Eau pure pour Carrefour-Feuilles and Cite Soleil (Part 1) 2010Jan, 2010Feb

Clean water for Carrefour-Feuilles and Citè Soleil (Part 1)

After Haïti's 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit on January 12, 2010, I was trying to think of a way to help that would have both immediate and lasting effects.

I thought of several Biosand water filters we installed November 2009 in and near the capital, Port-au-Prince. Inside the concrete filters, sand and gravel provide a physical filter to clean the water. After a couple weeks stuff starts growing in the top layer of sand that eats the parasites and other bad guys floating around in the water, so that it's cleaned naturally up to 98% clean!

We can buy, deliver, and install one filter for a little under US$80. One filter could serve a school of about 70 kids and it seems like it'd last pretty much forever.

We telephoned the Biosand water filter factory to see if they were still operating after the earthquake.

"Yes, of course," said the manager, Roman Cipus. They have an obligation, he said, to provide clean water for the people. They were still making the Biosand water filters and were also delivering clean water by the truckload.

When we arrived to pickup 5 water filters, he only charged us for 4. We arrived a few days later to pickup 4 more filters for 2 churches in Citè Soleil. All of them were free.

Wherever we install a filter we always ask that they make it available to others in the neighborhood.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Clean
• water
• biosand
• filter
• Port-au-Prince
• Cite
• Soleil
• Haiti
• kids
• children