Integrating Water Quality Testing and Best Practices in Refugee Settings: A Case Study in the Middle East

Safe drinking water is essential for public health, yet many refugee camps face challenges in ensuring consistent water quality due to limited infrastructure, overcrowding, and scarce resources.This case study presents a field-based bacterial water quality assessment conducted in a resource-limited setting at a refugee camp in the Middle East using low-cost, accessible testing methods.Refugee student volunteers collected household drinking-water samples following a standardized protocol, which were analyzed by Mercer University students, as part of the Mercer on Mission (MOM) Program, using 3M Petrifilm EC plates to quantify total coliforms and E. coli after 24-and 48-hour incubation in a field-built incubator.Results were classified using World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.While a modest number of samples met the strict WHO "Safe" criterion (0 CFU/100 mL), a substantial proportion showed low to unsafe contamination levels, particularly after extended incubation.In addition to characterizing water quality, the project evaluated the educational value of hands-on, humanitarian engineering activities.Student reflections indicated improved technical skills, data interpretation ability, and awareness of ethical and cultural considerations in engineering practice.This case study demonstrates that Petrifilm-based testing paired with experiential learning can provide both meaningful community health insights and impactful engineering education in resource-limited settings.