The Need
The University of Cincinnati chapter of EWB started working with the community of Roche in the Fall of 2017 after receiving a request by their water committee. The community had a water tank at their clinic location being fed by a pump prior to EWB's involvement, but this was only accessible to a limited number of people. This caused the majority of the community to use other sources of fresh water, such as collection pools and natural springs that were contaminated by bacteria. This lack of access to clean water, like in other areas, causes the spread of water-borne diseases throughout the community and kept some kids from being able to consistently attend school.
Project HISTORY
The EWB UC chapter has been working with Roche since 2017 to provide clean water access to the community. Due to the community already having an electric pump set up to fill a tank prior to our arrival, it was decided to utilize the pre-existing system and build on top of the system in order to expand and reach more community members. In August of 2018, the two primary schools were set up with their tanks, while an extension to other areas is being explored. On our trip to Roche in January of 2019, we started implementation at our third primary school, Ratia.
Future Involvement
We will continue to finish at Ratia, as well as try to include a fourth school, Roche Secondary, into our system. We will also be reviewing ways to make the system more efficient whether through a solar pump or reconstruction of the system.