• As of 2014, 768 million people lack access to potable drinking water, and 2.5 billion people don’t have access to an adequate bathroom.  The resulting conditions lead to the death of almost 2,000 children a day, according to the World Health Organization.
• Arup’s financial and in kind contribution has contributed to vocational training for teens, the construction of 106 rainwater catchment systems, installation of 294 toilets, manual drilling of 10 borehole wells, the improvement of 44 shallow hand dug wells, the rehabilitation of an instream catchment system, and construction of a hydraulic ram pump. 

Arup's staff understand the powerful impact their skill and creativity can have when it is targeted at the lives of people in need.  Since 2012, Arup has maintained a strong partnership with WaterAid America, an international organisation dedicated to providing safe drinking water and adequate sanitation to the developing world. 

The challenge that WaterAid presented to Arup was related to solar powered pumping systems to pump water from surface water sources and wells to elevated storage tanks. Arup was asked to provide advice and recommendations on how best to secure these solar panels. A team of four Arup engineers stepped up to the challenge and studied a number of solar power and pumping options, with a focus on developing a solution that can work at the numerous sites in Nicaragua.The Arup team has developed a graphical tool that provides a quick assessment, giving an estimate of how much water needs to be pumped and how many solar panels will be required to meet that demand.

This partnership has given Arup staff the opportunity to directly support WaterAid’s efforts by providing knowledge and guidance in technical areas that have allowed the organisation to enhance its work in the western hemisphere. The partnership began with an exploratory mission between Arup and WaterAid’s Nigeria office in 2007.  That mission exposed the technical challenges involved in international development and opportunities for Arup staff to jump in and help.

The Arup/WaterAid partnership continues in 2014, with particular focus on the challenges of household sanitation in Nicaragua.  The work of the staff at Arup will be documented in future design guidelines, which will be published to the international development community worldwide.  It is the hope of the volunteers behind the Arup/WaterAid partnership that these documents, which bear the fruit of technical skill and creativity targeted at social betterment, will aid organisations that stand with Arup and our commitment to shape a better world.