Engineers Without Borders brings solutions to water needs in Rwanda

By Miami University

March 20^th, 2023

Students learn to pivot plans for optimal performance

Luke Carter recalls the moment he knew that the summer 2022 trip to Rwanda would not go as planned. He and his fellow members of the Miami University student-led Engineers Without Borders organization were used to pivoting to adjust for external forces.

The pandemic travel restrictions in 2020 and 2021 resulted in less than optimal planning. Instead of on-the-ground site visits, designs for its water pipeline project relied on educated calculations, feedback from their Rwandan partners, and speculation. Then, upon arrival in Hindiro, Rwanda in the summer of 2022, Carter, the team project lead, saw something unexpected.

Community contractors had modified the pre-built part of the water system, adjusting it to fit the site and user needs identified during a community town hall meeting a month prior. Luke immediately knew their design plan would need significant adjustment. Carter, a chemical engineering major, with help from his mentor, local contractors and engineers, and the rest of the student travel team, reworked the plans on-site.

“I learned then that in engineering, there is not just one solution. The best solution is one that is designed around a problem and that works.”

Community members at handwashing stations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Progress picture of the 10,000 L water storage tank.

EWB brings water to communities

EWB’s mission is to empower communities to meet their basic human needs. Oftentimes, this mission manifests itself in chapters working with communities to access clean drinking water. In Hindiro, residents were walking miles to the most accessible water source. EWB-Miami has been working with the Hindiro community since 2018 to remedy the situation. In 2019, EWB-Miami travelled to implement the beginning of a water distribution system. In 2022, they travelled once again to finish the pipeline system. At the project's conclusion, the water distribution system serves four villages with seven tap stands and 22,000 L of total storage volume.

Finished water storage tank and tap stand.

Community members at a tap stand in Kagarama

Community members at a break tank in Kagarama.

EWB-Miami team testing soil quality and type.

Serge and Alfred, a Rwandan contractor, demonstrating the pipe orientation to tank masons.

The project team becoming acquainted with three of the hundreds of goat friends they made.e.

Project completed

With the Hindiro pipeline project complete, the team is now focused on another area of the region. With Carter graduating this May, he is turning over his role as project lead to Rachel Olp, a junior chemical engineering major. Carter, who will be finishing up his 4 plus 1 master's degree program, will remain involved as a mentor.

The team begins a new project

This past winter, the team traveled once again to Rwanda to assess the needs of the community at a new potential project site. They will be designing a new bridge after discovering that the water pipeline is near a ravine where seven children lost their lives last year due to the dangerous location.

The existing water pipeline also needs upgrading to adjust for inadequacies caused by insufficient engineering. Carter's team, now more confident, is preparing for the next trip, complete with contingency plans, just in case a pivot is required.