Engineers Without Borders – San Diego Professional Chapter » Potable Water Distribution Project (Andhra Pradesh, India)

Potable Water Distribution Project (Andhra Pradesh, India)

Fundraising for Andhra Pradesh, India

Goal: 100 / 100 (100%)

About the Project

Engineers Without Borders – San Diego Professional Chapter plans to provide water treatment and distribution system upgrades for a coastal village of approximately 4,000 people in Andhra Pradesh, India. The project is located in Chakicherla Pedda Pattapu Palem, or Chakicherla for short, which is about a 45-minute drive from the town of Ongole and located about one-kilometer from the Indian Ocean. The primary economy in the village is fishing, prawn farming, and day laboring. Most water is obtained from hand pumps located centrally in the village or from a few wealthy residents who have private hand pumps. It takes approximately 45 minutes per day for the women and girls to fetch water.

The project was kicked off in the summer of 2006 when EWB-SD sent a small team to India to develop the distribution system for the village. Throughout 2006 and 2007, the team evaluated several potential potable water sources with the help of other volunteers. In 2007, the team returned to evaluate several treatment alternatives and construct several hand pumps for the fishermen. The hand pumps saved the fisherman approximately 40 minutes of walking time per day for collecting water for drinking and fishing purposes.

Although there has been tremendous progress, challenges in water treatment alternatives remain. To date, the India team has evaluated solar disinfection, chlorine tablets, various point of use technologies, slow sand filtration, and reverse osmosis alternatives. The team has determined that slow sand filtration and reverse osmosis treatment methods are the most promising when evaluated using the triple bottom line of social, environmental and economic sustainability. Future milestones include the design and construction of a distribution pump station, maintenance program development for the treatment facility and the distribution system, and upgrades to the existing distribution system.

The next site visit is scheduled for late February to evaluate slow sand filtration and reverse osmosis with the villagers and to finalize the design. Construction is anticipated to begin in late 2011 or early 2012.