UA Engineers Without Borders Repair Residents’ Plumbing in Hale County

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – How many times have you used water today? Maybe to shower, brush your teeth, drink and wash your hands. Water is, of course, an integral aspect of life and is necessary to complete many daily tasks. Now, imagine being billed hundreds of dollars for water you never received because of faulty pipes or leaks in your home. Think of the stress of having your water turned off because you can’t afford to pay the bill.

Some Hale County residents have faced this nightmare, which is why The University of Alabama Engineers Without Borders chapter has put its engineering expertise to use by restoring the residents’ plumbing.

Engineers Without Borders has partnered with HERO Housing Resource Center, an organization aimed at reducing substandard housing conditions in Hale County, to improve residential plumbing in the area.

It is estimated that 40 percent of water sent to customers from the Hale County Water Department is lost because of bad piping and a decrease in water pressure. The water department contacted HERO, who, in turn, asked Engineers Without Borders for its help.

Josh Hamilton, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering and the student project leader for Engineers Without Borders, said some of the less fortunate residents of Hale County are paying exorbitant amounts of money for water they don’t receive because of problems in the piping. He explained that when some residents’ pipes leak, they can not afford to pay someone to repair the pipe, causing the problem to worsen.

“We are working with HERO and the Hale County Water Department to make it so that these families, whether they are elderly, single parents or simply on a fixed income, can receive water that is affordable,” said Hamilton. “One of the residents we worked with was billed $800 for water, and they were unable to pay the bill. That is where we come in.”

The first plumbing project that Engineers Without Borders completed was for an elderly couple who had a severe leak on an underground exterior pipe line in their home. The leak resulted in a high water bill that the couple was unable to pay. Volunteers with the UA student organization spent two afternoons with the couple fixing the pipe.

Engineers Without Borders, known as EWB, also worked with a woman whose faucets and toilets were leaking. Her daughters were forced to move in with her because they were experiencing the same problems in their mobile home, and no one in the family was able to pay the water bills. The organization’s volunteers fixed the leaks in both of the homes.

“The EWB group has been wonderful to work with, and they are always enthused and very excited about what they are doing,” said Bonita Benner, project coordinator for HERO. “They were able to complete a total of seven homes with plumbing needs, most of them very urgent needs.”

EWB is paying for all of its materials through general funds, which come from individual donations and loans from UA’s Student Government Association. The organization is hoping to receive additional funding from other organizations and businesses in the Tuscaloosa area.

“The reason we do this is simple,” said Hamilton. “We see a need in the community that we can meet, so we do it. Our goal as a group is to help those who are unable to help themselves, and if we can help by fixing burst pipes, then we are happy to do it.”

Hamilton said Engineers Without Borders will continue the repair program as long as it has the materials and manpower to do so.

“Not only are we benefiting the community,” said Hamilton, “but the students who participate in these projects are getting hands-on engineering experience, which is something you can not learn in a classroom or from a textbook.”

Engineers Without Borders will be traveling to Peru in May as part of UA’s interim class. Students in EWB will spend two weeks in Iquitos, Peru, working on community water and ecotourism projects in the area. In 2006, EWB improved drinking water and waste water systems in two village communities along the Amazon River and started building a bird watching tower in the Allpahuayo Mishana Reserve to promote ecotourism.

Engineers Without Borders is a student organization that partners with disadvantaged communities around the world to design and implement engineering projects that improve the quality of life in these communities.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has about 1,900 students and nearly 100 faculty. In the last seven years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater scholars, Hollings scholars and Portz scholars.