EIA Project Cost: $10,250

Partners:  Potable Water and Sanitation Committee of Carani (CAPyS, Comité de Agua Potable y Saneamiento) and EWB- University of Idaho

Primary Goal: Provide access to reliable, clean water for every family in Carani.

The Need:

Carani is a village of 140 people located in the hills of the Altiplano near Lake Titicaca. They are primarily subsistence farmers selling what crops they don’t consume at a nearby market.

The top priority for this village is to develop a clean, reliable source of potable water.  Infant mortality is high and families report that diarrhea is extremely common especially in children. Most people don’t treat their water, but drink from unprotected springs and shallow wells. Having an improved potable water source will save the lives of children and improve the health of the whole community. Increasing the quantity of water available will improve hygiene.

A local farmer said: “We come back to our houses after working in the fields, but we don’t bathe. Having showers and running water will help improve that. Building latrines would mean there is less contamination of the water.”

The Project Goal:

Provide access to reliable, clean water for every family in Carani. We will do this by: (1) Protecting the springs currently being used; (2) Develop additional springs as sources; (3) Connect the sources to existing tanks; (4) Add storage capacity as necessary to reliably serve all homes; (4) Connect the tanks to the homes; and/or (5) implement a water treatment solution.

Engineers in Action’s Role:

This project was developed  by EIA after requests came from communities nearby community of Sorata. After careful screening, EIA determined that this community is capable of sustaining this project upon completion.

Total costs for the project:

Program Costs for EIA (Proj development, logistics, communication, oversight, etc)       $10,250

Engineering Design: EWB-Idaho                                                                                             $10,000

Labor: (To be donated by the community)                                                                               $5,964

Materials (5% from the community and 95% from EWB-Idaho                                             $15,000

Total costs                                                                                                                               $41,214

– See more at: http://engineersinaction.org/carani-potable-water/#sthash.ULBuisBx.dpuf