Some residents of the northwestern Haitian town Bonneau will soon have clean water to drink thanks to efforts from the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill.
At the club’s weekly meeting Thursday in the Richmond Hill City Center, President-elect Brice Ladson told Rotarians of progress with their international service project.
The club’s initiative will fund a solar-powered water treatment system for a special needs orphanage and elder care facility operated by the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission (NWHCM).
“It would be attached to a well that would be piped into these facilities and would disinfect or treat microbiologically the water from the well,” Ladson said.
The system, known as the Sunspring, will be constructed in early 2012 and will provide clean water to around 250 people being cared for in the facilities, according to Tracey Vaughan with the NWHCM.
The Sunspring system is a portable, self-contained, solar-powered, microbiological water purifier capable of treating up to 5,000 gallons per day. The raw water source can come from wells, lakes, rivers, captured rainwater and others. The life expectancy of the system is around 10 years, Ladson said.
Ladson said the facilities will not use all of the water, and any additional treated water will be provided to the residents in Bonneau.
But the Rotary Club isn’t just providing one Sunspring system to Haitian residents. Ladson said that later in 2012, the club will work toward providing a second Sunspring system so all 8,000 residents of Bonneau may have clean water to drink.
The club has partnered with Rotary District 6920 in Georgia and Rotary International to receive a matching grant for some of the cost of the project, which is around $23,000. The Richmond Hill club’s out-of-pocket expense is about $3,800, Ladson said.
Read more in the Nov. 9 edition of the News.