WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM INITIATIVE

Our Rotary club’s water filtration program involves funding for the purchase and maintenance of portable water filtration system, primarily for rural, underprivileged schools in Kenya. The filtration systems we finance through this program are primarily Community LifeStraws, which can clean 100,000 liters of water, providing safe drinking water for up to 100 people for 5 years. Community LifeStraws cost an average of $350, and their useful life can be extended with monitoring and maintenance costing average of $100.  "Lifetime LifeStraw" which is  $500 for new units which includes the delivery and the maintenance and replacement parts as needed.  Every $5 does give a child clean water for 5 years at this pricing.

The need for these filtration systems in tremendous. 2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every year from diseases associated with unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. Lack of access to safe drinking water contributes to the staggering burden of diarrheal diseases worldwide, particularly affecting the young, the immunocompromised and the poor. Nearly one in five child deaths – about 1.5 million each year – is due to diarrhea.

Approximately 43% of the global population, especially the lower-income populace in the remote and rural parts of the developing world, is deprived of household safe piped water. “Point-of-use” treatment is an alternative approach, which can accelerate the health gains associated with the provision of safe drinking water to the at-risk populations. It empowers people to control the quality of their drinking water. In many rural and urban areas of the developing world, household water-quality interventions can reduce diarrheal morbidity by more than 40%. Water filters have been shown to be the most effective interventions amongst all point-of-use water treatment methods for reducing diarrheal diseases.

For our water filtration program, we partner with Replenish, a 501(c) 3 organization based in Arlington, Texas outside of Dallas. Replenish identifies schools in need, purchases the LifeStraws and coordinates the distribution of the LifeStraws. 

Our Rotary club thanks you for your support of our water filtration initiative with Replenish.  If you would like to make a donation to support this program, please click on the link below.  If you would like additional information, please also feel free to contact Les Campbell, our club’s Water Projects committee chair, by email at lcampbell@hjsims.com, or by phone at 800-593-9172. 

On behalf of the children whose lives who literally will be saved through your support, we again thank you for your support!

Click below to donate to our LifeStraws program: