Pumping drinking water with solar energy for an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable village.

The majority of the inhabitants of Ovejeras are farmers, and the drinking water service in the village has historically been too expensive. In meetings with the annual ordinary Assembly, the previous board of directors (as of 2016) asked for extraordinary fees to fix or maintain the stationary pump, and also increased the cost per cubic meter on the grounds that the fixed costs of the pump were too high. (i) payment of plumber’s and secretary’s salaries) (ii) payment of electricity service bills for pumping, which are paid to Codensa and are extremely high.

At that time, no new water points were granted to any inhabitant of Ovejeras, who even went to court with lawsuits that they never won. If any family did not pay the water before 5 p.m. on the last day of payment (they were only in the office -which belongs to the community-, because the previous board did not have a bank account, as required by the bylaws), the water service was cut off, regardless of whether there were children or elderly people in the homes. The aqueduct service was not provided every day, nor 24 hours a day, it was not permanent even though there was no technical reason for it.

At the 2016 assembly, the board again sounded an alert and again demanded extraordinary fees and increased water costs.” Tired of the situation that had been going on for about ten years, the Assembly appointed a commission to review the books and verify the veracity of the information.

The committee called a new meeting and delivered a report that revealed information from the current board. On the same day a new board of directors was appointed, which since then set new goals and a vision called “Vision 2020”, which stated that this year there would no longer be a single inhabitant of Ovejeras without water, that the cost of service would not be increased and that fixed costs would be reduced, in an environmentally friendly manner.

To begin with, they renewed the bylaws to listen to all the subscribers, so that they would reflect the reality of the community. Permanent water service was installed, every day, every hour; paper bills were eliminated (they are now sent electronically); a bank account was opened where subscribers can deposit their bill payments; an agreement was made with the CAR to plant native trees on the banks of the stream that feeds the spring that feeds the town.

Regarding the use of solar energy, the experience of a person who installed a heater that worked with this energy, in which its implementation reflected a decrease in the cost, was known. The project was socialized in a general assembly of the aqueduct, in which a technical visit was made by the engineer, in which he made a proposal of how many panels were required for the process.

For the installation, an advance payment was requested for the water service, which was divided into four installments, thus making it possible to finance the solar energy project.

In summary, with regard to the cost of electricity, the 18-20 hp stationary pump was replaced by a 7.5 hp submersible pencil pump, and finally, in October 2021, by a submersible pencil pump (with similar characteristics to the previous one) for the solar system. In terms of training, the aqueduct plumber was trained by the technicians who executed the project.

Technical characteristics of the proposal

Solar panels, submersible pencil pump

Productive, community, environmental, or economic processes or activities that were positively impacted by the implementation of the community experience of TEJ.

The energy experience is fundamental to provide water to rural homes; it is not used for agricultural and livestock activities. However, some families use it for this purpose, especially during the long summers, which are very common in the area.

Women’s participation in the TEJ community experience

In the Ovejeras community there are no separate groups of women or men, so participation is equal.

Impact of the community experience of TEJ on public policy

In March 2020, during the official inauguration of the pumping system, which comes from non-conventional renewable energy (the sun), it was announced that the monthly energy bill for pumping drinking water to the municipal capital of Suesca and three of the 19 villages, reaches the municipality for 36 million pesos. 

Undoubtedly, this data reveals the social, economic and environmental dimension of the Ovejeras project, because if the municipality picks up this community experience, in just one month it guarantees the supply of free energy for its aqueduct for at least 20 years.