Initial Blog

Hello,

My name is Peter Maraccini and I will be your guide into the exciting world of international service projects. Five student from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign will be traveling to Socorro, Guatemala to initiate the implementation of 150 biosand filters. A biosand filter is a simple, point of use water treatment technology that removes harmful microbial contaminants in raw water.

Socorro, a village of 450 people, is located in the Bocacosta region along the volcanic slopes of the highlands in southwestern Guatemala. Microbiological surveys routinely show high levels of contamination in river water used as the drinking source. Decontamination by boiling is economically and logistically impossible because burnable wood is expensive and not abundant. The medical NGO in that area, Wuqu' Kawoq, has routinely seen a very high prevalence of acute and chronic diarrheal illnesses, as well as soil-transmitted helminthes infections and subsequent malnutrition. They routinely find high levels of giardiasis, amoebiasis, and round worm infections on fecal exams. In the first months of winter rains, diarrheal rates exceed 75% of the child population. Efforts have been made to solve these problems medically, but a more sustainable solution is required.

We are excited to finally relieve the very large burden that the community of Socorro has been carrying. We leave Monday, December 28th and will be blogging and documenting our experiences of the entire trip. Please continue to follow this blog and visit us at https://wiki.cites.uiuc.edu/wiki/display/cleanwater/Home.

-Peter