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The process called solar disinfection (SODIS) provides clean drinking water to people living within 35 degrees of the equator. Clear plastic bottles are filled with contaminated water and laid out in the sun for over six hours, killing harmful disease-causing bacteria. PHOTO: The Water School
Fill clean, clear, plastic bottles with contaminated water, lay them out in the tropical sun for six hours, and the end result will be safe drinking water.
That’s the mission of The Water School, a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 that has been breaking new ground in Uganda, Kenya, Southern Sudan, Haiti, and Central America where freshwater sources are few.
It’s a mission that Inwood resident Randahl Hoey has been working on since last year as director of development for The Water School where a process called SODIS, short for solar disinfection, is being brought to places in need of clean water.
The SODIS process is a simple technology that disinfects water through sunlight in regions that are within 35 degrees of the equator. Clean plastic bottles are filled with contaminated water and then laid out atop roofs or tables and exposed to sunrays. After sitting in the sun for six to eight hours, the heat deactivates diarrhea-causing bacteria often found in polluted water, making it safe for drinking.
According to The Water School, waterborne disease takes the lives of three million people every year; 90 percent of them are children under five, mostly in developing countries. Repeated episodes of waterborne disease push children to the edge of survival, leaving them weak, malnourished, and unable to attend school or lead a normal life.
Education is the biggest component of The Water School’s mission, which seeks to educate people about the water cleaning process so that they can use it long after Water School teachers leave the villages.
Hoey said that the organization doesn’t drill wells or pass out chlorine tablets to encourage villagers to empower themselves. In doing so their children are no longer sick, and can become educated without interruption. The Water School model is designed to seek out village leaders who can in turn recruit and hire teachers and trainers to go into schools and introduce programs to children and their families.
“Serving the organization inspires me because the mission statement offers a simple and healthful way to save lives in third world countries,” Hoey said. “We hire local leaders who in turn hire teachers and trainers to educate entire classrooms and villages.”
The Water School’s efforts are driven by funding donated by the organization’s supporters. Due to the low-tech requirements and the readily available resources, The Water School mostly focuses on bringing educators to villages and making sure that the method is learned correctly.
“Ten dollars gives a child clean water for life; $50 gives a family of five clean water for life. The donations are small but the aftereffects can be very significant and affect families for the rest of their lives,” Hoey said.
Hoey added that the organization’s approach is environmentally friendly.
“There are millions of one-use water bottles that have been discarded all over the planet,” Hoey said. “We teach villagers to instead recycle these bottles and use them as their mini-lab to purify their drinking water.”
For more information about how to donate visit www.thewaterschool.org.
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