A Glass of Water
A glass of water is a common sight. Here in San Diego, we need only ask if we don't find water at our table in a restaurant. However, in much of the world, the glass of water available doesn't look like the one on the right in the photo. Available drinking water looks like what is in the glass on the left. A story in the June 2009 issue of The Rotarian states that "as of 2002, more than one billion people around the globe lacked access to safe drinking water. In the most recent District 5340 Conference, one of the Saturday morning breakout sessions was about water projects that clubs in our district are supporting.
The moderator for the session was Ed Knight, a member of the Rancho Bernardo Rotary Club. He told of helping 10,000 Ecuadorians have access to clean drinking water. With the help of District 5340 and other Rotary Clubs AND Rotary International, eight schools were provided with water chlorination equipment that has a storage capability. This provided students and their families and relatives with clean water. In some cases pipes also have been run to nearby homes. Once the systems are installed, training was provided on how to maintain the systems and purchase and replenish the chlorine. The systems have reduced the incidence of dysentery in the villages.
Another water project that was presented was very much a low tech solution. For remote areas where no electricity is available, an interesting solution involves a 5 gallon plastic bucket with a spigot and a ceramic insert. The ceramic insert filters the particulate matter out of the water and the colloidal silver that is embedded in the ceramic sterilizes the water. This simple system provides a liter of safe drinking water an hour in areas where the only sources of water are contaminated streams or rivers. The recipient of these purification buckets are taught how to clean them so that they will continue to provide clean water. The system is currently rated to provide safe water for a year, but when tested the system has been shown to provide clean water for over two years. For more information, click rescuetaskforce.org
The third presentation was about drilling wells in the Sudan. Since the warfare has ended there, in the southern Sudan there has been an opportunity for aid to be given in the form of drilling equipment and crews to drill wells. The southern Sudan is a very dry area, but water is available in deep wells (30 to 100 meters). Up to 25 wells have been drilled to date and the equipment can last for 50 years. Since the crews that do the drilling are there for a limited time, the equipment is also available to others for drilling wells. For more information, click www.waterforsudan.org
These projects are just some of the many ways that Rotary clubs in District 5340 and around the world are making a difference by providing ways for people to have safe drinking water that had no safe water in the past.
For more informaton about what Rotary International is doing for water projects, click Rotary International Water Projects