EWB-WYO Comunidad Maya Water Distribution System Design

For the past five years, the University of Wyoming chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-WYO) has worked with a small community in Guatemala to renovate the town's water distribution system. Comunidad Maya receives its water supply from two spring box systems installed in nearby hills, but has suffered lately from insufficient water delivery. EWB-WYO has sent multiple teams to analyze the predicament from various angles and to ascertain the primary causes of the water shortage. These trips have been followed by periods of design and redesign, as EWB-WYO has sought the best long-term solution for the community. In recent months, a design team of four students has created functional models of the entire pipe network, seeking to discover the regions of most critical loss within the system, and propose implementable changes. Various alternative designs were investigated and processed through multi-criteria decision and cost-benefit analyses. The most cost-effective, sustainable modifications were then selected for implementation, which is expected to take place in upcoming months.