Summary

Allentown is a growing community outside of Freetown. Our project involves the community’s school, the LemonAid Village and medical center. Currently, the school’s water is provided entirely through rainwater catchment. The water is not treated so it cannot be used as drinking water. The LemonAId village accommodates approximately 500 students.The goal of this project is to provide the school with clean water for drinking, cleaning and cooking for the students and community members of Lower Allentown.

Background

The 10 year civil war of Sierra Leone hit the area of Allentown especially hard. Rebels destroyed schools, killed teachers, cut electric, phone and water lines, and burnt most businesses.

In an effort to rebuild their society, Lower Allentown built a school to educate their children and community members. France Brown, the founder of the school contacted LemonAid fund to help build the school and LemonAid fund contacted EWB-NCSU to help provide clean water and renewable energy.

The water for Freetown and the surrounding area has always been provided water by the Guma Dam. However, to replace the cut waterlines, three ordinary garden hoses where run to the Lower Allentown area. This prompted the Guma Valley to replace the pipeline, leaving the community with only one water source, a distant well.

The Response

System Assessment

In the winter of 2010 a three member team was able to travel to Allentown to gather data and build relationships with the community. During the assessment trip, the team discussed building a loop of piping from the rebuilt pipeline to the school, medical center and several community taps. This will eliminate the need for community members to illegally tap into the pipeline, compromising the water within it.

Moving Forward

The project is currently discussing the details of our design. We are working to investigate possible materials for our project, and develop a budget. With the help of the community of Allentown, we plan to implement our project in the summer of 2013. In addition to the engineering and construction of a water distribution system, the team is working with the community of Allentown to determine who will monitor and maintain the project after implementation.