Due to an unforeseeable military coup in Honduras, the team was unable to travel during the Summer 2009, as originally planned. They plan to continue the work of their summer 2008 trip as well as continue to assess and implement a water system for the community living just outside of Santiago. As these community members have no access to the town’s water supply, the team hopes to design a system that will pump water to the community from a nearby spring or run a lengthy pipeline from Santiago's system. This involves designing and implementing a system that will pump water over 250ft high, or a system that pumps water from almost a mile away. Plans have also been made to survey the distribution system to supplement the GPS data gathered in 2008. They also plan to complete health surveys in the Santiago community, as well as in a community who lives on the outskirts of Santiago and address many health issues within both communities. A public health education day is planned to teach local educators about the importance of hygiene, clean water, and proper sanitation.

The primary focus of this project is to provide the community with clean, safe water. A large team of students and advisors spent ten days in country working hard to collect data for future use. The stu-dents conducted land surveys to map the town’s existing water sys-tem as well as possibilities for a new well. Another small team worked on gathering health surveys from the community members. These surveys provide the team with data about the needs of the community as well as a baseline to assess the impact of the project when completed. While the team was there, they also delivered soap and crayons to local schools. These supplies were gathered and donated by several schools in the St. Louis area. The team educated the classes on proper hand washing techniques and how to maintain an uncontaminated water supply. They also held an education day for community officials. The meeting served to educate the community about the projects, as well as to help the team understand their needs. The team also tested water ran through bio-sand filters that had been distributed in 2008. The results were successful as the water was clean and safe to drink, showing the filters were continuing to work two years after implementation.

The team plans to improve the town’s existing water system. After testing the flow rate out of each of the three wells in the community this fall, the team has modeled the entire system. By manipulating the model, the team can find out the best way to improve the pressure and water distribution throughout the town. This project has a huge scope as there are approximately 6,000 people in Santiago. From this, the team will decide whether another larger storage tank, well, or both will be best for the community. If all goes well, after this implementation, the community should have 24/7 access to water and no longer have to store water for days in their large outdoor sinks.