Spring Protection & Water System Project
Terreritos, Honduras
Project Report as of November 2006
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Context - PennEWB Mission and Purpose
Mirroring EWB-USA's mission, PennEWB's seeks to partner with developing communities
worldwide to improve their quality of life through implementation of environmentally, socially, and
economically sustainable engineering projects, while also developing internationally responsible
students and professionals. PennEWB seeks to collaborate with communities to find solutions that
address the roots of any challenges preventing residents from achieving a baseline standard of living.
PennEWB projects can involve the design and construction of water, sanitation, energy, education,
and shelter systems. These projects are initiated by, and completed with, contributions from the host
community, which is trained to operate the systems without external assistance. In this way,
PennEWB ensures that its projects are appropriate and self-sustaining. The projects are conducted by
groups of students under the guidance of faculty and professional engineers from partner engineering
firms.
PennEWB is dedicated to giving Penn students the opportunity to reach out to developing
communities and to their own backyard. Our foreign involvement is a mutually beneficial process.
The partner community is provided with needed assistance to improve quality of life and plan for their
future. Students are exposed to new cultures, obtain experience planning and implementing an
engineering project, and are made aware of outstanding engineering challenges in developing
communities. PennEWB's local projects fulfill a similar role. Locally, we work with area high schools
and other Penn student organizations to complete educational and outreach initiatives related to
sustainable engineering and sustainable development.
Project Background
Location
Village of Terreritos, Municipality of Nueva Frontera, Department of Santa Barbara, Honduras.
Problem Identified and History
Terreritos (“little piece of earth”), Honduras is amongst the poorest communities in the
Municipality of Nueva Frontera within a country that is one of the three poorest nations in the western
hemisphere. A growing farming village home to 225 inhabitants, one third of the houses in Terreritos
were not connected to a running water supply in early 2006, and most of those that were did not
receive an adequate amount of water. This condition has been the norm over the past several years,
and has resulted in a lower quality of life than warranted, inadequate sanitation, and health problems
such as a skin condition that affects many of the children in the community. The dry seasons during
the summer have been especially hard on the villagers of Terreritos.
At the time of the community’s founding, residents extracted water from small wells nearby.
This solution supplied water to the initial twenty-five households, but it became clear that this would
not be a sustainable source as the community grew. In 1995 water was routed from a water spring
providing 2.5 gallons per minutes about two kilometres away through a distribution tank and on to the
existing houses. Within a decade however, this system was proving insufficient for the 46 current
households. In response, the community purchased land containing a water spring located about five
kilometres from the village, estimated to provide eight gallons of water per minute. When added to
the existing water supply, the new source will provide the community with sufficient water to meet
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current needs as well as ample surplus for the projected future growth of the community. The
community needed assistance to complete a distribution system from this new source. Working in
partnership with a local non-governmental organization, FUCOHSO, PennEWB commenced work
with Terreritos in the fall of 2005 to make the system a reality.
Project Participants
Sponsors
PennEWB appreciates the support of the corporate and individual sponsors who have made project
work in Terreritos to date possible:
Corporate:
Pennoni Associates Inc. & the employees of Pennoni Associates Inc.
DMJM Harris | AECOM
CVM Structural Engineers
Apparel Logistics
Textport Syndicate
University of Pennsylvania-affiliated:
Weiss Tech House
Office of the Provost
Engineering Student Activities Council
Individuals:
Martin Asher I-Wei Chen, Peter and Kathryn Davies, Lea Engle, Dave Pope, Karen Winey,
Russ Composto
Professional & Project Mentors
Tony Sauder P.E., P.G.,
Linford Martin, P.E. ,
Claire Fellman,
Rick Strattmater
Meg VanSciver,
Megan Dougherty
Joe Sun
Mike Hugel
Kenneth Foster
Senior Hydrogeologist at Pennoni Associates Inc.
EWB-MAP Professional Chapter Representative
Graduate Student, University of Pennsylvania School of Design
Project Manager, EWB-USA
Project Manager, EWB-USA
SEAS Program Coordinator
SEAS Director of Academic Affairs
SEAS Director of Corporate Relations
Professor of Bioengineering
Project Assessment On-Site Team
Alex Mittal, Daniel Wallman, Tony Sauder P.E., P.G.
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Project Implementation On-Site Team
Back Row: Matt Owens, Aiwen Xu, Daniel
Wallman, Nicolas Blanchet, George Sworo, Ellis
Lanaux, Alex Mittal, Kuong Chaing
Front Row: Angelina Benson-Glanz, Hong
Truong, Priyanka Agarwal, Kate McArdle, Sarah
Casey, Andrea Lo
Not Pictured: Tony Sauder P.E.,P.G.; Linford
Martin P.E.
Water System Follow-up and Latrine Assessment On-Site Team
Nicholas Blanchet, Thomas Macrina, Priscilla Matos, Hong Truong, Tony Sauder
Local Participants
The villagers of Terreritos; FUCOHSO, a Sustainable Harvest International regional nonprofit
Project Progression
Initial Steps and Research Phase
In February 2004, PennEWB founder Arthur Chan initiated contact with FUCOHSO, a
Honduran non-profit devoted to providing small agricultural communities with the resources to adopt
sustainable farming practices. He learned of the existence of an existing partnership between
FUCOHSO and EWB-USA and learned of the needs of several communities for an improved water
supply. For the next year, PennEWB members conducted research into the available options for a
sustainable water transportation, storage, and distribution system and continued the work of
establishing EWB as a permanent student organization. In the Fall of 2005 direct communication was
established between PennEWB and Terreritos in preparation for a site assessment visit. Also in
preparation for this trip, preliminary design plans were submitted to and approved by the technical
advisory committee of EWB-USA, a group of 30 professionals involved in engineering, sustainable
development, and other areas of expertise relevant to the project.
