Happy Group with Safe Water Station
The lack of clean, safe water in Fiji is one element of an enormous global problem.  Frequent rains contaminate more than 50 percent of local water supplies with bacteria and other toxins.  The health risk to villagers is critical and consequential for both adults at work and for school children who suffer chronic illnesses.  Locals have been motivated to find ways to improve the safety of their drinking water beyond just boiling it on their open hearths.
 
In 2015, under a Rotary International Global Grant, the Rotary Club of Point Loma teamed with the Rotary Clubs of San Diego and Savusavu (Fiji), the Fiji Ministry of Health, and other Rotarians to help villagers deal with this problem.  Safe Water Stations were deployed to homes in seven villages in the Savusavu area.  Simple in design and easily maintained, these stations allow individual households, clinics, and schools to filter water drawn from existing sources and remove more than  99.9 percent of all pathogens.  They require no moving parts and function without electricity.  Each station consists of a micropore filter that provides up to 350 gallons of safe drinking water daily eliminating any requirement to store water after each use.  The only maintenance required is backflushing with clean water. 
 
Local acceptance of the safe water station concept, installation design, and user-friendly training program has been overwhelming.  Funds spent for the 2015 project indicated a cost per unit of $136.66, providing 10 years of clean water for an entire family.  More Safe Water Station deployments in other areas of Fiji are planned for 2016 under a new Global Grant--G985.  Rotarians can donate to the project at http://www.matching grants.org/global/project985.html