AguaClara Purifies Water In Honduras

Published on March 18, 2013 16:16 by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Academic

At the end of winter break, AguaClara, an engineering project team focused on resolving global water problems, visited Honduras to observe water filtration plants. But these were not just any water plants -- these were gravity-powered, sustainable water treatment plants that the students had designed themselves.

"A lot of what we work on is directly applicable. The research we do is actually going to be integrated in the designs we use," said Casey Garland grad, a member of AguaClara.

Conventional water treatment plants are very complicated, require tremendous amounts of electrical power and have high maintenance machinery -- all of which are impractical for resource-poor countries like Honduras, said Mary John '15 a member of AguaClara.

The 14 research sub-teams of AguaClara focus on improving specific sections of the treatment plant, such as sedimentation or filtration. The basic cleansing process used by AguaClara is the same as that used in conventional plants, but the team modifies each step to accommodate the lack of electricity and funding in Honduras.

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