A partnership among SolarWorld and nonprofit partners Rotary International and Water Missions International (WMI) has helped a total of 35,000 people in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean gain access to clean, safe drinking water. At the close of 2013, these associations celebrated installation of 25 solar-powered, community-based water-purification systems in Haiti, the Peruvian Amazon and Malawi. The three organizations share a chief humanitarian goal of promoting water quality to enhance the health, quality of life and economic status of the world’s poorest people.
In the systems, high-performance solar panels donated by SolarWorld power submersible water pumps provided by Grundfos, a strategic partner of WMI. At each site, WMI’s engineers combined SolarWorld panels in treatment systems capable of supplying water needs of thousands of people. As another strategic partner of WMI, SolarWorld has for years donated and discounted its solar technology for deployment through the nonprofit’s programs in the developing world.
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| By the end of 2013, SolarWorld, WMI and Rotary installed 25 solar-powered, water-purification systems in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, including this one in Nueva Reforma, Peru. (Source: Busniess Wire) |
“These projects unite WMI, Rotary International, SolarWorld and Grundfos in leveraging their technological expertise to maximize the humanitarian impact of curbing the spread of disease and death from contaminated water supplies,” said George Greene IV, president and chief operating officer of Water Missions International. “The result: clean, safe and sustainable water – a foundation for community health, education and economic vitality.”
SolarWorld and WMI teamed with various local Rotary clubs in the United States, Peru, Haiti and Malawi to provide systems. In Peru, for example, the Rotary Club of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., led a fund-raising effort that, in combination with a Rotary Foundation Global Grant, garnered over $300,000 for water and sanitation projects in Peru.
“Every day, more than 5,000 children around the world die from water-borne disease,” said Ron Myers, member of Lakewood Ranch’s Rotary club. “Our club has a desire to help people around the world lead better, healthier lives.”
Since 2012, the three organizations have implemented nine solar-powered water-treatment systems in Peru, many in remote communities in the Amazon River basin, and two systems in Bayonnais, Haiti. Sixteen systems in rural Malawi came online about the same time. “WMI, Rotary International, Grunfos and SolarWorld share a focus on using sustainable technology to address the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges, particularly the need for safe drinking water in impoverished, rural communities,” said Mukesh Dulani, U.S. president of SolarWorld. “Together with WMI and Grundfos, SolarWorld joins Rotary International’s community of 1.2 million members in creating positive, lasting change around the world.”
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| Children in Nueva Reforma, Peru, drink clean water thanks to a new solar-powered, water-purification system in their town. (Source: Business Wire) |