Hello! My name is Lisette Gonzalez and I am a Social Work student at the University of Texas at El Paso. Recently, I, alongside several of my peers, spent time learning about the complexities of water impurities and how they affect the nearby community. Here is that recap.
Coming into the week, I was extremely nervous but also very excited to see how everything would go and how we would all collaborate as a group from so many different backgrounds. On our first day, after we all were given the opportunity to introduce ourselves, I and the other social work students involved in this project were given the opportunity to present our early findings and research to our peers regarding the situation and some background into the colonia, Hueco Tanks. We presented our results of the demographics, and of the questionnaire given to the families living in the colonias, and I found it enjoyable to be able to provide an analysis of our findings and what that meant moving forward in the week. Later in the day, we visited Hueco Tanks where some of the families were visited and the water tanks that they own were viewed and the families were followed up with. We wrapped up our first-day reviewing research and what it entails as a group and what that looks like, and I left that day hopeful and excited for the rest of the week.
We arrived bright and early the next morning, eager to continue and we were given the wonderful opportunity of meeting with Caminos de Agua. During our call with them, they discussed water pollution, rainwater collection, wells, and what local issues they face when they are in the process of making drinkable water accessible. One of the things that were discussed that pleasantly surprised me was how long they can stretch their water to last and that their systems are not only efficient but also long-lasting. After our discussion with them, we visited the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant where we learned how El Paso Water cleans the water of its impurities and filters it for safe and consumable use. Once we returned back to campus, we as a team had a giant brainstorming session where we discussed what the issues were in Hueco Tanks and how to best address them in a cost-effective and quick way. We bounced around some ideas such as having alternative trucks deliver water, to arrange for cheap but new materials that would withstand the climate and keep the water safe, and also to potentially have the city pipe out there in the long term. Getting to discuss with everybody and in a sense word vomit out ideas was very enjoyable and one of my favorite parts of the day.
We wrapped up our week together by visiting a lab on campus that has been testing water and experimenting with different filters for many different contaminants. While we were there, we were given a tour and an explanation of how the process works and how they test the many water samples that they have. The most surprising thing to me during that visit was finding out that they do 100 tests on their water samples in order to determine their quality. We learned quite a bit in the lab and I found the passion for it to be quite refreshing.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning and experiencing the week with my peers and I know in the next few weeks, we will be learning and growing more as we continue our education in water, its qualities, its purity, and its contaminants.
Heres some pictures below.
Thank you for sharing, Lisette!