Local Rotarians provide clean water to Dominican Republic

Our local clubs have embraced the international scope of Rotary. Along with continuing to support the eradication of polio, local Rotarians have been focusing energy and funds to supplying clean water to impoverished villages in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic BioSand Water Filter Program in La Romana, Dominican Republic continues into its third successful year with the sponsorship of Rotary District 7810 and the Rotary Foundation (TRF); this program is currently expanding into areas of sanitation and hygiene in accordance with Rotary focus on WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) projects.
    The Good Samaritan Hospital in cooperation with the two Rotary Clubs in La Romana, is the Distributor (non-profit) for the plastic (Hydraid) BioSand filters (manufactured by Cascade Engineering in Michigan). To date, the Water Filter Team has installed nearly 3000 of these filters. The support for this team has primarily been through TRF grants and sale of the filters.
The BioSand technology has been known for many years to be successful in filtering microbiological contaminants. The individual filter design was developed by Dr. David Manz in Calgary Alberta. Initial filters were manufactured on site from concrete, but the initial design did not work well (it has been modified), and the La Romana Rotary program transitioned to the plastic filters in 2009.
In support of the Water Filter Program, our Rotary District 7810 has sent two Clean Water Work Teams of local Rotarians to La Romana in 2011 and 2012. These team members assisted the program technicians daily with installing filters in individual homes on the “bateys” (villages where sugar cane cutters and their families live). The Clean Water Work Team “adopted” two such bateys, Tentacion and Comoquiera, with the intention of installing filters in every home.
The inhabitants of the bateys are primarily Haitian immigrants who come from Haiti to cut sugar cane. These are very poor villages with limited resources, no electricity and poor water quality. As the BioSand filters are installed, work progresses with sanitation (latrines) and hygiene (hand washing education and facilities).
There are nearly 400 bateys in Eastern Dominican Republic with 200-2000 inhabitants in each; the future need for WASH programs will continue.
District 7810 and 22 clubs in our area are supporting the current Matching Grant with TRF to expand the BioSand Program and Team, with transportation (pick-up truck), technician and water promoter salaries, and water testing equipment for the Good Samaritan Hospital (to test the water from the installed filters). Also, a Clean Water Work Team is planned for February 2013; the trip is open for RD7810 Rotarians, friends and families.