Electrolytic Water Disinfection Equipment Donated to Haiti

Severn Trent Services has donated 11 portable electrolytic water disinfection systems to humanitarian agencies working in Haiti to assist in the effort to provide safe drinking water to the residents of that country. The combined units, which convert saltwater and energy into liquid sodium hypochlorite, a chlorine equivalent, are capable of disinfecting up to 13 million gallons of drinking water per day. The donation is part of a grassroots campaign to enable ordinary citizens to treat their drinking water at the point of consumption.

The donated systems, all utilising Severn Trent Services’ proprietary electrolytic technology, are ideal for use in isolated locations where water purification, waste treatment or surface disinfection is required. “Our portable disinfection units are so easy to use that ordinary citizens without any technical skill can disinfect their water using just salt, water and energy,” said Ali Giti, national sales director for Severn Trent Services.

Ten portable Sanilec®systems and one ClorTec®unit were donated to three humanitarian agencies working in Haiti: Operation Blessing International, Deep Springs International and St. Damien Hospital. Deep Springs International seeks to alleviate poverty, illness and unemployment through an integrated and sustainable safe water program. Operation Blessing International provides strategic disaster relief, medical aid, hunger relief, clean water and community development around the world; and St. Damien Hospital is a free pediatric hospital in Haiti. The equipment donated to St. Damien will help provide desperately needed clean water and will be used for general disinfection of surfaces at the hospital. The clean drinking water may also be used to benefit St. Damien’s supporting programs, including 24 primary schools and two orphanages in Haiti.

According to Michael Ritter, co-founder and CEO of Deep Springs International, “Our organisation serves more than 38,000 families in Haiti through our household water treatment programs. Severn Trent Services’ donation of water disinfection equipment will improve our capacity to serve each of these families in an ongoing, sustainable way.”

Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, continues to struggle through the aftereffects of the 2010 earthquake. Up to 4,000 Haitians have died of cholera alone in the past several months, and one out of three Haitians lacks access to safe drinking water.