Giving back: monthly feature
LimnoTech has traditionally encouraged staff to actively champion causes and organize charitable activities. Staff are also actively involved in giving back to the profession through participation in numerous professional organizations and conferences. This page will periodically highlight one of the many charities to which LimnoTech employees contribute time, money and effort.
Some of our employees are currently working with Engineers Without Borders (http://www.ewb-usa.org/) to design and implement an improved drinking water system in San Carlos, a poor, rural community in Honduras. Twenty years ago, a nonprofit organization helped the village build a primitive drinking water system serving 23 households. The community has grown to 104 homes, and the aging system is too small to service everyone. Raw water, pumped directly to residents without treatment, is silty and contaminated with bacteria. The water source itself is abundant and the watershed protected from agricultural impacts, but treatment and distribution upgrades are needed to make the water potable and available to all.
LimnoTech staff have contributed to the success of the project by:
- Volunteering time to travel to San Carlos for surveying and water quality testing;
- Drafting an assessment report;
- Constructing a computer model of the existing distribution system; and
- Donating toward equipment and materials needed for the system upgrade.
Next steps include designing and implementing a pilot-scale, slow sand filter treatment system. This is an effective, low-maintenance technology widely used in third world applications. Based on the results, the project team will design a full-scale treatment and distribution system to be constructed and maintained by volunteers from San Carlos, with the guidance of project volunteers.