Developing an optimization model to identify ideal standpipe locations in Wum, Cameroon

The village of Wum, located in the Northwest province of Cameroon, West Africa, is home to over 30,000 people, most of whom gather water from local, contaminated streams and are vulnerable to many water-borne and water-related illnesses. Not only is their water ridden with bacteria, but they are also unable to collect sufficient amounts of water due to low supply in the streams and the distance they must walk to reach them. As the final section of a complete water filtration and distribution system design, this analysis uses optimization modeling to determine the optimal number and locations of standpipes throughout the village.