ACRAZAME-ZP

On Saturday, June 11th, longtime partner CRC, the ACRASAME Water Board, and CoCoDA inaugurated the recently retrofitted solar-powered water system for ten rural communities west of Suchitoto.  This system, hosted in Sitio Zapotal, provides water to over 600 families and over 2,000 people.  It is the largest solar-powered water system collaboration in CoCoDA history with 96 solar panels in operation.

During the ceremony, Edgardo Molina of CRC, Félix Ángela Pineda of the Acrasame Water Board, and Jim Mulholland of CoCoDA spoke and celebrated the success of this ambitious two-year collaboration.  Engineer Elias Aguilar explained the system and gave tours of the project to all those interested.

There was also music, dancing, food, and an opportunity for leaders from the ten representative communities to share their joy.  Jim Mulholland led the 75 gathered guests in chanting “Lo Hicimos,” which is “we did it” in Spanish.

The Acrasame solar-powered water project is a hybrid system that uses solar power to energize a pump during the day.  When needed at night, the pump still uses the electrical grid. 

It is anticipated that the system will save the community about 60% in costs and make this system much more sustainable in the near future as electrical costs increase and government subsidies decrease.

Click here to watch the video of this Solar Power Water System.