Chesterfield, Mo. -- Insituform Technologies®, Inc. is doing its part to bring accessible and affordable filtration systems to the village of Bayacanes and surrounding poverty-stricken communities in the Dominican Republic.
In an effort to provide clean water for the world, Insituform® is donating $50,000 to the Agua Pure project in the Dominican Republic. According to a recent study from the UN, 1.1 billion people across the globe lack access to improved water sources. The same report also says that over a fifth of the Dominican Republic’s population lacks access to basic sanitation.
Agua Pure is being implemented by Jesus For All Nations, a missionary group working to distribute water filtration technology to residents of the Bayacanes area of the Dominican Republic.
The new filtration method, developed by Potters for Peace and ceramics researcher Dr. Manuel Hernandez, uses kiln-fired clay pots to transform contaminated and turbid liquid into safe, drinkable water.
The pots are made using a mixture of sawdust and clay. During the firing process, the sawdust burns away, leaving the pots porous and suitable for filtration. Field tests have shown that the ceramic pots developed by Dr. Hernandez remove 99.88% per cent of bacteria and microbes from drinking water including coli form bacteria and E. coli.
Volunteers for Agua Pure have built two firing facilities where the pots can be produced. The firing facilities employ local residents to implement and distribute the water purification systems.
The $50,000 donation from Insituform will subsidize the cost of pots produced at the facilities and fund the purchase of educational materials, payment of local residents working at the firing facility, ongoing water testing for one year, and transportation of the filtration materials.
Source: Insituform Technologies
