Rainwater Collection in Rural Communities: Experience of a Capstone Project for Students of Sustainable Development Engineering

Sustainability challenges require novel teaching methods to facilitate different types of learning. Higher Education Institutions must contribute to developing the social responsibility of youth and encourage them to actively participate in community development to solve local environmental and social problems. One way to contribute is through capstone projects. This paper summarizes the work of a group of four senior students in the academic Sustainable Development Engineering program who estimated the potential of rainwater collection in three rural primary education schools in the Mexican state of Puebla. The results show that using the surface of a single large structure dome, the schools can collect 83 to 96 % of their water demand; this requires building cisterns with a capacity of 115 to $181 ~\mathrm{m}^{3}$. Also, the large surface areas of the domes available in the schools can be used as a water source for the communities, allowing them to reduce water scarcity during the dry season. Experiences like this present a great learning opportunity for undergraduate students, as they can apply knowledge learned during their studies, deal with real societal problems, and see how they can contribute to sustainable development.