Programs Report
June 7, 2019

Representatives from “Engineers Without Borders” shared with us their inspiring water filtration project they completed in Nepal, India. These engineers represented the CalTech Chapter of the organization which has more than 180 University Chapters and over 650 current active projects in the world. The Engineers Without Borders” helps students apply what they are learning in school to real life issues that make an impact on the world.

Their project in Nepal was in a small village called Illam. The project utilized a very simple concept to provide clean, consistent water for the more than 200 people living in this village. The water in t his village was high in bacteria and nitrates mostly due to the agriculture in the area polluting the surface water. Since there is no electricity in the area, the project had to rely on gravity to operate the system. Also, since this village’s elevation is 8,000 ft, the crew had to work with the locals to carry the sand, gravel and concrete to the location to construct the water tap.

Basically, the project used layers of sand and gravel to filter out the bacteria. The clean water then flowed thru a tap station that had to sections; one for washing clothes and showering and another one for drinking water. Since this was a water source that was always flowing, they also built a holding tank so that they could shut down the tap station during the night to store the water accumulated during the day.

The total cost of the project was about $20,000 and involved not only the assessment of the area’s need but the implementation, monitoring and ongoing evaluation of the project. The next project the team is looking at will be in Uganda. So stay tuned….