Hurricane Maria left Puerto Rico without access to clean drinking water, forcing residents to rely on few water bottles supplied by the government or contaminated water from streams. Especially in towns like Comerío, Puerto Rico, the lack of electricity and renewable materials make providing a sustainable water filtration system much more difficult. Therefore, the objective of this project is to develop a eco-friendly method of filtering water to be able to distribute throughout Puerto Rico. The community partner working in collaboration with this project is Arriba PR, operated by Jessica Gonzalez and Nicole Acevedo. Arriba PR is managed in Arizona, but has made the trip to Comerío, Puerto Rico to evaluate their needs. Currently, they are accepting funding through gofundme as well as seeking help in the logistics, such as gathering and shipping supplies to the island. As a team, Puerto Rico 7 has taken steps to assess the needs of Comerío, Puerto Rico and analyze the possible solutions to supply these citizens with clean drinking water. Initially, the group identified the context in which people were struggling in Puerto Rico. The main issue was found to be access to clean drinking water. Through Phase One: Project Identification and Phase Two: Specification Development, stakeholders and a problem statement was developed as well as created a detailed project plan to outline possible solutions, researching related water purification projects.Going forward, the team will begin to develop the framework for a possible water filtration system. Through further research and analysis, a prototype will be built and evaluated based on on its attributes and how it may meet the needs of a population lacking clean drinking water. This must be done through communicating with the community partner to ensure all needs are being met.

 

Team Members:

Lindsey Bastian, Freshman, Environmental Engineering

Patrick Kut, Freshman, Environmental Engineering

Erika Johanson, Freshman, Construction Engineering

 

Community Partner: Arriba PR

Others Involved: Jessica Gonzales, Nicole Acevedo