Introduction
Agua Fria is a community in the Manabí region of Ecuador, close to the coast, with a population of about 250 people. Before our project, the community got their water from nearby streams which consisted of E. coli and other bacteria. They would often have to walk half a mile to the nearest water source. The team first partnered with this community in 2018 and in 2019 an implementation trip was taken to install a rainwater catchment system (RWC) on the place that needed clean water the most: their school. The team also collected data to install a gravity-fed pipeline system, but due to Covid, travel was not possible. So, in 2021, RWCs were installed by the community on 12 different houses which would be out of range of the pipeline. In May of 2023, the team traveled to the community and reported that the systems are doing very well. With intentions to finish the pipeline, they also collected data for the pipeline. Unfortunately, civil unrest in Ecuador has impeded travel to the community once more. Instead, another remote implementation will occur over the summer of 2024 to implement more than 30 RWC systems in the community.
