The Community

Located in the mountainous region of Yoro, Honduras, Los Oreros is a small village of around 65 people and eleven homes. EWB-USA Northeastern first visited Los Oreros on Christmas Day, 2010 and was deeply concerned at the state of the village. Several homes in Los Oreros were connected to the existing gravity-fed water distribution system in La Reynada, but the majority of the village was not. The difference in quality of life between those with water and those without was striking.

 The Project

In order to address this inconsistency and meet the demands of a growing community, EWB-USA Northeastern designed an extension to the system and by Christmas 2011, everyone in Los Oreros had running water. By using locally available materials and teaching residents how to install pipe, the system will be able to expand as the village grows. The local water board, an elected group of community members, is responsible for system maintenance. Together, EWB-USA Northeastern and Los Oreros were able to improve the lives of many villagers.

In June 2013, a pipe bridge in poor condition was brought to our attention by the Los Oreros community. The villagers were afraid that bad weather would cause the small river below to swell and take out the unprotected pipe, which would sever their connection to clean water. The EWB-USA Northeastern team has since been working on a solution to strengthen the bridge by creating a small suspension system and enclosing the pipe within another pipe to protect it from the elements.