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Peruvian team wins World Architecture Festival’s inaugural water research prize

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has announced that a team of students from Pontifical Catholic University of Peru has won its inaugural Water Research Prize.

The team won with a plan to improve the water and sewage systems in the Peruvian Amazon, a region where only 31% of the population has access to water, despite its having one of the world’s highest levels of rainfall.

The team developed a system of tubes that are intended to capture, store and treat rainwater, and serve as a non-bearing wall that can be integrated with existing structures. The number of tubes can be increased or decreased according to need, and the system has permeable walls to allow cross-ventilation, providing cooling air without the need for air-conditioning.

Paul Finch, WAF programme director, said: "Ingeniously addressing the ironic condition that communities in the Amazon do not have adequate water despite having the highest rainfall in the world, this proposed communal water management system admirably addresses both the social community and environment challenges interlinked with water shortage and quality.

"Plus, there’s the ability to replicate the design in similar environments."  

The PUCP team was picked from a shortlist of 12 projects and will receive a £10,000 prize from WAF partner Grohe, the world’s leading supplier of sanitary fittings, to support further research.

Images courtesy of the World Architecture Festival

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