Water Treatment Visit

On Friday we took a day trip to the capital of Oromia, Adama (also known
as Nazare) to visit a water treatment plant. The Awash River flows
through this area, and where the river turns sharply, they have set up a
number of raw water pumps to supply the facility. The setup is similar
to what you would see in Japan or other countries, with the water going
through a series of sediment pools to clear out any large and then
smaller particles before it goes through a treatment process with chlorine.
The purpose of the trip was for water supply engineers in training to
see an actual example of water treatment, meet with the chemist and pump
technician, and ask any questions they may have. The students were all
eager and taking notes during the 90 minute tour, and it was interesting
for me as well.
We finished the visit just after noon, so J and I headed to the town
center with Dereje and had a late lunch. Since it was Friday, a day of
fasting in Ethiopia which means Orthodox Christians do not eat animal
products, we had a vegetarian meal of enjera, wat and vegetables, which
was filling and tasted good. Following an after-meal macchiato, we got
back on the road for the 2-hour trip back to Addis. Reaching our hotel
just before 5pm and J and I collapsed on the sofa for a while.