Los Domos is located on a reservoir that is good for fishing and occasionally supplies water to the capital city of Morelia. However, having access to water is not the same as having drinking water on the table in the camp kitchen.
Presently churches and retreat planners have to calculate the logistics of bringing portable water to their events because there is no drinking water up in the mountains, back in the woods. (This is a costly bother to the overall program. In July, 2024 Los Domos had over 450 people days.)
Implementing improvements to the water system at Los Domos will serve visitors and contribute to the growth of the use of the facility.
Phase I – Filtration and Purification
Turn the water we have into drinking water. (Osmosis and UV systems plus high-grade specialized holding tanks for large use areas of need.) [There is no existing purification set-up for camp or site housing.]
$4500
Phase II – Automation of the Moving and Storing of Water
Update pumping and procedures for getting water into major existing deposits and holding tanks.* (Solar pumps and electronic sensors.)
$2000
Phase III – Drilling a Well
Improving the source of the water. [No well exists.]
$3500
Note: These are approximations. Any excess funds to the suggested $10,000 cost will be redirected to other vital tasks.
*At Present: To run the system as it is now, you need to be a small engines repair mechanic to fix the gas pumps (two of them are needed). You have to be a plumper and able to fix water lines that are exposed to the pumps (they break every few uses). You have to be vigilant in checking the levels of the water and make time on the calendar to truck one pump to the “lake” and every 2 hours or so fill the pump with gas from morning to late into the night for a couple of days… until the upper deposit is full again (good for a few months).) And because there is no purification system there is no drinking water.
An additional part of the plan is to replace the gas pumps with solar pumps and have the levels monitored electronically. Beyond that, having a well to pump out of, instead of a level-changing reservoir, would allow for more control over the condition of the water.
Two pumps (of either gas or solar) are needed because the change in elevation is more than one pump can manage. As it is, two pumps can hardly handle the 130+ foot rise from lake to second deposit.