Water & Air – Filter Systems News

Water Missions International was founded by George and Molly Greene, formerly owners of an environmental engineering company when Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras in 1998. Heartbroken by the devastation, they felt the need to assist in some way. After receiving a request for six water treatment systems, and frustrated in their search to find existing systems that would work, they decided to build their own. Upon arrival in the first village receiving assistance, they were greeted by the “River of Death” – a filthy, disease-laden river, the color of chocolate milk. George and Molly treated the river water, using their newly-engineered system, and placed their lips to it to drink, in order to show the villagers that it was safe. Out of this moment came Water Missions International. George and Molly responded to an inner calling, sold their engineering company, and have never looked back. To date, WMI has distributed mini-water treatment systems, which use a combination of chemical disinfection and filtration, to communities in nine different countries. Every mission involves both the spread of clean water, and the spread of the “living water” message of Christianity.

We are drawing attention to WMI this #charitytuesday, because they were recently in the news for attempting to bring relief, in the form of clean water, to Japan earthquake victims. Unfortunately, the country’s permitting process has forced them to put their efforts on standby at this time – which is both heartbreaking and ironic, considering all of the bottled water that’s been distributed since the devastation – but we are hoping that it won’t be for long. Their efforts elsewhere are still going, full force, and in the meantime, you can donate to Water Missions International directly, through their website.

“When you take water, give water.”

This simple concept is the foundation for the UNICEF Tap Project, founded during World Water Week of 2007, to raise funds for millions of children around the world to gain access to clean water. As we’ve mentioned in several of our posts, millions of people lack access to this basic need. In some nations, women and children must walk more than five miles a day just to collect water for their families. This lengthy process prevents them from other opportunities; children are kept from school, and women are kept from performing other basic, but necessary, domestic duties. Water charities like UNICEF’s Tap Project exist to raise money to support clean water and sanitation solutions in developing countries.

Since World Water Week 2011 is next week (March 20-26), we thought UNICEF’s Tap Project would be the perfect charity to feature on our blog to mark #charitytuesday on twitter. What’s unique about this project is their way of raising money. UNICEF partners with hundreds of restaurants across the U.S., asking patrons to donate $1 each time they order free tap water, during World Water Week. Since it’s inception in 2007, UNICEF Tap Project has raised more than $2.5 million toward clean water solutions.

And this year, UNICEF is teaming up with celebrities on a special “Celebrity Tap Project.” Singers, Rhianna and Taylor Swift along with Selena Gomez, and Entourage actor, Adrian Grenier are bottling tap water from their homes. Each $5 donation made to the UNICEF Celebrity Tap Project will give supporters a chance to win a limited edition Celebrity Tap Pack, featuring one bottle of water from each of these celebrities’ home faucets.

While we don’t normally support bottled water, or the celebrity endorsement of bottled water, this is an interesting way to draw attention to the need for clean water in developing nations. It also conveniently drives home the point that most bottled water is nothing more than tap anyway. Even if it comes from a celebrity, we’re willing to bet that most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between their home tap water and the variety that came out of Taylor Swift’s faucet. Still, we can’t help but applaud these four celebrities, and UNICEF, for their innovative efforts.

For Justin Bieber’s 17th birthday, he asking all of the “Beliebers”  to celebrate his birthday by donating to the Justin Bieber’s Charity: Water page. Justin is asked that his friends, fans and followers donate $17 to charity: water. The money will be used to build clean water projects in developing countries.

“Together, we’ve made a big difference for many causes,” Justin wrote on the page. “Did you know that about 4,500 kids die each day from waterborne disease? By building clean water projects for villages that need them, we can prevent this! I want to make my birthday matter this year — let’s make it so more kids can grow up to have a 17th birthday like me. Join me to make a change.”

Of course, Justin Bieber isn’t the only celebrity working to provide clean water to those who need it. For Adam Lambert’s 29th birthday, he set out to raise $290,000 through his own charity: water page. He did that and more. He extended the challenge to his fans, and as of this writing, his page has received $295,500 in donations.

Alyssa Milano’s mycharity: water campaigns raised over $92,000 for her 37th birthday in 2009, and another $39,551 for her 38th birthday at the end of 2010.

On Sunday January 30, a crew of seniors, aged 56 to 84, set sail on the An-Tiki, a raft constructed of water pipes. The purpose of their 70-day, 2,800-mile voyage: To raise 50,000 pounds for WaterAid, an international, nonprofit organization that partners with local organizations in 26 countries in Asia, Africa and parts of the Pacific Region to implement safe water, sanitation and hygiene education in rural and urban areas. WaterAid helps establish clean water systems, while also enabling families to maintain them, ensuring long-term, sustainable success for all parties involved.

