The laborers who live and work in the farmland of California’s Salinas valley are responsible for countless crops we find at our local grocery store. But many of these laborers and their families do not have access to safe drinking water, or even water clean enough for bathing or cooking.
“California is a very wealthy state,” said Mohamed Abed from the Engineers Without Borders USA Cleveland State University Chapter (EWB-USA CSU). “You wouldn’t think people would have problems accessing water.”
Bridging Engineering Expertise With Communities In Need
The residents of this Salinas Valley community didn’t have the resources or expertise to find solutions for their water supply issues, so they called in the experts and students at EWB-USA CSU and EWB-USA’s Community Engineering Corps. The engineers helped evaluate water sourcing options in this remote area.
The community’s remote location is the root of their water problems. It’s too far away from the city of Soledad to be connected to the city water main, so they must source their water from a well. This well is located next to fields steeped in high-nitrate fertilizers. Rain and irrigation runoff cause the nitrates to seep into the groundwater. As a result, workers and their families drink, cook and bathe in water dangerously high in nitrates.
The EWB-USA CSU project team spent their spring break in this community. The students and their faculty advisor conducted water testing at the wellhead and at the tank that distributes water into homes. They gathered the data necessary to evaluate solutions to the water problem.
Assessments Lead to Grant Funding
After their assessment trip, they analyzed the options available and presented them to the community. They narrowed it down to three possible solutions: they could tie into the city’s water main, they could drill a new well or they could treat the current wellhead. They provided the community with a report that outlined the advantages and disadvantages of each solution as well as an economic analysis. The community could then use the report to access grant funding to implement the chosen solution.
An Eye-Opening Project for Students
For several of the EWB-USA CSU students, the assessment trip to California’s Salinas Valley was the first time they witnessed firsthand the stark disparity that can exist between communities in the U.S. Their experience speaks to the heart of the Community Engineering Corps — it is not necessary to travel outside our country’s borders to engineer change. Underserved communities throughout the U.S. now have an engineering partner to help meet their infrastructure needs and improve their quality of life.