EWB-UMN in Honduras: Water Distribution
Background
In the 1960’s, the government of Honduras started on a campaign to
improve the countries’ water systems. They initiated SANAA, the
National Water and Sewer Authority, which focused their efforts on
improving water access to rural communities. The water system that
our chapter of Engineers Without Borders is working with was built in
the mid-1980s. Over the past few decades, the communities that were
originally served by this system grew beyond what the system was
originally designed to handle. With few upgrades to the system, the
communities are left with inadequate or inequitable supplies of water.
Some neighborhoods receive as much water as they want at over 60psi
of pressure while others are lucky to turn their taps on and get
anything but air.
The Communities
There are nine communities that are served by the current water
system. The main source of income for many families is agriculture.
Within these communities are an estimated 3500 residents distributed
among 540 families. The native language of the people in the area is
Spanish. The communities of El Espino, El Desmonte, El Pozo, El
Culan, Las Pilas, El Bufalo, El Pueblito, Las Tunas, and La Vega each
have their own water system administration body, called the Junta de
Agua or Water Board. More recently, a main water board was created in
order to oversee the system as a whole.
Our Involvement
In 2008, Engineers Without Borders- Minnesota Professionals Chapter
was approached by Global Community Development (GCD), a
non-governmental organization that works in the area. They completed
two week-long assessment trips in June of 2009 and February of 2010.
In April of 2010, the Engineers Without Borders University of
Minnesota Student Chapter joined up with the professional chapter on
the Honduras Project. We are currently looking into various options for system
improvements. Among the options are wells, rainwater harvesting
systems, and extension of system capacity. We also are involved in
the community education side of the project as well.
Looking Forward
We traveled in May of 2011 for what we assume to be our last purely assessment trip. In the future we look forward to combining assessment and implementations of designs during our trips. On this trip,
we investigated alternative water supply options, took data points to further help us to create a hydraulic model of the current system and the area serviced by it,
strengthened ties with the community, started a water education
initiative, and, most importantly, gathered input from community members on what sort of
designs will work for them.
Student Opportunities
We are always looking for new students to get involved in our project!
We have two main sub groups within the project- design and social.
The design group works closely with the professional chapter to do the
technical work of the project. Skills that are taught and used in
this group include AutoCAD and hydraulic analysis. The education/social
aspect of this project includes designing learning modules for adults
and children in Spanish that will teach basic water conservation
techniques and will communicate with the community residents in order
to obtain their input on the project.
