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Raleigh 09K Phase 2 - Gravity Water Feed

Changeover is upon the Raleigh 09K venturers once again and the usual struggle to access the hotel's only computer and landline has commenced. The past three weeks has seen Alpha 2, of which I am a proud member, pushed to their physical, mental and emotional limits in a challenging and exhausting sprint to complete the gravity water feed for Tampasak village.

A gravity water feed, as the name suggests, uses gravity to push water from one end of a pipe to the other, allowing the creators to re-route water from nearby rivers directly to the village. Our gravity water feed was to travel 4.7km from a soon-to-be created damn (110m above sea level), down through the jungle and over a ridge to the village where it would fill six 1,600 litre barrels whose water level was controlled by a float valve. From here a further five 1,600 litre barrels spread around Tampasak village would be connected giving the locals direct access to over 17,000 litres of drinking water, helping them through the dry season which had previously proved challenging.

Moving 4.7km of heavy pipe through the dense Borneo jungle is a pretty tall order, and without the sterling effort and commitment shown by the Sabah Forestry Department, the local villagers and the Alpha 2 teams, the project would never have been completed. Even with so many volunteers, the project suffered continuous unforeseen setbacks and required every ounce of energy, adaptability and motivation to prevent the ever-splitting pipes defeating us.

Having just completed a full phase consisting of 5:45 wake-up calls without a single day off I can safely say that we as a team left Tampasak proud in the knowledge that the infrastructure for fresh drinking water was in place. Raleigh and the Sabah Forestry Department are currently in the process of procuring a pump to siphon the water over the highest ridge and we expect the barrels to be full within the next few days.

To keep up to date on the great work Raleigh is doing in Borneo visit the website here.

Until next time...