School has two 500-gallon water storage cisterns to serve the entire student population at the school. Currently, water is collected from a pond and unconnected water cisterns on the school’s and pagoda’s grounds.
Due to the limited facilities that exist presently, and because of the increasing need for more facilities based on the expected increase in student enrollment, there is an evident need for additional rainwater storage facilities.
Project Description
This project is to expand the water storage capacity at Serey Songkhum Primary School and Pagoda by building a new rainwater storage system at the school to serve the primary school students, school staff, resident monks, and visitors to the pagoda.
The tanks will be made from readily-available one-meter-diameter concrete pipe sections stacked on top of one another on a poured concrete foundation. (These concrete pipe sections are also used to build latrine tanks in the area and can be bought cheaply and easily.) The joints of the concrete pipes will be grouted, and the interior of the concrete pipe sections will be sealed to make waterproof tanks.
PVC piping will connect the tanks together so that they form a single system. These tanks will be fed by supply pipes linked to the rain gutters of the pagoda building. They will feed a system of small-diameter PVC piping that will run to latrines and handwashing stations that need water.
Six water tanks will be built. The rings will be 1 meter in diameter and 60 cm tall. Five of them will be stacked, making individual tanks that are 3 meters tall.
The total capacity of the system will be just under 15 cubic-meters (15,000 liters). The design accomplishes the specific purpose of supplying water pressure to the delivery piping that feeds the latrines and handwashing stations.
The primary purpose of this water storage system is to supply two proximate latrines with water for flushing toilets and for washing hands. However, if it is needed for drinking water it will be treated.
This type of system has proven effective in the past, and has already been installed at a few primary schools in Angkor Chey District by The Buddhist Library Project.
Construction of the cement foundation and concrete rings will be completed by village residents who are skilled laborers. They will use readily-available local materials. The remaining unskilled, manual labor will be performed by school staff, monks from the pagoda, and local community members. Water Charity funds will be used to pay the skilled contractors and to purchase the building materials, including cement, sand, concrete pipe sections, waterproof sealant, PVC piping, and rain gutters.
The head monk at Serey Songkhum Pagoda requested this project for the primary school and pagoda. He will oversee much of the construction, and will provide maintenance and repair in the future. The pagoda also will pay any additional amount of money necessary to complete this project.
Project Impact
Over 620 people will directly benefit from this project including 110 primary school students, 8 school staff members, 4 resident monks, and 500+ community members who attend functions at the school and pagoda.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Gregory Cera
Comments
This is an important project to provide for the water needs of the school.
Gregory previously completed the Serey Songkhum Wat and Primary School Latrine Project – Cambodia.
Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00
Donations Collected to Date
$555.00 + additional amounts
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded through the generosity of friends and family of Peace Corps Volunteer Gregory Cera.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Gregory of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Gregory and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.