Pipeline for Life: The Impact

Volunteers from Water Engineers for the Americas (WEFTA) worked with Honduran villagers to install PVC pipeline to bring clean, running water to Belen Manazapa, a town of 72 families, and Monquecagua, a town of 461 families, for the first time. Belen Manazapa laid 6.7 miles of PVC pipeline, including a new spring source, a tank, a chlorine disinfection unit, and a PVC distribution unit. Monquecagua laid 2.5 miles of PVC pipe, a 40,000 gallon tank, and a chlorine disinfection unit.

The WEFTA approach is hands-on; it requires the community to invest in the project with sweat equity and a financial contribution. The approach is designed to ensure that the pipeline is maintained and clean water flows long term.

By contributing volunteer labor and a percentage of the project funding, villagers gain a sense of ownership, move toward self-reliance, and deploy sustainable technology.

Villagers of both communities were very appreciative of the new PVC pipeline and all of its benefits to each family, offering words of gratitude.