Contest: Design a Water Filter Stand!
Attention high school students: We are looking for STEM, Building Trades, Shop, or Inventor-types that want to make a difference! There is a contest, and if you win, your design could be featured in conjunction with future water filter deliveries in Guatemala! Work alone, or work with a team of classmates!
Need
We deliver water filters for families in Guatemala whose health is being impacted by a contaminated water supply. Wouldn’t it be great if we could also provide the recipient with a stand for their new filter?
When the nonprofit delivers a donated water filter, the recipient family usually does not have a designated place to put it. Moreover, the homes are very small, and resources are not plentiful. In fact, kitchens in a rural Guatemalan home are nothing like kitchens in the United States. They lack counter space and oftentimes the kitchen space and living space are combined in the one-room dwelling. So, when we deliver a water filter, the family opts to put it on the kitchen table (if they have one) for lack of a better space.
Specifications
The stand will be designed for a particular filter in mind, the TivaWater 2.0 water filter. It is a highly-rated and dependable water filter that provides clean drinking water for a 10-yr life span. The dimension of the filter, when sitting on the base that comes with it, is 13″ length x 13″ width x 23″ height.
We would like the stand to be made of wood. The following factors should be considered when designing the IDEAL filter stand:
- This filter will be used by both adults and children, so the top of the stand should be at a good dispensing height for all.
- The floor of the home is almost always made of dirt and is often uneven or slanted. As a result, a design that incorporates adjustable height per leg is ideal.
Deadline and Submission
The deadline for submitting your contest entry is Friday, February 11, 2022. Please submit all entries to website@guatsp.org. Do not forget to include the name(s) of all that collaborated on the design and the name and location of the high school that you attend. Include a mockup of your design with dimensions, materials, and assembly instructions. Lastly, please write a few sentences or paragraph(s) on why you feel your design is well-suited to our need.
Judging
Judging will be done by Diego Xirúm, the project manager for Guatemala Service Projects. Diego is also the Guatemala Regional Manager for TivaWater. He has eight years experience delivering and installing TivaWater filters.
The Winner
After a winner is chosen, the following will happen:
- The student(s) and school will be notified of the winning selection via email by end of day 2/14/2022 and will be sent a certificate of achievement.
- The winning design will be shared on the nonprofit’s website and social media accounts. (Facebook and Instagram)
- A carpenter in Guatemala will be presented with the winning design and put to task of building it based on the instructions provided.
- The stand built in Guatemala will be donated, along with a filter, to a family in need. The student(s)/school will receive photos from the day of delivery.
- If the contest results in a positive prototype that can be repeated, we will arrange for more stands to be manufactured. In addition, we would add the stand as another donation option on our page where we accept donations for the water filters themselves.
The “right” opportunity arose when I learned about a travel opportunity for adoptive families which would include volunteer work and cultural sightseeing. Being members of that team had a profound impact on me, Lillian and Andrew. Not only were we able to make a real connection to our son’s birthplace, but we met incredibly warm and generous people, all of whom we now consider to be a part of our “family.” In addition to the volunteer work I shared with the Team, I also was able to “give back” by performing as my alter ego, “Farfel the Clown” at a barbecue for children of The Backyard School. It will remain one the proudest and happiest memories of my life.