Tandacato is a rural community located in the Cotopaxi province. The water system supplies nearly 60% of the population and has been in operation for nearly 30 years. However, after long periods of rains and landslides in the sector, the catchments of the water sources have been damaged. Tandacato's water sources have also been previously contaminated with ash. 

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The objective of this project is to upgrade and repair all of the water sources that were damaged or covered by a landslide earlier in the year. We will design a new water system that delivers clean water and protects the water sources from future landslides or other climate events. 

In partnership with Dr. Bob Arnold and Shahin Fathabad from University of Arizona, Caltech EWB contributed to creating an off-grid water purification system in the Navajo Nation. At the time, 35% of residents lived without access to centralized water or electricity, and natural surface and ground water were contaminated with mud and heavy metals. Dr. Bob Arnold and Shahin Fathabad's solar-powered nanofiltration system proposes a feasible way to get clean water without an electrical grid. Caltech EWB participated in programming the system to help provide clean water to more Navajo Nation residents.

Ilam municipality is a community of 32,000 people within the Easter district of Nepal. In 2014, the population had recently doubled due to urbanization. However, available facilities were been unable to keep up with demand. The Ilam community began facing scarcity of critical basic resources, such as a clean and sustainable water supply. Scarcity of water has created difficulties in daily life and is often a cause of transmissible disease. Though several spring sources existed, they were not protected from storm water runoff, animal and human traffic, sources of human waste, and other pollution.
 

Caltech EWB, in partnership with local NGO Namsaling Community Development Center designed and constructed a new sustainable water system which the community can own and operate without external assistance. Caltech EWB also provided hands-on training, educational workshops on health and sanitation, and maintenance manuals with pictures and written in Nepali.