Water Resources Evaluation Following Natural Disaster In Haiti

This paper will present a case study of the impacts of a hurricane and the resultant flooding during June 2005 in Deschapelles, Haiti on spring box collection systems and gravity feed water systems which serve Hospital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) and the surrounding Deschapelles community. The paper will explore long and short term options for replacement or rehabilitation of existing systems and discuss the field evaluation performed and recommendations made by the author in cooperation with the directors of the Grant Foundation. HAS is a private hospital which was founded in 1954 by Dr. Larimer and Mrs. Gwen Grant Mellon. Currently HAS is funded and administered through the Grant Foundation in Pittsburg and provides medical services, community development, and community health services to the Artibonite Valley in Haiti in service to well over 300,000 people. The paper presents the culmination of the project which has evolved over the past five years involving the professor project leader, two graduate students, and one senior level BSCE in developing field survey data, technical feasibility studies and preliminary cost estimates.