Newsletter: November 2008

Since May of 2006, we have brought clean water to more than 400,000 Haitians with the help of chlorinator from the NORWECO Company. The story below was featured in Norwalk Reflector in Ohio on November 25, 2008.

Don Bach, director of sales for NORWECO, said the company adapted their tablet feeder to treat drinking water after learning of the extreme need of people in poor countries.

"It took 15 years to put it together," he said. "With the guidance of International Action, we adapted the piping and the way we use them for drinking water."

Bach said when NORWECO officials learned that many children under the age of 12 die from waterborne diseases in poor countries, they decided they could help solve the problem. "Our major business is wastewater treatment equipment supply and we adapted some of our equipment for drinking water," he said.

Bach said the staff at International Action deserves full credit for the progress of the clean water program.

"They are wonderful people," Bach said, adding other charitable organizations have put in state-of-the-art equipment into communities, but never bothered to keep programs going.

"International Action trains local people," he said. "They figured out the formula of making it happen. International Action decided you have to have community buy-in for the project. If you don't have that, it fails."

NORWECO's chlorinator is now used in about 20 countries and Bach said it is also used in remote areas of the United States such as in government parks.

Haiti has a high infant and mortality rate and a big part of the problem is unsafe water. International Action and Dlo Pwp, a Haitian organization, joined forces to install 100 chlorinators in 23 of the poorest neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. Now about 400,000 residents are getting clean, safe water for the first time.

"The largest killer of children in developing countries is waterborne disease such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis and chronic diarrhea. These diseases lead to the avoidable deaths of 2.6 million children each year," said Lindsay Mattison, director of International Action. "For $265, we can install a water chlorinator that lasts a generation. It will provide up to 10,000 people with clean, safe drinking water. Chlorine is becoming a major force for public health in Haiti."

In Jalousie, situated in the hills above Port-au-Prince, a new NORWECO chlorinator protects 50,000 people. A nurse in the area reported a major drop in chronic diarrhea cases. A municipal laboratory found that typhoid and cholera germs are no longer present in Jalousie's water. People from nearby neighborhoods are crossing into Jalousie to carry safe water to their homes.

Pierre Joab, president of the local water board in Simmond Pele, said the chlorinators make a big difference. "Since International Action installed chlorinators, the rate of diarrhea and sickness of children dropped dramatically. Kids are not getting sick any more. We learned we can prevent such diseases. We'd like to keep it this way," he said.

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