WaterStep Sends Aid To Hurricane Florence Survivors

Louisville-based non-profit WaterStep is sending a shipment of equipment and tools that produce safe water and disinfectant to aid those affected by Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas and Virginia. Approximately five members from the organization will take 10 Disaster Relief Kits, an additional 10 M-100's and 25 BleachMakers, and one Mobile Disaster Water Cart to a staging area in Virginia Beach so that safe water and disinfectant can be distributed to the most critical areas in need. The team is preparing and packing the disaster kits at WaterStep this week and will depart on this Sunday.

Each WaterStep Disaster Relief Kit contains disaster-tested equipment that can provide thousands of gallons of safe drinking water each day. The kits include:

• A hard case box and bag
• A portable Bleach Maker (an award-winning device that produces medical strength disinfectant used to sanitize clinics, kitchens, shelters)
• A solar panel (also serves as a cell phone charging station)
• An M-100 chlorine generator (an award-winning device that produces safe drinking water for thousands of people a day and is small enough to fit in a backpack)
• A 500-gallon Bladder tank for fast initial storage, a large flexible container used to store liquid
• A generator power adapter in case electric is available
• A manifold to push water in to tank storage
• 2 stage filter pack for particulates
• A guzzler pump to pump water into storage tanks
• Salt: used in conjunction with a car battery to power the tools

WaterStep's Mobile Disaster Water Cart has been successfully tested by the EPA and is a result of a 5-year project with the homeland security department of the EPA. It contains everything in the disaster kit, plus a generator, filters, multiple bleach makers, batteries, chargers, solar panel, USB charging stations, pumps, Bladder tanks, and a cell phone communications platform that allows for stronger and more secure cellphone service and data access point.

This equipment provides a simple, low-cost way to get large amounts (up to 10,000 gallons per day) of safe water to the survivors for drinking, showering, cleaning, and other uses.

Among the most critical things for people living through the aftermath of a disaster are safe water and disinfection. Not just for drinking water, but also for bathing, cleaning, washing clothes, and cooking.

WaterStep has responded to 10 different natural disasters since 2009 and has provided safe water to over 3 million people worldwide through their disaster and water initiative work. The natural disasters include the earthquake in Costa Rica in 2009, the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, the flooding in Pakistan in 2010 and 2011, the typhoon in the Philippines in 2013, the typhoon in India in 2013, the earthquake in Nepal in 2015, the earthquake in Ecuador in 2016, the landslide in Colombia in 2017, the hurricane in Puerto Rico in 2017, and the volcano in Guatemala in 2018.

To donate to WaterStep's relief efforts, please visit www.waterstep.org.

About WaterStep
WaterStep, headquartered in Louisville, KY, is a 501(c)(3)nonprofit organization that believes everyone should have access to safe water and that no one should suffer from waterborne illnesses. WaterStep implements water projects and equips people with tools and training in water purification, disaster relief, health education, and well repair. Since its founding in 1995, WaterStep has brought safe water to people in over 40 countries.