Engineering positive change in Cambodia
Fourth-year environmental engineering student at RMIT, Klyti Scott, is undertaking a research project with a real humanitarian edge.
Tackling a major issue—water quality—she is working with a Cambodian not-for-profit organisation, RainWater Cambodia (RWC), to determine the most effective rainwater harvesting and education programs that improve conditions for local communities.
Coordinated by Engineers Without Borders (EWB), the project is part of the Undergraduate Research Program, an initiative that connects local students and universities to partner organisations in developing countries. These research projects aim to apply technology to improve quality of life in disadvantaged areas.
One such area is rural Cambodia. With groundwater often contaminated with Arsenic and hard to access, and surface waters also of poor quality, rainwater harvesting can be a good source of clean drinking water.
While this practice has existed for generations, traditional methods just can’t satisfy demand, nor safeguard against contamination.
RWC promotes risk-managed, safe methods of rainwater harvesting systems and works to increase local awareness of sanitation and hygiene in rural areas. In partnership with EWB, RWC has implemented a range of projects including the installation of new rainwater harvesting systems and hand washing facilities in local schools, health centers and households.
To date, however, RWC has had no formal method by which to understand how, or even if, its work is beneficial in terms of health and safety for rural Cambodians.
Klyti's research hopes to resolve this issue.
Working closely with RWC and EWB's in-field volunteer, James Oakley, Klyti's research aims to develop an evaluative framework that RWC will use to understand the impact of its work at a social, economic, health and environmental level.
"While it's intuitive that clean drinking water will have a positive impact on peoples' lives, just how much we don't know," said James. "Also, to know the level of behaviour change within the communities and the success of the local entrepreneurs in generating and fulfilling demand for the hardware, is vital to us. What Klyti is proposing to do will be great for RWC!"
EWB's Curriculum and Research Coordinator, Julian O'Shea, said: "It's great to see students like Klyti help tackle these great global challenges. Engineering has a critical role to play in improving conditions in developing communities and projects that address issues such as water quality are key."
