Haiti Rebuilds; Water Treatment Remains Critical

Siemens Water Technologies teamed with the SkyJuice Foundation to provide 40 SkyHydrant™ water purification units in response to the devasting earthquake in January 2010.  Following is an update from the SkyJuice Foundation on the the post-earthquake rehabilitation of existing water sources and increasing access to safe drinking water in camps and communities in Petit-Goave and Grand-Goave, Haiti.

Project Progress

Working  with arche noVa primarily on the field of humanitarian aid, development cooperation and education – the team has been in Haiti since shortly after the earthquake.  In the first weeks, the activities included the provision of potable water through reverse osmosis treatment plants in a community in Carrefour, at the Malteser International Field Hospital in Leogane and in Petit-Goave.  Currently, the team is providing potable water at Petit-Goave, a town located approximately 60 kilometers west from Port-au-Prince, and in several other communities and institutions.  The team has formed a Hygiene Promotion Team to spread awareness of hygiene-related issues and to act as a monitoring mechanism to give feedback from the community.  Furthermore, they have set up a small water quality testing laboratory to monitor the quality of the water pre- and post-SkyHydrant treatment at the distribution points, as well as in spot-checks at household level.  arche noVa received 30 SkyHydrant™ units from generous donations from Siemens Stiftung and Water Technologies, Sargents Charitable Foundation, Crown Project Services and associated industry colleagues and friends on February 22, 2010.  In general, arche noVa is planning to use the SkyHydrant units for projects designed to increase and guarantee access to safe drinking water for the people in Petit-Goave, Grand-Goave and surrounding communities on a long-term basis.

Project Implementation

In Carrefour, one of the areas most affected by the earthquake, SkyHydrant units were installed in camps supported by a group of Missionaries from the United States.  Because Carrefour is some distance from arche’s main base of operation, the community has agreed to operate and maintain the units, providing safe drinking water to the surrounding community from wells that were found to be contaminated with bacteria.

Also in a Carrefour hospital run by the American organization ACTS World Relief, a unit provides patients, staff and visitors with safe drinking water.  This includes water used in a kitchen that provides 3,000 meals per day.

In Petit Guinee, a small community on the outskirts of Petit-Goave, where at least 80% of the buildings have been destroyed, a SkyHydrant unit on an adjacent property currently represents the only safe drinking water source for the surrounding community. 

There is a second site in Petit Guinee where arche had originally set up two RO treatment plants, but have now replaced them with two SkyHydrant units as these are easy to operate and have negligible running costs.  Because of the high turbidity in the raw water source, arche installed a small sand filter for pretreatment to reduce the number of times the units have to be backwashed.

arche noVa is going to install a unit in a camp supported by ADRA Czech in the coming weeks.  Water samples have shown high levels of microbiological contamination of the existing source, a spring catchment.  Because this site is unlike all the sites in that there has not been any type of water distribution system before the earthquake, this site will be the first permanent installation.  Because it is now the end of the official emergency phase, it is necessary to ensure that the SkyHydrant installations have an added level of sustainability and the confidence that these units can work with the existing structures to ensure the units are properly maintained and operated.

Problems During the Project Progress

Due to the lack of existing public water supply systems in large parts of the country, the people of Haiti are used to purchasing their drinking water, if they are able to do so.  Usually this water is produced by reverse osmosis machines and the end product has no taste and no coloration.  Depending on the raw water source, the water that has been treated by our SkyHydrant units usually has some residual taste.  arche noVa found that the people do not automatically trust the quality of the water produced and are not used to drinking water that has a taste, even if it is proven that the water from the SkyHydrant unit is safe, through regular testing.  arche noVa found it necessary to educate the communities, which is why it have initiated the Hygiene Promotion Teams.  The feedback has been positive and word is spreading that the water is good (and safe) but of course it takes time to change some people’s behavior.

Project Plans

Currently arche noVa is in contact with several other national and international NGOs that have requested arch noVa to install SkyHydrant water treatment plants.  On first assessment, they have identifies 5-6 appropriate sites to install SkyHydrant units and consequently they are now scoping the projects.

Noted below is an extract from a technical report received from arche noVa, written by the arche noVa head of mission in Haiti, “In our opinion, the mode of delivery and the maintenance requirements of the SkyHydrant units are absolutely brilliant.  Compared to the other types of treatment plants that arche noVa is operating, they are extremely easy to maintain and are well suited to be turned over to local community structures, such as Water Committees or local NGOs for operation.  These units are quite versatile and very easy to maintain.  They have certainly generated a lot of interest from other actors in the WaSH sector.”

This report highlights that the reconstruction phase will take many years, however arch noVa is committed to maintain a presence for the duration.  This will ensure that the general donation from Siemens Stiftung and Siemens Water Technologies will have a lasting legacy for the people of Haiti.

Read about arche noVa and its mission in Haiti

Read about the SkyHydrant™ water purification units

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