Christian Engineers Providing Haitians Safe Water and Living Water
“The six months since the quake have certainly brought new challenges, but they have also opened huge opportunities to share both safe and ‘living’ water for generations to come.”
- George Greene III, PE, PhD, founder & CEO, Water Missions International,
Christian engineering relief and development organization
working in Haiti and 39 other countries
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INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY: Christian engineers, safe water relief experts working in Haiti are available to give a six-month update from on-site in Haiti or from U.S. headquarters in Charleston, S.C.
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CHARLESTON, S.C., July 8, 2010 - Six months after the Jan. 12 earthquake, some 103 Water Missions International unique water treatment systems - with a capacity to supply safe water to support 309,000 people every day - are on the ground literally giving the gift of life. The engineers who patented the simple, mostly solar-powered units are also praying that hurting Haitians will find “living” water as well as their organization works primarily through local churches in Haiti.

“Our mission is to save lives by providing safe water solutions, not just in the short run, but for generations through our self-sustaining treatment systems,” said George Greene III, the chemical engineer who founded Water Missions International along with his wife nine years ago. “We work primarily with local churches because this is where people turn for both physical and spiritual help in the aftermath of a disaster in developing countries. Churches and other local Christian organizations are excellent partners because our goal is to provide safe and living water to people in need,” Greene said.

The Washington Post describes the Water Missions International proprietary system as “a small municipal water treatment plant” (Jan. 16, 2010). The 103 units on the ground in Haiti are able to deliver the equivalent of 4.5 million bottles of water every day. Perhaps most significant is that Water Missions trains local people to operate and maintain the systems so that they can be used to provide safe water for 20 years or more.

“Our water systems are the difference between safe water for hours versus safe water for decades,” Molly Greene, founder and chairman of the board for Water Missions International, said. “And though there is significant ongoing work on the safe water side, for several months we have also been installing sanitary pit latrines in communities that, even prior to the earthquake, had no sanitation facilities.”

Responding to God’s commandment that we love our neighbors as ourselves, Water Missions International reaches out to some of the world’s most marginalized people offering both safe and living water. Working primarily through local churches in the communities they serve, Water Missions International also supplies water treatment systems to other Christian relief organizations including Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Blessing.

“It is estimated that more than 5,000 children die every day around the world as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation,” said George Greene. “So every day is a disaster for thousands of people around the world who do not have access to clean water and the freedom from disease that it brings.”