Future engineers help El Salvador town conquer water problems

Future engineers help El Salvador town conquer water problems

Clean, plentiful water is something most Americans take for granted, but that is not the case in San Jose Villanueva,
El Salvador. About 750 people there share a single source of water: a natural spring located on the edge of the town. Until recently, two small pipes, producing only slightly more water than two standard faucets, provided nearly all the water used for drinking, clothes washing, bathing and domestic use.

The leaders of the Rice Engineers Without Borders (EWB) team will present how they solved this problem at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, in McMurtry Auditorium, Anne and Charles Duncan Hall.

The Rice EWB team visited San Jose Villanueva in January 2004 to explore the possibility of partnering with the community to make the El Salvador project a reality. The EWB team spent the past two years researching and designing engineering solutions to the community’s problems. This plan came to fruition when the Rice team went to San Jose Villanueva for nearly 50 days and implemented the project along with community members.

To address the community’s water-related problems, the Rice EWB team designed and constructed a 40,000-liter reinforced concrete water-storage tank with seven clothes-washing stations, three drinking-water taps, a private bathing area and a nearby composting latrine.

Since the women often wash clothes late into the evening and early in the morning, the team also designed and implemented a solar-powered lighting system to improve the security and accessibility of the washing stations.

To improve health and reduce childhood morbidity, the team began a regionwide filtration and purification initiative using affordable in-home colloidal silver-lined ceramic filters. Working in cooperation with the local health clinic, the Rice EWB team made clean water available to more than 1,000 people for only $3 per year for each family. The project was completed last month.

“The value of this project to the community of San Jose Villanueva is obvious, but what might not be so obvious is its value to us as future engineers,” said Ross Gordon, one of the team’s project leaders. “The engineering, project management and leadership skills, as well as the cultural exposure, we have gained while working on this project have been invaluable additions to our education.”

The leaders of the Rice EWB team, Martel College seniors Gordon, David Kelvin, Stewart Walther and Alex Gordon, will present a detailed look at the El Salvador Water Project. All members of the Rice community are invited to this event, which will be followed by a reception in Martel Hall.

An in-depth view of the project can be found online at <http://ewb.rice.edu/elsalvador/overview.shtml>.