Written by Mackenzie Chen

In January 2025, terror cast a dark shadow over Richmond as Winter Storm Blair made itself known, knocking out the power to the city’s water treatment plant. Equipment failure further exacerbated the issue, restricting residents in Richmond and surrounding localities from access to clean water. 

Boil-water advisories were immediately issued to many areas of the city, as well as Henrico, Hanover, Goochland, and Chesterfield counties. Many facilities, including schools and hospitals, were shut down, and community-wide events, such as sports games, were cancelled. While full clean water access was eventually restored, internal investigations were conducted to understand the root cause of this crisis: what are the factors at play that could prevent people from obtaining clean water?

The water crisis in Richmond gave me an opportunity to reflect on a research trip I took to Bluefields, Nicaragua in the summer of 2024. Along with a team of UVA nursing students and Professor Emma Mitchell, PhD, RN, I helped develop Azulado, a mobile application that facilitates cervical cancer screening for women in Bluefields. 

Throughout this trip, not only was it my responsibility to record my findings on healthcare found in different contexts, but it was also my intention to completely immerse myself in the Bluefields community and understand life through the eyes of its residents. Through this, I was able to observe some of the challenges associated with a lack of access to filtered, clean water.

When we first landed in Bluefields, Professor Mitchell informed us that while we could use the water coming out of the shower head to bathe and clean ourselves, we could not use the sink water to brush our teeth. Instead, we had to venture downstairs from our rooms to the hotel water machine in the lobby because it dispensed filtered water. Additionally, we were cautioned against ordering ice in our drinks as the ice was also primarily made from unfiltered water.

Coming from a culture that highly emphasizes the use of tap water and ice, I was definitely unaccustomed to this new lifestyle. The first night we spent in Bluefields, my roommate emerged from the bathroom, appalled, because she had accidentally used the sink water to brush her teeth. These small changes in my habits would soon have greater implications on my outlook on clean water supply around the world. 

In Nicaragua, a country of approximately 6 million people, 48% of the population lacks access to adequate sanitation, while 15% of the population lacks access to clean water. These percentages spike significantly in rural communities, with Bluefields being no exception. 

The problem is not that Nicaragua is deprived of bodies of water; in fact, it is famously known as the “land of lakes and volcanoes,” abundant in rivers and reservoirs. However, without the necessary infrastructure to filter the water to ensure its cleanliness, residents often rely on unfiltered water from groundwater sources, which could be easily contaminated with fecal matter. 

Many nonprofit organizations, such as blueEnergy, have worked with Nicaraguan towns to install stand-alone latrines and septic tanks to improve water and sanitation infrastructure. However, in Bluefields, a town that suffers from poor economic growth, high unemployment, and rampant poverty, these facilities are rarely found. 

Thus, waterborne illnesses are a major threat to the Bluefields community, with many of its water wells vulnerable to various forms of contamination. For example, some of its wells do not have covers installed to protect the water from surface contamination, which can result in cholera, dysentery, diarrheal diseases, and, in some cases, death. 

Over the years, progress has been made to advance the state of water infrastructure, improve water quality, and promote better sanitation practices. In 2018, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Finance and Public Credit signed a loan to fund the “Bluefields Sanitation Project,” which entails the construction of a sanitary sewer and wastewater treatment system that could benefit as many as 28,000 inhabitants. This project is part of a series of initiatives to improve the quality of water and sanitation services and promote the rational use of water. 

Additionally, other organizations have also conducted revitalization projects in Bluefields, from blueEnergy constructing new latrines to improve water infrastructure to college students completing global development projects. For example, Kelsey Eichbauer, an environmental engineering undergraduate student from Georgia Tech, traveled to Bluefields to help design and build a simple water-filtration system to reuse “gray water,” which consists of all of the semi-clean wastewater that comes from sources other than the toilet. 

During my trip to Bluefields, I grew more aware of the disparities that exist globally when it comes to access to clean water. Everyone deserves access to clean water, but in reality, there are often gaps in access to such resources. Clean water quality requires time and investment in new and innovative technology to facilitate the process, but it is well worth the effort in order to promote and advance the well-being of communities.

Edited by Lucy Zheng