Engineers Without Borders of USF

Water for Miches

EWB at USF is currently engaging in an effort to develop a clean water supply for an underdeveloped community in the Dominican Republic. The goal of this project, titled “Water for Miches”, is to bring clean water to the 500 residents of Miramar in the Dominican Republic, which is pictured below. Miramar is a community within Miches, in the province of El Seibo, one of the poorest provinces in the Dominican Republic. Currently, the residents of Miramar have no established water source. Many gather water flowing from fractures in a distant water tower, despite this untreated water being a source of disease and unsuitable to meet the needs of these families. The purpose of our project is to design and install a potable water source in Miramar capable of meeting World Health Organization (WHO) standards by providing 20 liters of clean water per day to each of these 500 people.

In pursuing this effort to help Miches, our organization has formed critical partnership with a number of organizations. The project would not have been possible without the community relationship, field support and research infrastructure provided by Columbia University’s Center for Environment, Economy, and Society (CEES) and its program on Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth in the DR (ESEG-DR), which is part of Columbia University’s larger ESEG program. In 2007, at the request of EWB-USF, Columbia’s ESEG-DR conceptualized the Water for Miches project and identified it as an area of urgent need for the community. Further, The Dr. Kiran C. Patel Center for Global Solutions at USF has provided significant support and advice on the development of the project. In addition, we have partnered with a number of USF faculty, staff and professional engineers from consulting firms such as Malcolm-Pirnie.

See press articles related to the Water for Miches project…

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