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As part of The University of Alabama Engineers Without Borders service learning project, a group of students and faculty are traveling to Vietnam and Cambodia to assess drinking water quality in rural households as part of a clean water initiative.
The team consists of Dr. Philip Johnson, Dr. Joe Brown, Ynhi Thai, Rebecca Macdonald, Marcus Aguilar, Will Black, Billy Clark, Sonja Gregorowicz, Rob Quinney, Andrew Magee, Rebecca Midkiff, and Lissa Petrey.

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Test results, coloform and arsenic

May 22, 2009

We split into three groups, one for lab work and two for collecting samples. One objective for this project is to provide a publishable assessment of water quality for the sources. Once done, the information will be mapped by GPS and available on RDIC.ORG. Another objective is to find water sources that may be safely and economically marketed in the future by means of small water treatment plants. Most samples from the previous day tested for arsenic but only enough that would cause damage if consumed over long term. After processing the samples for bacteria (coloform), we found the contamination of one river to be horrible and another not so much. The same was for pagodas and plain water holes. Most wells have been constant with a good share of microbes; though, we have noticed that water sources near markets tend to be very contaminated. Another team member will be writing a more accurate report after the trip.

Robert Quinney, a sophomore in civil engineering

Rebecca is very organized, data recording fits her well.

Lissa and Andrew are very competent in their labwork.