Aysha Binte Islam — LinkedIn Email
Leila-Rose Badji — LinkedIn Email
Team 1a - Improving the Water Infrastructure of Porto Alegre.mp4
Disasters like the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul floods demonstrate how critical clean water access can be.
Citizens of Porto Alegre lost access to clean water for weeks after the outdated water infrastructure supplied by the National Water and Sanitation Data System (SNIS) could not withstand the immense pressure caused by the floods.
Due to climate change, floods in Porto Alegre are occurring more often with growing severity, with a doubled likelihood of extreme weather conditions like the floods of 2024. AFP (2025)
Porto Alegre’s constant flooding causes its water treatment services to dysfunction, with five of six plants failing during recent floods (Al Jazeera, 2024). Instead of more decentralized facilities that have the possibility of failing again, a working, cost-effective solution is proposed. Low and medium-cost measures include securing air tanks, waterproofing equipment, increasing chemical and fuel storage, and establishing alternative access routes (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2014). For longer-term resilience, physical barriers like flood walls and levees are recommended. Additionally, green infrastructure, such as hybrid green-grey projects, can help manage stormwater and reduce local flooding (Headwaters Economics, n.d.). Installing floodwater pumps can rapidly remove excess water, protecting key infrastructure (Raj, 2025). Together, these measures can enhance Porto Alegre’s resilience and ensure a continuous water supply during flood events.
Most of the articles we acquired data from were written last year, so they may have contained outdated information. Due to the time constraint of the camp, we were unable to verify if all of our sources provided reliable data. We tried to prioritize using data from known news sources like Globe and Mail and BBC, or from local Brazilian news sources.
Another challenge we faced concerned the uncertainty of the team members. Team 1-a started with 3 members, then combined with another team to become a team of 5, then lost members one by one until the team was left with 2 members at the start of Day 3 of the bootcamp. Each member’s responsibilities needed to be shifted multiple times. Technological issues also plagued the team with unreliable communication.
Why is clean water access affected by floods?