Improvement of drinking water supply in Ecuador

About the Project

The supply of clean drinking water is a major problem in rural areas of the Ecuadorian coast. In April 2016, the already limited infrastructure was extensively destroyed by a serious earthquake. Some members of the Aachen regional group were in the country during and after the earthquake and volunteered for the first aid. They were motivated by the need of the local people to experience the project Ecuador 2017 in order to contribute a part to the long-term improvement of the drinking water supply.

What is the situation on the ground?

After a visit to two remote rural village communities in 2018, it became clear that the water supply is still in a devastating state. The people have hardly any access to clean drinking water, but are supplied by polluted wells or surface waters. These can even dry out due to the seasons. Drinking water can be overpriced, but many families lack the financial means to buy it. This leads to water shortages in many places. Infections such as diarrhoea are also widespread. These can be due to the lack of water hygiene. There is therefore an urgent need for action.

What are the aims of our project?

Our project objective is to help local residents to build up a long-term and autonomous supply of clean drinking water. To this end, groundwater is to be pumped or rainwater collected and stored and then treated by a filter system. In order to guarantee the sustainability of our project, we want to involve the future users in the planning and construction.

How do we want to implement this?

An outbound trip to explore further parameters, such as the exact pollution status of the existing water supply, is planned for the summer semester of 2019. In the course of this, initial reference filters can already be set up, if necessary, to test the mode of operation and improve the acceptance of the technologies among the population. Our idea here is to start in the shared school of village communities in order to familiarise the village's youngsters with the filter technology. We hope that our concept will be accepted by as many families as possible. In addition, contact with local residents, local government and potential project partners is to be cultivated and further developed.

This departure is currently being planned. For this purpose, possible technologies will be evaluated and, if necessary, tested within the scope of our possibilities. In addition, financial resources will be collected and local contacts established. We organize not only the technical implementation, but also the stay, public relations and fundraising.

How can I help?

For the implementation of the departure and the further steps we are dependent on financial support. You too can make a contribution to improving the drinking water supply of the people in Ecuador in the long term by supporting our project with a donation. We look forward to your support!

Gallerie

Information

Project number


Project Leader



Paul Grünefeld

Regional Groups


Project members

Alper Avci
Daniel Skarplik
Elias Kufeld
Fabian Hahn
Jan Erazo
Kevin Krause
Linda Wolf
Luis Cisneros
Mandana Mahjouri Rahimabadi
Max Mörsfelder
Paul Grünefeld
Pierre Lassl
Sophie Kraudszun
Stephan Zimmer
Wiebke Hoberg
Wiebke Wiessner
Hendrik Macher
Hannes Kunstmann


Project Category

     

Timespan

March 2024 - now

Project stage


News

Ecuador in times of Corona

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Ecuador in times of Corona

Ecuador has been especially hard hit by the corona pandemic. Despite its small size, it has the second highest death toll in Latin America. Particularly serious is the fact that 40% of those infected are hospital staff. Furthermore, there…