Last year Ian Andrews, the Chief, villagers and I managed to carry out some repairs to water pipes enabling supply to the village.  We knew this wouldn’t last as bamboo, plastic pipe and duct tape have a limited lifespan. Talking with my neighbour about my experience, he put me in contact with a local company, Philmac, based at North Plympton.  They supplied me with technical advice and durable quality fittings to enable the broken metal pipe to be replaced in heavy duty poly pipe.  The metal pipe is still in place and can be reinstated should the plastic pipe ever be damaged by fire.

In September 2016 we returned, loaded up with a large travel bag and box of various fittings.  Not having given it a thought, we were bailed up by Dili customs and questioned why we had so many fittings.  Eventually, knowing it was a donation we were allowed to continue.

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I was keen to take pipe from Australia and had discussed this with a manufacturer, Vinidex.  Shipping costs and a short timeframe prevented us from doing so, so on this occasion 300m of 50mm pipe was purchased locally.  The funds to purchase the pipe were generously donated by Swe-Nge Tan from the first working team in 2015. My concern now turned to how we would get the heavy rolls of pipe up the mountain.  We unrolled one length and thought we would carry it up with 10 or more people.  The locals thought this was to slow, so up onto the shoulders and two men carried it up the mountain.  For those who have made the climb, you will understand what an effort that is.

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We were joined by the village Chief and several villagers.  Once at the top we unrolled the pipe and proceeded to place the poly pipe alongside the galvanised pipe.  This proved to be difficult in many spots due to the thick vegetation and narrow paths along shear drops. Most men carried bush knifes and cleared the way for us.  I had taken several 100mm stainless steel brackets which we used to secure the poly to the galv.  This protected the pipe from foot and animal traffic, stopped it from falling down the side of the cliff and took tension away from the fitting. The Philmac fittings worked so well.  It was very evident how superior the Philmac fittings are to those available in Dili which gives me great confidence around their durability (good plug).

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With water following and, of course, not one leak in sight, it was all thumbs up and a big cheers. To celebrate our hard work and to cool off, we had our customary sampling of freshly opened coconut milk. We wanted to check our handy work and walked down to the holding tank to listen to the water rushing in, such a rewarding end to our long day! With the job half done Bob and I set about carrying out an audit of the leaking pipes within the village. We found 14 points that needed attention to stop the continuous flow of water from the pipes plus issues at the base camp.

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One point I didn’t realise from last year is that the pipe within the village continues to reduce in size adding to the complexity and a need for a variety of fittings. One other problem faced, once you start working on a pipe or fitting you run the risk of creating issues at the other end. By the time we had worked through the village all but three leaks had been fixed, two lengths of pipe replaced and spares on the way with the next group to complete the remainder.

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An education message is being reinforced to conserve water and taps are now being turned off. Water will continue to be an issue for the village in its current state. During the wet season there is so much silt in the water it is undrinkable. The capacity of flow now stands as a hindrance to future expansion of crop productions.  These points have been documented separately and distributed externally to encourage discussion about a coordinated water strategy for the village. A big thank you to Philmac Australia for all their support and generous donation of fittings  which has made a huge difference to the village and people of Bahareduk.