On September 15, 2007, a meteorite fell from the sky and onto the rural community of Carancas, in the highlands of Peru. The event brought with it a battery of scientists and researchers who, while researching the fallen rock, inadvertently discovered an unknown geological fact: deep aquifers in the area contained arsenic levels as high as 50 times the levels recommended for ingestion by the World Health Organization.

Engineers Without Borders was contacted to see if there might be a fast and effective way to offer relief to communities dependent on well water from these aquifers. The UC Berkeley Chapter of Engineers Without Borders decided to take up the task, and initiated its Peru Project.

Based on efforts with the chapter as well as prior managerial and construction experience, I was given the honor of serving as Project Lead for the Peru Project. In that role I was able to oversee a team comprised of students studying civil, mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering, as well a few business and political science majors, to address the target communities' water issues.

Working hand in hand with community members, as well as local government, health, and university officials, we designed and implemented school based rainwater catchment systems and began development of point-of-use iron matrix filters.

The remote environment that was isolated both geographically and culturally provided a high degree of technical and social challenges and experiences.

From a technical perspective, the project brought challenges involving

• Fluid mechanics
• Construction/structural engineering
• Environmental engineering
• Geology
• Meteorology

From a social perspective, we also had to be ever cognizant of various factors, including

• Local customs and educational outreach
• History of the region, especially with respect to local mindsets concerning outsiders and extraction of local resources,
• True functionality, ease of use, and sustainability of all implemented systems 

Due to the efforts of our EWB team working together with locals, we were able to successfully implement rainwater catchment systems at three local schools that provided immediate potential relief for hundreds of local community members, as well continue development of the iron matrix filtration systems. In addition to these implementations, by proving the effectiveness of these technologies, we were able to lay the groundwork and build momentum for a larger, local government run expansion of the project that could potentially offer relief for thousands in surrounding communities also affected by arsenic contamination.