 The goal of this project is to provide a clean and reliable source of water for a group of six communities settled on large hill in the outskirts of the city of Cochabamba. Each community is comprised of approximately 15 city blocks and houses roughly 500 people each. The communities are Villa America, Villa Oropeza, Villa Cobol, Achumani, Villa 12 de Octubre, Zona Las Pampas, San Nicolas, and Villa Calamarca.
Currently the entire area is serviced by cistern trucks that come around once a week. Each household has 2-4 steel barrels at the edge of the road where they store the water bought from the trucks. This is all the water they have until the truck comes again. The cistern trucks are operated independently and the water quality is often very poor, especially during the dry season.
The proposed project would drill a well at the bottom of the hill and install pumps to distribute water to three tanks at various elevations on the hill. The water tanks would allow gravity distribution of the water and provide distributed focal points for the residents to collect water. Network distribution of the water to each household is not part of the project scope and is left up to community members to implement.
In addition the project has partnered with the Cochabamba Rotary club who suggested this location for a social project in the first place and has been providing valuable logistical support.
EWB team members are prepared to conduct an implementation trip in the summer of 2007 to verify suitability of tank and pipeline locations and commence well installation. A subsequent trip is planned for December 2007 to begin tank construction and pipeline installation.
One of the communities has already purchased and set aside a plot of land at the base of the hill for drilling a well and the local public school provides a good location for the first tank.
 
Like all EWB projects, these projects are financed only by donations. To support this project, please go to http://www.ewb-usa.org/donate.php and select the EWB-Houston (Central) Chapter. Donations are tax deductible.
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