Congratulations and thanks are in order for the Plastics Pipe and Fittings Association and its member companies that helped with a project that got fresh water to Honduran refugees from Hurricane Mitch.

According to a news release from PPFA, the Honduran federal government established the village of Colinas de Suiza to accommodate refugees displaced for lower lying areas following the 1998 storm. The village has a population of more than 8,000.

One of the biggest challenges was getting fresh water to the village, along with an irrigation system. Dr. David R. Muñoz from the Colorado School of Mines was involved in the project and looking for help, which he found when he contacted David Chasis, an alumnus of CSM and a member of PPFA, about another issue.

According to the news release, Muñoz was particularly attracted to the project because it could be integrated into a new minor program at CSM called Humanitarian Engineering, "which involves working on projects that require the use of engineering skills in addition to an enhanced awareness of culture and societal differences to sustainably improve the lives of the underserved throughout the world."

PPFA members who helped with the project include Georg Fischer, Hayward Industrial Products, IPEX Inc., IPS Corp., JM Eagle Manufacturing Co., LASCO Fittings Inc., Mueller Industries Inc, NIBCO Inc., Shintech Inc., and Silver-Line Plastics Corp.

Congratulations to the association and its members for their role in this project.