Agua y Desarrollo comunitario Quarterly Reports:

ADEC Report January, February, March 2011

ADEC Report April, May, June 2011

 Partnering with Locals

In Honduras, rural communities rarely have access to clean water and improved sanitation facilities. This leads to a high incidence of waterborne disease. IRWA works with local partner, Agua y Desarrollo Comunitario (ADEC), to improve access to clean water by installing appropriate technologies and training community members to maintain, repair and sustain these water systems over the long term. ADEC has been so effective at keeping the water flowing in rural communities around the Copan Ruins that the mayor of Copan asked for ADEC’s support and is even providing them with office space.

See ADEC's 2011 First Quarter Report >>

Clean Water for All by 2015

In late 2009, IRWA and ADEC were invited by MANCORSARIF (Commonwealth of the municipalities of Copan Ruins, Santa Rita, Cabañas and San Jerónimo) to help develop an annual water operational plan starting in 2010. The primary objective of the plan is to provide clean water to 100% of the 50 communities in these municipalities by 2015. In order to accomplish this goal, the local government is helping to fund the establishment of a laboratory where both chemical and bacteriological analyses can be performed.

ADEC is planning to install chlorinators and supply chlorine to these communities, and will begin regular monitoring of the community water systems. The key to keeping the water flowing is to provide communities with the training to treat water, and also provide a sustainable source of chlorine. IRWA sets up “chlorine banks” where communities can purchase chlorine for water treatment.

Circuit Riders Educate and Train

Our circuit riders are trained to assess the water needs of a community by testing water sources, doing bacteriological analyses, interviewing households about the barriers to getting clean water, observing community hygiene habits, and testing the health status of children under 5 years old. Our objective is not only to design sustainable clean water systems, but also to train the local population in subjects such as chlorination, maintenance and administration to ensure that the infrastructure improvements are long-lasting. We want to keep the water flowing!

Health, Hygiene, and Sanitation in Schools Program: We train parents, teachers and students in the following subjects:

1. How to maintain a hygienic environment,
2. The health consequences of bad hygiene,
3. The provision of safe water (water disinfection)
4. Garbage collection and handling.
5. Waterborne illness
6. Proper sanitation
7. Proper dental hygiene
8. Proper handwashing

International Rural Water Association