Each Fall, GWS develops a problem statement for a unique Costa Rican community. Participating student teams are asked to design a solution which generally involves construction of a centralized treatment system with a complete collection system. It must be a low cost, low maintenance solution that is viable for the chosen community to sustain and operate. Any student group can enter, with a usual Spring deadline.

Thus far, GWS has received teams from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of Wisconsin – Platteville, and Milwaukee School of Engineering. Some students take on the project on their own, while some schools allow students to develop a design as part of a course that would receive credits. This improves student participation considerably and offers GWS a wide variety of solutions to choose from for implementation. Our professionals mentor the students as they engineer innovative solutions and present their solution at the Design Competition held each Spring at the CSWEA Education Seminar.