The community of Bello Horizonte is located in Amazonian Peru off the Maranon River, a sister river north of the Ucayali River (where our previous project in Yucuruchi was located), which ultimately forms the start of the Amazon river. This community of approximately 100 people, many of which are woman and children, sources their water was from the river. There many people noted that they get sick from drinking the contaminants mixed with it. 

 

In May of 2025, an assessment team, in collaboration with the Kansas State University Student chapter, visited the community to survey the area and speak with the leaders to discuss their needs. During an expedited design period, a design for a six tank 15,000L capacity rainwater catchment system was finalized. This system would source rainwater from the roof of a new community building constructed by our partnered orgnanization, Global First Responders. 

 

In January and February of 2026, EWB-KC came back to construct the system in a two phases. The first phase completed the sitework, foundation, columns, and pad for the system, while the second phase completed the mechanical parts and tied into the community building. 

 

After a successful implementation, the community has enough water to provide access to clean water year round. The team hopes to closeout the project in 2027 during the monitoring phase and troubleshoot any final items to hand off the project to the community.​​​​