Deep in the Amazon rainforest, the community of Assis, Brazil is plagued by contaminated water sources and inadequate means of sanitation.

As a part of the Chico Mendes Extractivist Reserve, this community of rubber tappers makes a living off of rubber trees, collecting their sap. This method is similar to the way maple syrup is extracted from maple trees here in New England. The community also works to maintain the forest, saving it from cattle ranchers, who clear cut the forest. This protection helps protect the forest while maintaining the tappers’ livelihood.

 The community’s need for help is being addressed by the University of Massachusetts through an organization called Engineers Without Borders, or EWB.

EWB is a humanitarian organization which works with communities in developing nations to ensure their basic human needs are met. The organization designs solutions to social and environmental problems and teaches local communities how to use the systems they develop as well as how to construct more of their own. This education allows locals in the emerging world to maintain such engineering systems in the future without continued support from the organization.

The UMass chapter of EWB is split into two groups, one focusing on Assis, and the other on a village in Kenya. There are three student members of the Amazon group who have participated on trips to Assis, as well as two adult mentors.

Since their first visit to the community in the summer of 2007, the group has been working in conjunction with Vera Reis, a professor at a nearby university in Brazil, as well as locals on the reserve in order to design and implement a well system for clean drinking water.

The group has made two more trips since their initial assessment visit, taking place during the summers of 2008 and 2010. In 2008, the group installed its first prototype system, working in conjunction with the villagers. “We were working together on different things, the load was split about 50-50,” said David Azinheira, director of the Amazon project and a senior engineering major at UMass.

This cooperation allowed each party to use their specialized skills towards the completion of the well.

“[The villagers] weren’t comfortable with the pumps at all to begin with,” said Azinheira. “They are much better wood workers than we are.”

Azinheira went on to describe the proficiency with which the villagers use wood cutting tools.

“They were making better cuts with a machete than we could with a saw,” he said.

The new well works because, unlike its predecessor, it is protected from surface runoff, which is often contaminated with bacteria from sources such as human and animal fecal matter. The well consists of a box one square meter in volume which sits just below the ground, submersed in the water table. The bottom of this box is filled with gravel to clean the water. This, in conjunction with the natural filtration provided by the clay-rich soil surrounding the box, allows for drinking water which is far cleaner than the previous uncovered well. From the reservoir of clean water below ground, a pump extends to the surface, giving villagers access to the supply.

One of the most important goals of EWB is to create solutions which are enduringly sustainable and effective.

“Once it is built, they will take it over, run it and sustain it,” said James Duda, one of the professional mentors to the project, in a phone interview last week. Duda is a practicing lawyer specializing in intellectual property, and also holds a professional engineering license.

With sustainability in mind, EWB’s most recent trip focused on introducing a pump which can be constructed from native materials. As Azinheira explained, the pump is constructed of inexpensive PVC and rubber the villagers make themselves.

This pump design cuts down on the cost of the well.

“If they cut their own wood, it could cost them less than $100 to build their own,” said Duda.

Currently, the group is working on a manual detailing the design and installation of the well.

“We are close to finishing it in English, and have a few translators lined up as well,” said Azinheira.

After the manual is completed, the group hopes to take another trip to the village in order to provide a clinic, showing the villagers how the well works and also how to build one of their own.

“Even with the manual, it’s tough to make something if you don’t understand it,” said Azinheira. Once the clinic is completed and the locals fully grasp the pumping system, the Assis residents hope to incorporate the lessons of the pump into the education of the oldest students in their school system. This would teach the next generation the inner-workings of the device and also ensure its continued use and improvement in the village.

As a nonprofit organization, EWB receives its funding through donations. In September of this year, they held their third-annual Sweat for Clean Water, a 5K race around campus.

“60 people participated this year,” said Azinheira. Their biggest fund raising event, Brazil Night, will take place this spring. At this event, attendees will be asked to bid on auction items donated by supporters of the program.

Azinheira reported that, “counting materials, testing, travel, and room and board in the city,” the most recent trip cost the group approximately $9,000. Though the group saves some money by living with local families during their stay in the village, “It’s hard to ask the families to let you live with them and eat their food for several days,” he said.

 During the three trips to the reserve, the group has developed a close relationship with the citizens.

“We made lasting connections. That is critical, if you don’t bond with the community, then it doesn’t work,” said Duda.

 Azinheira has learned a lot from his work in the Amazon.

“The biggest thing for me is not taking advantage of the systems we have here,” said Azinheira. “Some are really old, but they are far better than what exists in many other countries.”

 “We are just happy that they are thinking about clean water now,” said Azinheira. Before the visit, “it was hard for [locals] to point to the water supply and say for certain that it was getting them sick.”

“What’s wonderful about this organization is that even with a small amount of money, it can have a positive impact on a large amount of people,” said Duda. “It gives engineers practical experience that they might not get till much later.”

For more information about EWB, the organization’s website is http://blogs.umass.edu/ewbumass/.

Zach Weishar can be reached at [email protected].