Five degree apprentices from Gloucestershire-based Renishaw secured second place for their entry in the UK’s ‘Engineers without Borders’ competition. As part of the ‘Engineers for People Design Challenge’, the apprentices had to create an engineering brief based on real-world problems that would improve the lives of the people living in two towns in northern Peru. The team – Ella Brisland, Marcus Evans, Charlie Lodge, Ezra Price and Oliver Tutton – are currently in year one of a five-year Level 6 apprenticeship at Renishaw.

Together, the team developed a solution for Lobitos and Piedritas, two towns that experience serious sanitation problems. The apprentices’ solution consisted of a combination of biodigesters and oxidation ponds that plumbs sewage through the system, creating a sanitary sewage facility and turning waste into usable by-products. The system breaks sewage into clear effluent that can be processed and used for drinking water and sludge which can be deployed as fertiliser, providing a healthier area to live.

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