HURRICANE MITCH DEVASTATES HONDURAS

Water Missions International (WMI) was birthed out of an awareness that began in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch tore through Honduras, Central America, washing away roads and bridges, destroying the countryside, homes and businesses. The rivers (their primary source of drinking water) were polluted with human remains, animal carcasses and garbage. With the memory of Hurricane Hugo still fresh in the minds of Charlestonians, the empathy with the plight of Hondurans was acute.

George and Molly Greene, owners of General Engineering Laboratories (GEL) had close connections to many Hondurans and had spent time in the country. George emailed the Episcopal Bishop of Honduras asking what he could do to help and the next day a reply came through requesting six drinking water systems. GEL is a full service environmental company that combines analytical, engineering, and hydro-geological consulting services, but they did not build portable water treatment systems.

After spending a day searching for the appropriate, affordable technical solution, George decided to design his own. A significant challenge in providing water treatment in developing countries is the need to simplify the process, equipment and maintenance. The recipients of the systems typically have no formal education, and spare parts are not readily available.

With water treatment handbooks and college textbooks on the table and assistance from another PhD engineer, a prototype was designed and built in just two days. Our friends at Commissioners of Public Works (CPW) assisted with critiquing the system. Contacts at EPA and CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommended special filtration to remove cryptosporidium and giardia, contaminants rarely found in U.S. water sources, but prevalent in contaminated water sources in developing countries.

The GEL workforce rallied around the project. Over a weekend volunteers worked to construct and pack six drinking water treatment systems, each capable of producing safe drinking water at the rate of 10 gallons per minute. This initial effort was called "Project Living Water" and the water treatment unit became known as the Living Water™ Treatment System (LWTS™). The units were capable of providing safe water for communities of several thousand people.

The next step was transportation. The Charleston community had donated 50 tons of relief supplies. Calls to Senators Thurmond and Senator Hollings describing the unbelievable response of their constituents encouraged them to assist with transportation. Because the relief supplies included six water treatments systems that could produce 10 gpm of safe drinking water, this shipment received top priority status. During all natural and man-made disasters, water is the most precious resource. On November 22, 1998, sixteen volunteers from GEL, six LWTS™'s and tons of supplies took off from the Charleston Air Force Base on a C-5 cargo plane headed to Honduras. Within three weeks of Hurricane Mitch, six Living Water™ Treatment Systems and sixteen volunteers from GEL were in remote areas of Honduras.