Guatemala Rainwater Catchment Project 2013-2014
The rural community of Chocantariy is in desperate need of clean water. Residents typically rely on filthy streams as the source for all of their water needs, including drinking, bathing, and washing clothes. Many of these streams dry up shortly after the rainy season ends because of the community’s geographic location, further placing stress on families to meet water demands. Women and young children are often burdened with the task of retrieving water multiple times each day from these streams kilometers away from their homes, drawing time away from school or other household responsibilities. Since the community receives considerable rainfall roughly half of the year, our project seeks to provide an accessible means to store this potable water for the families to use throughout the dry season. An extensive household survey in the community revealed that a proposed groundwater supply system is technically feasible yet financially unsustainable. The alternative of rainwater collection was investigated and successful Phases I and II of the project implementation demonstrated the feasibility and sustainability of such rainwater collection system. Phase III and IV look to build on the success of Phase I and II and establish more rainwater collection systems to accommodate more families. UCLA-EWB has partnered with CasaSito a local Guatemalan Non-Governmental Organization, to build rainwater catchment systems throughout the community of Chocantairy, Guatemala. So far we have successfully implemented thirty-three (33) rainwater collection systems that are actively in use.