While sailing on saltwater, the An-Tiki crew hopes to raise awareness of the fact that it is fresh water that keeps us alive, but it’s also fresh water that many people in the world lack access to. While on board, the crew will have plenty of water, but will also collect rainwater and convert saltwater into fresh, to remind themselves of its importance to our livelihood. While raising money for clean water, these men also hope to demonstrate that adventure is just as suitable for seniors as it is for youngsters. It is impressive to note that the oldest gentleman in the crew, An-Tiki Captain Anthony Smith, has been a traveling adventurer for nearly all of the 84 years he’s been alive.

The An-Tiki is a testament to the importance of clean water, just as the Plastiki has been a testament to the importance of plastic waste reduction – and we thought this unique effort deserved this week’s spot in our featured water charities, in honor of #charitytuesday on Twitter. To support Antiki in it’s fundraising efforts for WaterAid, make a donation online through the An-Tiki Just Giving page. To track the voyage live online, visit the An-Tiki Yellowbrick Satellite Adventure Tracking page.

This week, in honor of #charitytuesday, we have chosen to feature Water is Life. I wrote a brief summary of their work in our Water Charities List, but we felt like this was such a unique cause that they deserved a bigger spotlight.

Water is Life has developed a filtration technology that filters dirty water through a straw in three stages. When the straw is immersed in water (like a normal drinking straw), it filters particles, membranes and molecules in the first chamber. Then as the water is sipped through the remaining chambers, an iodine filtration system eliminates disease, and charcoal grates remove any bad tastes to provide fresh, clean, safe water. The system filters particles down to 15 microns in size.

The Water is Life straw has proven to be effective against waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, guinea worm and diarrhea, and each straw filters water for one person for up to an entire year.

However, the straws are just a short-term solution to those that need immediate assistance. 6,500 people – 5,000 of whom are children – die daily due to the lack of access to clean water. Water is Life distributes the straws as a temporary fix, while they work to develop long-term sustainable solutions like water wells, sand filters and other technology, combined with hygiene and sanitation assistance in each village.

If you would like to donate to Water is Life, you may do so directly on the website. Each straw costs $10. Volunteers may also get involved by hosting  a fundraising event, or by joining a Water is Life team and traveling to distribute straws in Kenya, Ghana, Haiti and other countries.

Stay tuned to learn more about a special charity project that Filters Fast will be hosting in the coming months. In the meantime, promote the Water is Life cause to your friends by sharing this post on Facebook and Twitter!

Since Tuesday is #charitytuesday on twitter, we thought we’d do a weekly feature on one of our favorite water charities. Today we’ve picked one that’s not on our original water charity list: World Walks for Water. It’s a global event that takes place from March 19-22 of this year, that aims to raise awareness of the world’s clean water and sanitation crisis. Anyone may participate in this global demand for strong government action to stop the needless death of thousands every day.

I think of it as a peaceful protest for clean water.

Millions of women and children miss out on the chance to get an education due to the poverty that ensues from a lack of access to clean water. They must spend hours a day traveling to and fro to collect water for their families – water that is dirty and will likely make them sick – and even more hours a day caring for their sick loved ones. Though many water charities exist and are working to solve this crisis, corrupt politics can often ruin even the most sincere charitable efforts. World Walks for Water stands up to those politics, by demanding that these issues be ignored no longer.

Those of us who are more privileged take clean water for granted. What’s worse, rather than investing in technology that purifies water in safe, healthy ways, our governments use toxic chemicals to disinfect our water. (Fortunately, there are companies like Filters Fast that provide ways to filter them out.) World Walks for Water is a chance for all of us to stand up and demand that the world’s entire population, rich or poor, have access to safe water and sanitation. It’s an event that unites people from all walks of life.

You can join the online walk directly on the website. Online walkers are featured on the home page with cartoon characters holding water jugs and walking in a straight line. Each time your mouse rolls over a character, a quote, like “taps and toilets for all,” or “children at school, not walking for water” is displayed on his or her water jug. To join this colorful cast of characters, simply visit the website and fill out the form. Then, if you want to sign up to participate in a walk in your area, or even organize your own walk, you can do that from the website as well. We just joined the virtual walk and are pretty excited about it.

Join the walk for water, and tell your friends by retweeting this post!

Just like bottled water companies, clean water advocates in nonprofit efforts have caught on to the best advertising tool in the market: Celebrities. Many celebrities have given their fame and money to good causes. (Sadly, many celebrities endorse bottled water, also, but that’s a post for another day.) The latest trend among stars like Mark Ruffalo, Adam Lambert, Alyssa Milano and Matt Damon is clean water. We thought we’d take some time to highlight what these celebrities are doing to ensure access to clean water in the U.S. and beyond.

