By Ashley Ciglar -- Engineers Without Borders USA, Santa Clara University Student Chapter is implementing a bio-sand filter pilot project in northern Honduras in a rural village called El Pital. The project will help determine if in-house or community wide potable water treatment will be used for a community water distribution system.
In August/September 2012 a group Santa Clara University students and professional mentors will travel to El Pital to teach community members how to use and maintain bio-sand filters that were donated to community members by Rotary International two years prior. Nearly all the community members who have a bio-sand filter don’t use it properly resulting in a fear to use them. Students will teach members of the community water board how to use the filters in their household. The water board members will then be required to teach another family how to use the water filter and those families will teach another until all families in El Pital have been trained. Students will visit annually and communicate through email periodically to monitor the project. Additionally, community workshops about health, hygiene, sanitation, and the water cycle will be taught.
 |
| EWB and water board members from the community of El Pital standing in front of the water tank |
The current president of the Santa Clara University Student Chapter, Ashley Ciglar, first learned about bio-sand filters when she volunteered for blueEnergy in June/July 2010. This previous experience with bio-sand filters led to Ashley's idea of the pilot project for the chapter. Find out more about the SCU chapter of Engineers Without Borders at
www.scu.edu/ewb.
 |
| Ashley (far left) and other bE interns with family in Rama Cay |
No comments:
Post a Comment