Engineers Without Borders-VCU: San Antonia de Lomerio
Our current project is to help provide a water distribution system for a community of 3000 people in the lowlands of Bolivia. The community, San Antonio de Lomerio, currently uses hand-pump wells to collect potable water for their households. At times of the year, the wells become dry and other less-sanitary sources are used instead. Our goal is to deliver potable water to each household in the community. We are still in the assessment phase. Potential solutions include use of deep wells, which may be expensive, or distribution of water from local lakes, sanitation and distance are issues. We have monthly Skype meeting with the community in Bolivia to discuss future work. Goals for our next trip are listed below:
- Delineate the watersheds of local lakes
- Assess current distribution line and elevated tank
- Inventory community resources (labor, skilled workers)
- Establish training program for accounting and skilled labor
- Analyze cost to implement system and cost to maintain system
- Supervise water cooperative
Some of the resources and materials which would be of use to us are delineated below:
- Environmental or Civil Engineer to assist students in design considerations
- Environmental/Civil Engineer for watershed management
- Assistance for student travel
- In-kind donations or loaning equipment: clinometer, theodolite, GPS
- Sub-meter accuracy GPS for in-depth topographical assessment of water sources
- Training and workshops for students
- Land-surveying, watershed management, water distribution/treatment systems
Link to Virginia Currents Video showcasing our first Assessment trip to Bolivia. This is likely our best tool for generating funding in the near future.
http://ideastations.org/video/
Our student website (still under construction)
http://www.studentorg.vcu.edu/
Link for donations. If anyone works for a company interested in supporting and funding humanitarian-aid work, we would be happy to present our project.
https://ssl.charityweb.net/
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