A team of employees from Miami-based engineering firm PBS&J’s Jacksonville, Fla., office recently traveled to El Adelanto, Guatemala, for a week to participate in a voluntary effort to install a water system. PBS&J employees joined volunteers with Wisconsin Water for the World (WWW), an organization that provides resources for safe drinking water to people in needy communities, and Agua Para Salud, an in-country, nonprofit organization dedicated to building water systems throughout Guatemala.

“Locals of El Adelanto face severe health and hygiene issues due to limited access to clean water,” said Heather Cavanagh, an engineer with PBS&J and one of the participating volunteers. “It was a very rewarding experience for our team of volunteers to work side by side with our client (JEA of Jacksonville, Fla.) and a dedicated team of locals to build the much-needed functional water system, and teach health and hygiene in the elementary school.”

Located in rugged mountainous terrain west of Guatemala City, El Adelanto has a population of 1,200 people. The volunteer team used a nearby mountain spring as its source for the water. The new water system provides approximately 50 homes and more than 300 residents in the area access to sanitized water. Other organizations that contributed to the El Adelanto project included Florida Water Environment Association, Florida Rotary Partners, and the Florida Section of the American Water Works Association.