Cleaner Water in Africa
Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Wayne Brouwer, Hope College
Dr. Charles Green, Hope College
Professor Vanessa Greene, Hope College
Professor Amy Otis - De Grau, Hope College
Professor John Yelding, Hope College
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
4-15-2011
Abstract
There are 1.1 billion people in the world who do not have access to clean water. Fresh drinking water has been a major concern among African countries for a very long time. Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are among those that face a great shortage of clean water. The problem is especially severe in rural areas. The major reasons of for lack of clean water are government corruption, pollution and poor or unrepaired water facilities. Government corruption leads to low development of water facilities and a lack of funding for water purifiers. Drinking dirty water can lead to a variety of diseases, including stomach virus, skin infection and other organ infections. It is estimated that 5,000 children die from drinking dirty water every day in Africa. There has been slow progress toward increasing access to clean water, but the death rate has not yet been significantly lowered. There are nonprofit organizations, like Aqua Clara—located here in Holland, Michigan—and 20Liters, working to improve access to clean water in Africa. Aqua Clara and 20Liters work to build filters by using local components (which lower the production cost), and educate local community on how to build filters (which lowers the foreign labor cost). Our goal is to educate those around us about how to bring clean water to Africa.
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