When water causes sickness
For almost anyone, the sight of a well pump clogged with sediment would mean bad news. For the residents of Pinalito, Dominican Republic, it meant the risk of drinking bacteria-contaminated water from the river. For the Harvard College Engineers Without Borders (HCEWB), however, it meant the chance to brainstorm a slew of solutions — and determine which would work best. In January, a team of students led by Casey Grun ’14 and Tunde Demuren ’15 ventured to Pinalito for nine days to learn about the village’s resources and needs. They noticed that the pump had been installed improperly, letting water out and sediment in, and the original contractor was long gone. Pinalito is a community so rural it doesn’t show up on Google Earth, and has only 20 to 30 permanent households. The economy is based on agriculture, and the residents have an average income of only about $7.50 a day. Not...