Team: 1425
Engineering Design
A Solution to the Democratic Republic of Congo Water Crisis
Virtual TSA National Conference 2021
Team: 1425
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Health Crisis on the Rise
The water contamination in the DRC has caused mass casualties within the nation. One cup of water can lead to terrible illness, poison, infection, and far more (“DRC”). Sadly, children are the most susceptible to the water deadly effects, and many families have been forced to watch their loved ones die while simply trying to survive (“Ebola”).
It is clear that such tragedy must come to an end so that the people of the DRC may live their lives without fear of the very water they drink.
Water Struggles In The Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo, despite being a water-rich nation, is in the midst of a deadly water crisis. The country's lack of infrastructure has left the people of the DRC with nothing but a severely contaminated water resource that is all they have to rely on (Shore).
List of Contaminants (Mata et al.):
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Diseases
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Diarrhea, dysentery, bilharzia, typhoid fever, cholera, and ebola
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Dissolved Heavy Metals
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Copper
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Chromium
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Cadmium
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Zinc
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Palladium
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Mercury
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Bacteria
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Parasitizes
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Biological Waste
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Sediments
Disaster in the Congo: Economic and Educational Decline
Economy:
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The water crisis prevents a large portion of the population from working, be it from illness or the need to scavenge (“The Facts”).
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The labor losses have slowed goods production and exportation, thus damaging the DRC's largest industry: trade (Remes et al.).
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Subsistence farmers have no water to support the country's food needs, let alone have a surplus to export (WFP).
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Women can not work because they must forage for water (“How Much”).
Eduction :
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The decline in the economy has left families too impoverished to support their child's education (Brown).
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Children must help find water on a daily basis, leaving no time for school (“How Much”).