Seventeen Cornell engineering students are traveling to rural Honduras this month to work on AguaClara, a project that brings clean drinking water technology to the Central American nation. The team, led by Monroe Weber-Shirk, a senior lecturer in civil and environmental engineering, is visiting Honduras Jan. 4-20.

The AguaClara project began several years ago with construction of a water plant in the village of La 34, and it has grown to include several sites in Honduras. During the January visit, the team will visit existing plants, tour potential sites for future AguaClara treatment plants, and learn about the different communities with whom the team would work, according to Weber-Shirk.

A new plant in the city of Marcala, with a population of about 10,000, is currently under construction. Construction is also expected to begin shortly on a plant for the town of Tamara (3,000 people). The student team will visit both those sites during the trip.

AguaClara -- also the name of a course that Weber-Shirk teaches -- is partnering with a Honduran organization called Agua para el Pueblo ("water for the people") to design and build the plants.