Bolivia Water & Sanitation

A street in Barrio San Cristóbal, Bolivia — FIG.01 / Barrio San Cristóbal, Tarija, Bolivia

Project Overview

The 250-person community of Barrio San Cristobal, Bolivia has struggled with access to safe and reliable drinking water and sanitation services since its establishment over ten years ago.

A team member collecting elevation data with a total station outside Barrio San Cristóbal — FIG.02 / Collecting elevation data using a total station

The need for improved access to water and sanitation services was identified after our Spring 2025 Site Assessment Trip, when we met with 30+ households, to understand the community’s infrastructure priorities. At the time, the community’s main source of drinking water was a well that had been contaminated with coliform and was unsafe to continue drinking. This contamination was likely due to the use of unlined latrines to manage human waste, which allowed pathogens to leach into groundwater. With the help of the local government, community leadership was finalizing plans to construct a new, deeper well and water towers that would increase the quality and reliability of the drinking water. However, there were no plans in place to address the root cause of the contamination – unsustainable waste management practices.

Throughout the course of the year, culminating in a construction Implementation Trip in the summer of 2026, EWB Cornell designed and built a public restroom and attached septic system to ensure that waste is safely managed and does not contaminate this new well. Using software such as AutoCAD and Civil3D, team members designed a two-room restroom with flushing toilets, a septic tank, and a leach field, ultimately traveling to Barrio San Cristobal to successfully build the restroom during a three-week trip.

Team members and local masons laying brick walls for the public restroom — FIG.03 / Laying the restroom walls, Summer 2026

On this 2026 trip, the team saw the newly installed well and water tower but learned through conversations with residents and the community’s Water Committee that the 15-year-old pipe system connected to the new well has frequently been breaking, causing drinking water loss for multiple days at a time. The old pipes are unable to withstand the increased pressure caused by the new water tower and are unlikely to be able to support the community much longer. In addition to continuing sanitation development, EWB Cornell is now working on redesigning the water piping system to address these issues and will return to Bolivia in the summer of 2027 to begin construction.

A backhoe excavating trenches for the leach field — FIG.04 / Backhoe excavating trenches for leach field

Project Timeline

Spring 2025

Site Assessment Trip

Met with 30+ households to understand the community’s infrastructure priorities. Found the main drinking water well contaminated with coliform.

2025-2026

Design & Engineering

Designed a two-room restroom with flushing toilets, a septic tank, and a leach field using AutoCAD and Civil3D.

Summer 2026

Implementation Trip

Traveled to Barrio San Cristobal and built the public restroom and attached septic system during a three-week trip, so waste no longer contaminates the new well.

2027+

Water Piping Redesign

The 15-year-old pipes keep breaking under the new water tower’s pressure. We are redesigning the piping system and return in Summer 2027 to begin construction.

Field Archive