Mark Ruffalo – The Fight Against Natural Gas Fracking

The grassroots organization, Frack Action, was struggling to garner media attention for their opposition to natural gas drilling in New York State, until they brought Mark Ruffalo on board. Fracking is a process that involves injecting water and chemicals under high pressure into rock formations, in order to extract natural gas. Filmmaker, Josh Fox, recently portrayed the consequences of fracking in his documentary, Gasland, in which farmers across the U.S. can be seen to light their tap water on fire from natural gas contamination.  Ruffalo dedicates himself to the cause with full force, as an unpaid volunteer. He has attended meetings and hearings, lobbied with activists and visited colleges to raise awareness among students. His fame is helping to bring attention to an issue that, otherwise, may have received very little. In fact, it was rumored several months ago that his private screening of Fox’s film may have landed him on the government’s Terror Watch List. Whether or not the rumor is true doesn’t matter; Ruffalo is one celebrity who won’t sell out. He is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in.

Adam Lambert and Alyssa Milano – Happy Birthday to the Less Fortunate

2009 American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert is donating his 29th birthday to charity: water – one of many water charities dedicated to bringing clean water to those in developing countries. The concept is simple: instead of asking for gifts for your birthday, ask your friends and family to make donations through your mycharity: water website (which is very easy to set up). All of the proceeds will go toward funding clean water projects in countries like Africa, Asia, Honduras and Haiti. With the mycharity: water website, everyone can follow in Adam Lambert’s footsteps. In fact, Lambert is not the first celebrity to donate his birthday to water charity. Alyssa Milano’s mycharity: water campaigns raised over $92,000 for her 37th birthday in 2009, and another $39,551 for her 38th birthday at the end of last year. Lambert’s goal, is $290,000 by the 29th, as he said in a recent tweet.

Matt Damon – Water.org

If you follow us on twitter, by now you probably know that we are big fans of Water.org. Like charity: water, this organization is dedicated to funding clean water, hygiene and sanitation projects in developing nations. Matt Damon co-founded Water.org with Gary White, and has since been heavily invested in its work. Recently, he accepted the Joel Siegel Award for his work with Water.org, at the Critic’s Choice Awards. We think you should follow them on twitter: @Water.

Around 2 billion people lack access to clean water and 4000 children die daily from waterborne disease. While many water charities struggle to obtain donations by asking nicely, UNICEF has tried a different approach. Last Friday, the organization set up colorful vending machines in Manhattan’s Union Square to raise awareness.  Not just any vending machines. These contained bottles of dirty water, each one labeled with the name of a different disease, including cholera, dysentery, typhoid and hepatitis. The bottles were sold for a donation of $1, which UNICEF claims is enough to provide a child with safe water for 40 days. Each machine also displayed a mobile phone number to which people could text a donation.

UNICEF produced a promotional video about the campaign. At the end, one girl asks which bottle will give her a tapeworm and make her lose weight… obviously the organization still has a long way to go in this campaign. Do you think their shock and awe methods will work better than those of other water charities?

Working together with one of its small Atlanta-based business customers – Water Transit Solutions – AT&T has contributed $100,000 to the National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians (NOAH) earthquake relief effort.

This effort helps bring sustainable, clean water supplies to victims of natural disasters (i.e. earthquakes) in Haiti. WTS will deploy water tanks and delivery trucks to various locations throughout Haiti. Each truck can hold up to 1,250 gallons of water, providing an estimated 2,500 people with clean drinking water each day. Utilizing AT&T’s  innovative M2M technology, which communicates real-time data back to a control center, NOAH is able to monitor water volume and water quality, allowing for the continual tracking of water and ice requirements, thus optimizing delivery to those in need. Working together, these three organizations are making a difference along with many water charities around the world.

(It looks like all those iPhone purchases are paying off. Want to donate money to earthquake victims in Haiti? I’m sure there’s an app for that.)

Led by Dr. Richard Wukich, Filterpure brings clean water to developing nations through the manufacturing and distribution of clay pot water filters. These filters are comprised of colloidal silver layered between a 1:1 mixture of clay and sawdust. As water flows through the cracks and crevices in the pot, it passes by the particles of silver which kill bacteria and viruses. (The antimicrobial properties of silver are similar to the benefits of oregano, which we discussed in an earlier post.) The pot sits inside of a large bucket with a spigot at the bottom that allows the water to be easily emptied into containers for drinking. These water filters can clean up to 2.5 liters of water per hour and cost as little as $15 to make. The water comes out 99 percent clean and 100 percent drinkable, and the filter life is at least five years.

Immediately after the earthquake in January, Filterpure was in Haiti distributing filters to victims of the natural disaster. Currently, the water filters are being used in hospitals and temporary tent villages in Haiti, and around the world in developing countries like Sudan, Honduras and Afghanistan, providing clean water to those who did not previously have access to it. Recently, Filterpure partnered with Global Effect and Wine to Water to install a factory in Haiti. The organization not only distributes the filters to developing nations, but also provides the tools and educational resources for local residents to maintain sustainable, affordable safe water, sanitation and hygiene practices long-term.

Filterpure is just one of many water charities around the world.