Multidisciplinary Student Team Partners With Water For People To Assess Water And Sanitation Projects In Guatemala

Six students and one faculty member teamed with Water For People in the western highlands of Guatemala during the Summer of 2008 to assess water supply, water quality, sanitation and hygiene issues in 35 remote villages. The multi-disciplinary team consisted of three environmental engineers, one environmental scientist, one human geographer, one international history major, and a Latin America studies major. Over the course of eight days, the team evaluated 35 water projects, 3 sanitation projects and administered 270 surveys to collect critical data related to water supply/quality and sanitation/hygiene practices. Most villages in the area receive drinking water from capped mountain springs fed into a distribution network that supply household taps. The physical integrity and design issues associated with the systems, as well as systemic maintenance issues, were identified during our assessment. Recurring issues included lack of proper training for basic system maintenance and operation, as well as insufficient tariffs from the local populace to purchase repair parts and chlorine. Hygiene was not an issue with regards to availability of soap, but instead with understanding the proper time and method of use in order to avoid recontamination. Data from the assessments were compiled into a final report detailing not only the physical issues from an engineering vantage point, but also the underlying social issues stemming from four decades of civil war. This paper addresses the importance not only of conducting projects in developing countries, but of also ensuring that the proper systems are in place to make projects sustainable over time. It also provides analysis of educational lessons learned by the students from this experience. Lastly, this paper outlines the key issues from our report and addresses solutions to those issues applicable not only to Guatemala, but to humanitarian assistance projects in general.