Site Assessment Trip
Dates: January 12-17, 2006
Accomplishments:
- Identified and corrected flaws in mapping data provided by SANAA, the Honduran
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national water authority
–Assessed local suppliers of necessary building materials
–Established a strong working relationship with community leaders
–Conducted a baseline health and community needs assessment
–Carried out preliminary water purity testing, revealing that the village’s existing water
supply may be contaminated with bacteria and pesticides from nearby coffee fields
Implementation Trip
Dates: May 6-20, 2006
Accomplishments:
- Excavated spring source and built protection system
- Constructed collection tank at beginning of pipeline
- Reassessed pipeline path
- Laid Pipe and dug trench at early stage of pipeline
- Installed supports at ravine crossings
- Participated in community events including weekly soccer
match, mother’s day celebration, and church services
- Provided health education skits for children
Water System Follow-up and Latrine Assessment
Dates: October 20-25, 2006
Accomplishments:
- Reviewed pipeline completed over the summer by the community and
measured 4x increase in water flow due to the new system Assessed new storage tank location and
requirements for new pipes to households.
- Conducted focus groups to assess community needs and effects of Phase I of system; learned of
perceived decrease in diarrhea and scabbies due to increased water supply
- Assessed future community needs, sanitary practices, and evaluated the feasibility of helping the
community expand the availability of pit latrines
- Conducted second round of water purity testing
- Discussed at community meetings the tasks necessary for maintenance of the system including
regular cleaning of the collection and distribution tanks, routine checking of vulnerable points
such as ravine crossings, and installation of additional pressure release valves.
System Components
Schematic Diagram of Water Distribution:
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Spring Protection and Collection Box
In order to minimize infiltration of groundwater at the source, the
area around the spring eyes was excavated and a spring protection structure
was erected above it. Earthwork to divert surface water was placed above
this to minimize soil erosion and prevent contamination from run-off. Water
emerging from each side of the Spring Box was routed through a concrete
collection box and into the pipeline.
Pipeline
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Primarily used buried 1½ inch PVC. Galvanized steel piping
used for areas where trenching was impractical.
Corrections to the original SANAA survey were made by
members of the May implementation team and by GeoConsult,
a local surveying company
o The section north of the main road (red and white
dotted line) is ~1,300m in length and represents the
most challenging section of pipeline
o 3 deep ravine crossings requiring galvanized pipe with
reinforced concrete end supports
The ~3,700m section south of the main road follows along a
smaller dirt road.
o more straightforward section of pipeline
o Mostly buried PVC with small gully crossings that may
require some galvanized pipe
Ravine Crossings
At several locations along the pipeline
the sloped and rocky nature of the terrain is not
suitable for buried PVC. At these points
galvanized pipe crossings held at each end by
reinforced concrete supports.
Distribution Tank
The October follow-up team helped determine the location for a new water distribution tank to be
constructed by residents with funding and design support from PennEWB. The new tank can be
placed at a higher elevation than the existing tank, and this combined with the greater rate of flow
from the new spring will allow the community to provide water to several households disconnected
from or underserved by the old system. In the meantime, water from both the old and new spring
source has been routed through the existing tank.
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Team Accommodations and Logistics
While in Terreritos, the assessment and implementation
project teams stayed at a FUCOHSO agricultural training
camp located about a half a kilometer from the center of the
community, as well as in the homes of villagers. Though still
partially under construction, the FUCOHSO facility allowed
the team to live together as a group in close proximity to the
community. Three students were offered housing by host
families in the village. During implementation, as dictated by
the project agreement, the first week of meals were provided
by the community and purchased at cost for the remainder of
the trip. Cooking was provided by volunteers in the
community at the camp every morning and evening. During the day community food was brought to
the worksite. Staple items included beans, corn tortillas, chicken, fried plantains, and coffee.
Throughout the trip bottled water was purchased for drinking and all students had water purification
tablets. Limited spring water was brought to the camp for washing and a small spring near the camp
provided a convenient location for bathing.
Relationship with Terreritos
Working with the residents of Terreritos is a very rewarding experience, and we feel that at each step
of the project they have contributed resources and effort to the maximum extent of their ability before
requesting assistance from EWB. Coordination of work on the water system was arranged through the
local patronato system, the village’s democratic system of governance. Mauricio, elected leader of
this group, served as our primary contact in the village and coordinated mandatory work contributions
and a monthly usage fee of twenty lempiras from each family who will benefit from the completed
system. During both the assessment and implementation trips, community meetings were held at the
local schoolhouse, the largest structure in the community, in order to allow for input from all
interested community members in the planning. Arrangements for the future management of the water
project have been made and a water board has been established to oversee collection of dues and the
execution of regular maintenance.
For project updates or information on PennEWB visit www.seas.upenn.edu/~pennewb
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