Water supply lake
Ekas Bay is a dream location for tourism, but in the background Heaven on the Planet is dealing with some difficult problems to supply the basics of water, electricity and transport. The government is building a new dam for the south-east region of Lombok and water may flow more freely in 2015, but for now the south-east at Ekas is dry during about 8 months of glorious sunshine. Water would enliven the land, improve the farming and keep our gardens green and fresh all year round and so this year’s intermittent early rain was very welcome.
Two costly bores have proved to be a bit saline and muddy … not providing the water quality needed for our guests. A Dutch company offered to build two “Water Pyramid” solar desalination units, but they weren’t suitable for our location. One Dutch intern at Heaven tried to make a simple solar desalination unit which was big enough to provide drinking water only, but he spent most of his time in the excellent surf and the project lapsed! Recycling of washing water is in place, but the water usage remains high because of the many staff and guests at the Property. Consequently, we have been trucking in some 4000 litres of fresh water per day. This is both costly and the need for diesel transportation is opposed to our environmental ethos.
So the good news is that Heaven purchased land this year (2009) in the valley behind Ocean Heaven. A great big hole has been dug … some 30 m by 50 m and 5 m deep. Now, we are waiting for this year’s rains to see if the new Lake will fill and help us through the dry season next year. Seeding with fish in the lake will eliminate the mosquitoes and provide fresh fish. This is all very exciting for us … taking Heaven on the Planet one step further towards an environmentally beneficial Property.
At the same time, Heaven has enlarged the village dam … but donations to greatly expand that would be helpful.