EWB-ASCE Navajo Project
Black Mesa is a Navajo Native American reservation in Arizona, and it currently has limited access to running water or electricity. Typically, families within the community carry in water on a truck from an outside source that can be many miles away. While some of the homes on the reservation have recently gained a temporary off-grid water piping design to provide water inside, the tanks for storing water are elevated at a height above the indoor kitchen sinks. With a lack of electricity, this only provides low-pressure cold water in their homes. With this temporary system design, the kitchen sink also happens to be the only source of water inside each home, so there is no additional source of water for bathrooms or showers. This means that when the tanks grow old and inherently suffer from algae growth, the only source of water inside the homes become contaminated.
The reservation is in need of permanent off-grid water system designs to address some of the issues present in the temporary design. This includes a system to increase water pressure, a plumbing system for showers and toilets, a system for providing hot water, methods to drain grey water, and water conservation strategies to reduce the extensive labor involved in obtaining water.
The reservation is in need of permanent off-grid water system designs to address some of the issues present in the temporary design. This includes a system to increase water pressure, a plumbing system for showers and toilets, a system for providing hot water, methods to drain grey water, and water conservation strategies to reduce the extensive labor involved in obtaining water.
Water is pumped from a 300-gallon storage tank to the
kitchen sink and shower inside the home
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The solar system that powers the water pump is also used to power a refrigerator and indoor lights
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A multi-chamber diaphragm pump provides variable, on-demand flow to sink faucets and a low-flow shower
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Our mission is to improve on the temporary system and design a low cost, permanent off-grid clean water system and deploy it in one region of the reservation. In addition, we will provide them with the design for the cost-effective system such that, with help, they can scale up the system and implement it in each of the homes on the reservation.
Student volunteers taking a break from work and enjoying time with friends and food.
Gallery
Contact
We would really appreciate sponsorship for our project trips as we seek to continue our service to this community. For more information about our project, please contact our Project Managers. And if you are a student interested in joining the project, stop by our workdays over the upcoming school year.
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