For 10 years, the San Diego Professional Chapter of Engineers Without Borders USA has been working in the community of Chakicherla Pedda Patapu Palem (CPPP) in Andhra Pradesh, India, which is home to 4000 people and located 1 km west of the Indian Ocean in the southeastern part of the country. The community’s economy is underdeveloped and based largely on fishing, prawn farming and day labor with wages averaging about $2 per day. Before the EWB-USA SD India Team's water project, drinking water in the community was obtained from hand pumps at wells located in the center of the community; however, recently, these wells have run dry. The women and girls of the community typically spend an average of 45 minutes per day walking to and from these wells to obtain water, which contains bacteriological contamination and excessive ocean salinity.
The San Diego Professional Chapter has made a total of 12 visits to CPPP over the last 10 years and has used each trip to incrementally improve their relationship with the community and their strategic partnership with a non-profit rural development organization called ASSIST. This partnership has been integral to the success of this project.
Water usage and infrastructure in CPPP has been thoroughly studied, and numerous possible improvements have been analyzed and compared, drawing on expertise from engineering and medical professionals. In October 2011, a 2000-liter-per-hour reverse-osmosis water treatment facility was commissioned in the community. Four members of the San Diego Professional Chapter spent 3 weeks in CPPP overseeing its operational commencement, performing engineering due diligence on the plant’s structural and mechanical components, and working with ASSIST to ensure the long-term financial, environmental, and social sustainability of the community’s water infrastructure. The travel team also trained and worked alongside the plant’s three full-time operators, who are also residents of CPPP. Additional improvements have included the installation of new hand pumps at the seashore where the fisherman work and a new pipeline with tanks and taps that run the length of the community.
The reverse osmosis plant is currently fully operational and is the primary source of drinking water for 1500 community residents. The community uses the revenue from water sales to pay for ongoing expenditures including all necessary maintenance and operator’s salaries. The San Diego Professional Chapter will continue to work with ASSIST and community residents to provide access to potable water and to improve the quality of life for all residents in CPPP.
Because of the success and completion of the water project in CPPP, the India Team has now expanded into two new communities: the Scheduled Tribes (ST) Colony of CPPP and Nasarpuram.
While geographically part of CPPP, the ST Colony community in CPPP is culturally and socially isolated from the majority of CPPP residents due to complications of the caste system in India. The ST Colony's economy is largely based on agricultural labor, tree cutting and the clean of prawn farm ponds with wages averaging about $1.50 per day. Most families in the ST Colony live in mud-walled and palm-frond-roofed houses that degrade to the point of being unlivable every 6 months; as a result, members of the ST Colony must rebuild their houses every 6 months. The community is also prone to water-borne illnesses due to contaminated groundwater and a lack of education about potable water and sanitation. The EWB-USA SD India Team plans to bring potable water and permanent housing to the ST Colony community of CPPP by mid-2016.
The community of Nasarpuram in the Marripudi mandel of Prakasam District in Andhra Pradesh, India is one of many communities plagued by groundwater that is naturally contaminated by fluoride at greater than 10 ppm (for reference, tap water in San Diego, CA, USA is increased artificially to a maximum of 0.7 ppm). As a result, community members of Nasarpuram and surrounding communities are likely to develop skeletal fluorosis, a debilitating disease of the joints, bones and nervous system that can reduce life expectancies by 20 years! Research suggests that fluoride leaches into the groundwater in this region of India due to the presence of granite in underground rock structures; this region is famously known for Galaxy Granite. To mitigate the health effects of fluoride contamination, the EWB-USA SD India Team plans to bring potable water to the community of Nasarpuram by mid-2016.
The San Diego Professional Chapter has made a total of 12 visits to CPPP over the last 10 years and has used each trip to incrementally improve their relationship with the community and their strategic partnership with a non-profit rural development organization called ASSIST. This partnership has been integral to the success of this project.
Water usage and infrastructure in CPPP has been thoroughly studied, and numerous possible improvements have been analyzed and compared, drawing on expertise from engineering and medical professionals. In October 2011, a 2000-liter-per-hour reverse-osmosis water treatment facility was commissioned in the community. Four members of the San Diego Professional Chapter spent 3 weeks in CPPP overseeing its operational commencement, performing engineering due diligence on the plant’s structural and mechanical components, and working with ASSIST to ensure the long-term financial, environmental, and social sustainability of the community’s water infrastructure. The travel team also trained and worked alongside the plant’s three full-time operators, who are also residents of CPPP. Additional improvements have included the installation of new hand pumps at the seashore where the fisherman work and a new pipeline with tanks and taps that run the length of the community.
The reverse osmosis plant is currently fully operational and is the primary source of drinking water for 1500 community residents. The community uses the revenue from water sales to pay for ongoing expenditures including all necessary maintenance and operator’s salaries. The San Diego Professional Chapter will continue to work with ASSIST and community residents to provide access to potable water and to improve the quality of life for all residents in CPPP.
Because of the success and completion of the water project in CPPP, the India Team has now expanded into two new communities: the Scheduled Tribes (ST) Colony of CPPP and Nasarpuram.
While geographically part of CPPP, the ST Colony community in CPPP is culturally and socially isolated from the majority of CPPP residents due to complications of the caste system in India. The ST Colony's economy is largely based on agricultural labor, tree cutting and the clean of prawn farm ponds with wages averaging about $1.50 per day. Most families in the ST Colony live in mud-walled and palm-frond-roofed houses that degrade to the point of being unlivable every 6 months; as a result, members of the ST Colony must rebuild their houses every 6 months. The community is also prone to water-borne illnesses due to contaminated groundwater and a lack of education about potable water and sanitation. The EWB-USA SD India Team plans to bring potable water and permanent housing to the ST Colony community of CPPP by mid-2016.
The community of Nasarpuram in the Marripudi mandel of Prakasam District in Andhra Pradesh, India is one of many communities plagued by groundwater that is naturally contaminated by fluoride at greater than 10 ppm (for reference, tap water in San Diego, CA, USA is increased artificially to a maximum of 0.7 ppm). As a result, community members of Nasarpuram and surrounding communities are likely to develop skeletal fluorosis, a debilitating disease of the joints, bones and nervous system that can reduce life expectancies by 20 years! Research suggests that fluoride leaches into the groundwater in this region of India due to the presence of granite in underground rock structures; this region is famously known for Galaxy Granite. To mitigate the health effects of fluoride contamination, the EWB-USA SD India Team plans to bring potable water to the community of Nasarpuram by mid-2016.
