LOCATION:
Puerta de Aguilar, Nuevo León, Mexico
Approximately 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Matehuala, and 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Doctor Arroyo.
COMMUNITY DETAILS:
Puerta de Aguilar sits in a valley surrounded by mountains which provide rainwater runoff for drinking water. This runoff water is contaminated with bacteria, a major public health hazard. The majority of the villagers get sick really often from water related causes due to contamination, and the nearest health clinics are far away. The village of 215 people (65 families) relies on a small reservoir for drinking water and during the dry season, the water is rationed between families.
Water for human consumption and for domestic labor is obtained from a manmade pond, which is located down the village and from a small deposit of water (reservoir) called “trampa” to trap water from the rain. The water is supplied by rainwater but there is no protection. For this reason, it is normal for the water to get contaminated from trash, animal fecal matter and waste.
The most basic health needs for these villages are water purification for drinking purposes, improvement to water structures such as reservoirs, and a way to improve irrigations systems and farming to alleviate the problem of the lack of rain. Puerta de Aguilar requested EWB-USA’s assistance in addressing the bacterial contamination challenge. The EWB-USA team decided the BYOW system would be a good way to clean their contaminated water.
PROJECT SUMMARY:
As a result of the initial community assessment, it was determined a BYOW system was the most appropriate technology for the community to clean their drinking water.
The “Bring Your Own Water (BYOW) Treatment System” was uniquely designed to address the water treatment requirements of rural communities. The BYOW system consists of a roughing filter, rapid sand filter, and ultraviolet irradiation system. The BYOW system treats water collected in containers by local residents. The system treats water at a rate of approximately 10 liters per minute, and can provide up to 8,400 liters of treated water per day.
The water committee, the village leaders, and the heads of households voted on a location for the BYOW in the community for a future implementation based on their needs: the village requested a modification to the BYOW system such as an electric pump because electricity is available in the village and due to the age of the habitants who go retrieve water (mainly young kids and elderly women).
PROJECT ADOPTION DATE:
December 2007 (South Houston/JSC Professional Chapter)
PROJECT STATUS:
Closed
In June 2008, the EWB-USA team installed a BYOW water treatment system to address the problem of runoff contaminated drinking water. The completed system was installed with help from the local community, who provided electricity, building materials, and labor.
Top left: Community member is trained by EWB-USA volunteer on water quality testing. Top right: BYOW System. Bottom left: Community member sealing one of the drum lids inside the BYOW System room. Bottom right: EWB-USA volunteers talking to community members.
The installed system was tested during the trip and it was successfully eliminating bacterial contamination from the provided surface water. However, the high levels of fine clay in the water were not entirely filtered by the system (turbidity still present). The system was reducing the particulates in the water by 50-75%, and reducing bacterial contamination by 100%.
BYOW system placed in new building housing.
It was planned that the system would be operated by the Puerta de Aguilar community water committee, with the EWB-USA team returning after several months to evaluate the success of the system, and the community’s response to determine if any design changes are appropriate, or if the system should be replicated as installed in neighboring villages.
EWB-USA volunteer training community members on the operation of the BYOW system.
Through the course of several monitoring trips across the years following implementation, the EWB-USA team found the BYOW water treatment system to be effective when used with correct settings, but it was not always the case that the community doing so. Use of the system was also fairly limited due to a number of extenuating community circumstances. Ultimately, the federal government began to pipe water to the community, effectively eliminating the need for the BYOW water treatment system.
Community girls getting water from the BYOW system.
The project was closed out in September 2012 without plans for any future work.
TEAM LEAD:
- Dorothy N. Ruiz Martínez – Project Lead