John Simpson has a B.S. degree in Engineering with a Civil Engineering Specialty from Colorado School of Mines. He is currently working on his M.S. in Civil Engineering at Michigan Tech. John is assigned as water/sanitation engineer in Choluteca, Honduras and plans to complete his Peace Corps service on October 17, 2003.
John’s Peace Corps assignment consists of supervising construction, designing, surveying, and troubleshooting rural water projects in communities of approximately 100 people to 10,000 people in Southern Honduras. The water systems he works on are typically gravity fed systems but may also be pump systems. He is also involved in obtaining funds, training water boards, training plumbers, and latrine projects.

Research

• Technical Capacity Building of Existing Gravity Fed Rural Drinking Water
  Systems in Honduras, John D. Simpson, December 2003.
  This report demonstrates the engineering requirements for building capacity to existing drinking water systems that no longer deliver the desired quantity of water to a community. This process starts with troubleshooting a system to diagnose the problems and then finding an economical solution to rectify the problems identified. The scope of this report analyzes methods to pinpoint where problems are located in a system and methods which can be employed to build capacity to existing systems by using the existing components of a water system when possible. This report draws upon the author’s two years service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Choluteca, Honduras, while working for a variety of organizations to design, construct, and repair water supply systems.
  Review Abstract (PDF File)
  Complete Report (904 kB File)