Engineering Clean Water: Pure Water Project
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
In Person or Zoom Presentation
In-Person
Campus
Daytona Beach
Status
Student
Faculty/Staff Department
Mechanical Engineering
Student Year and Major
2028, Aerospace Engineering
Organization, if requesting a table
Pure Water Project
Presentation Description/Abstract
After earthquakes devastated Haiti in 2010, a team of Embry-Riddle students and faculty built and installed a solar-powered water purifier to improve both the environmental and human health concerns created by the lack of infrastructure, clean water, and sanitation. Since then, the group Pure Water Project has installed 10 water purifiers in orphanages, clinics, schools, and community centers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The group relies on its partner selection criteria and local contacts to determine the best locations for the purifiers. Once determined, teams of students (Mechanical, Electrical, and WASH) construct the purifiers in ERAU’s Energy Systems Laboratory. In May, Pure Water Project students and faculty installed the purifier to accomplish the group’s overall goal: to use engineering principles to provide clean water to areas in need. A final component of the project is to launch a micro-business on-site. The local operators are empowered with ongoing maintenance and operation of the system, as well as the micro-business operations.
Keywords
water, clean, purifier, Dominican Republic, Reverse Osmosis, Mechanical, Electrical, W.A.S.H., Sustainability, Hygiene
Engineering Clean Water: Pure Water Project
After earthquakes devastated Haiti in 2010, a team of Embry-Riddle students and faculty built and installed a solar-powered water purifier to improve both the environmental and human health concerns created by the lack of infrastructure, clean water, and sanitation. Since then, the group Pure Water Project has installed 10 water purifiers in orphanages, clinics, schools, and community centers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The group relies on its partner selection criteria and local contacts to determine the best locations for the purifiers. Once determined, teams of students (Mechanical, Electrical, and WASH) construct the purifiers in ERAU’s Energy Systems Laboratory. In May, Pure Water Project students and faculty installed the purifier to accomplish the group’s overall goal: to use engineering principles to provide clean water to areas in need. A final component of the project is to launch a micro-business on-site. The local operators are empowered with ongoing maintenance and operation of the system, as well as the micro-business operations.