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(WISH) – A hurricane recovery initiative created by an Army veteran from Indiana has brought the clean, crisp taste of relief to hundreds of families across Puerto Rico.
Christopher Manus, a Logansport native who relocated six months ago to the island’s west coast, began pumping, boiling, purifying, bottling and delivering water from a tank behind his home after a chance encounter with a stranger one night opened his eyes to the magnitude of the post-Maria water crisis.
“The whole town [of Rincon] was still without power at the time,” he said.
“This gentleman approached me, holding a flashlight and basically asking if I had water.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about that man [begging for water],” Manus told 24-Hour News 8.
The following day, Manus spent 12 hours processing 25 gallons of water and bottling it for delivery, making the most of supplies – and tree branches – in his vicinity.
“If you’re a grandma over there, you have these big pots where you cook the rice, the paellas and all that,” explained fiancee Frances Alicea with a laugh.
“We are actually going to install a 250-gallon cistern at the elementary school in Calvache and we’re going to attach six separate filters,” Manus revealed.
“When you hand someone here a bottle of clean drinking water, their face says it all,” Manus said.

Millions of Americans lack safe, affordable drinking water.
But more water agencies are developing equitable and inclusive approaches to water management, says the U.S. Water Alliance’s Radhika Fox.
But access to safe, reliable and affordable water is unequally distributed across the country.
Other people live in more urban areas with a water service, but may be living with unsafe drinking water, so they opt for bottled water, which takes time out of their day and money out of their budget.
Communities most likely to experience water-related challenges tend already to be vulnerable and to face other economic and environmental burdens.
The paper found that there are many promising practices being developed around the country, from water affordability policies to inclusive workforce development programs to community climate planning.
Second, the Alliance just released an online clearinghouse that includes case studies of more than 150 equity-focused water projects for users to explore.
In California’s Central Valley, the Community Water Center works with communities to advocate for safe drinking water.
Seeing communities struggle to go even a day without safe, reliable drinking water is unacceptable.
We need to come together and learn from the great work that so many communities are already doing so we can build stronger, reliable, affordable and accessible water systems for all.

Before the EU and UNICEF came to their rescue, the people had no access to safe drinking water.
Like Nsit Atai, many parts of Nigeria do not have access to potable water, with rural dwellers suffering the most.
Provision of potable water supply was one of the various interventions in Nsit Atai by UNICEF under its WASH programme.
Children of Ikot Nkpenne community, in Nsit Atai Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, fetching water from the borehole constructed by UNICEF and EU The scheme is aimed at improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene in Nigeria – especially in the rural areas.
"I fetched water from the stream four times before going to school.
This only means that I had to go to the stream to fill all the buckets in the house."
Uwemedimo Davis, the deputy village head of Onong Uwana in Nsit Atai, said the provision of a borehole for the community has reduced deaths and illnesses among children.
This is the first time we will have pipe-borne water in this community," he said.
"We are very happy that WASH has come through EU and UNICEF to provide us with this water.
In Nigeria alone, 130 million people use unimproved sanitation facilities, and as expected more than half of them live in rural areas.

ISLAMABAD: Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Margaret Adamson, on Tuesday, opened a facility in Bullay Bala, Punjab which would provide the community with clean drinking water and improved sanitation services.
The clean drinking water supply and wastewater collection and treatment facility was funded by the Australian Government and implemented by Plan International.
High Commissioner Adamson said the Australian Government was pleased to support the development of the facility under the Australian Civil Society Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Fund.
The project worked with Bullay Bala community and local government departments to promote improved water, sanitation and hygiene practices and also to improve access to sanitation.
“Access to clean drinking water, sanitation facilities and better hygiene plays a pivotal role in the health and economy of a community,” Ms Adamson said.
Ms Adamson visited a girls’ high school in Roopwal where washrooms have been installed alongside an interactive display promoting improved water, sanitation and hygiene practices.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 50 per cent of malnutrition is associated with infections caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene practices.
“Supporting nutrition in Pakistan is a priority for the Australian Government and it aims to achieve that by supporting provincial governments to improve nutrition-related services,” Ms Adamson said.
The Civil Society WASH Fund supports 13 civil society organisations to deliver programs in the Pacific, Asia and Africa.
Published in Daily Times, November 1st 2017.

Former detainees refusing to leave the shut-down Manus Island centre spent the night in compounds without electricity.
Photo: Screengrab / Supplied Power was cut to most of the complex and running water to some compounds in the Australian-run centre in Papua New Guinea last night as it officially closed down.
One of the detainees, Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani, said some kept watch in case of attacks and a large part of the centre had no access to electricity.
The refugees in Manus are going to sleep in fear, stress & hunger.
We couldn’t get enough rest this week.
Refugee Abdul Aziz Adam said the departure of Australian staff was negligent.
He said the refugees were determined to stay.
Photo: supplied Yesterday locals staged two separate protests over the refugees.
"We demand that Australia complete its obligations to sent the asylum seekers back to Australia and to process them there for final settlement to a third country of their choice".
Another group of locals reportedly protested against the refugees, calling for them not to be relocated from the detention centre into Lorengau town.

Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Margaret Adamson today opened a facility in Bullay Bala, Punjab which will provide the community with clean drinking water and improved sanitation services.
The clean drinking water supply and wastewater collection and treatment facility was funded by the Australian Government and implemented by Plan International.
High Commissioner Adamson said the Australian Government was pleased to support development of the facility under the Australian Civil Society Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Fund.
The project worked with Bullay Bala community and local government departments to promote improved water, sanitation and hygiene behavior and improve access to sanitation.
“Access to clean drinking water , sanitation facilities and better hygiene plays a pivotal role in the health and economy of a community,” Ms Adamson said.
Ms Adamson visited a girl’s high school in Roopwal where washrooms have been installed alongside an interactive display promoting improved water, sanitation and hygiene practices.
According to the World Health Organisation, 50 percent of undernutrition is associated with infections caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene practices.
“Supporting nutrition in Pakistan is a priority for the Australian Government, including by supporting provincial governments to improve nutrition-related services,” Ms Adamson said.
The Civil Society WASH Fund supports 13 civil society organisations to deliver programs in the Pacific, Asia and Africa.
In Pakistan, Australia has also supported a similar project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, working with the International Rescue Committee.

Over 97.7 percent of Bhutanese have access to improved drinking water.
Access, however, does not mean availability of safe drinking water.
“The number of diarrhoeal cases in our country never goes down.
We want to bring this trend down.” During the training, participants collect sample water from the nearby areas and perform contamination tests.
Apart from the physical parameters (odour, appearance, pH, taste, turbidity and conductivity), participants also look at the microbiological parameters that include the presence of E.Coli bacteria in the water sample.
A total of 32 health assistants from BHUs and CHUs from Trashigang and Trashiyangtse attended the training.
According to the BDWQS 2016, pH level of a safe drinking water must be between 6.5-8.5 and the turbidity of the water should be below five.
The presence of E.Coli bacteria is a direct indication of faeces contamination in the water,” said Chimmi Dorji.
BHUs and CHUs without Internet access can punch data via SMS, said Chimmi Dorji.
Once NWRL completes providing training across the country, a national drinking water report will be compiled.

Significant improvement in access to water and sanitation is one of the biggest achievements of the post-Taliban era reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.
People in Need, with the funding of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, made this a reality for 140 households of the Jogi community living in Mazar-e-Sharif.
Water 30 minutes away and often only at night Previous People in Need (PIN) and German Consulate interventions, aimed at improving food security and nutrition and hygiene practices, have led to an improvement of the situation in the Mazar-e-Sharif Jogi community; however, access to water continued to be a challenge.
Mullah Oral, the community leader recalls: “It’s been many years since we settled here, but we were never supported with this type of project, which would bring drinking water to our homes.
We used to fetch water from other people’s sources, asking for permission and paying them for it.
Now, in the centre of the community, there is brand new water system, able to supply at least 25,000 liters of water per day to the 140 households who live here, from the 70 meters deep well powered by 14 solar panels.
The 800 meters pipe system supplies water to 16 taps, strategically located across the community to ensure fair distribution among all the families who live there.
The community established a water management committee, whose members, selected from different households, are in charge of the maintenance of the solar panels and regular control of the technical aspects of the water system.
Women are the ones benefitting the most Once the construction of the water system was finished, PIN conducted a hygiene promotion session with 100 participants – one member from each household.
Now I don’t need to do this anymore, as I have the tap right here.” Mullah Oral adds: “Before, our people were often fed up with this kind of life.

The Great Lakes Water Authority lifted the advisory Sunday for six other Oakland County communities and the rest of Farmington Hills.
Officials say more than 300,000 people were affected by last Monday’s break in Farmington Hills.
Parts of northwest Farmington Hills is still under the advisory, probably until Monday morning, after that area lost water pressure Friday night and crews had to start a new set of water quality tests.
"The boil water advisory originally impacted just over 300,000 people in 11 Oakland County communities," a spokesperson for the Great Lakes Water Authority said in a statement Sunday.
Friday, October 27 at 11:55 a.m.: The Great Lakes Water Authority now says the boil water advisory has been lifted for Bloomfield Township and Keego Harbor.
Once the main break area was isolated, the Great Lakes Water Authority could start re-routing water and restore water pressure to some areas.
As such, the boil water advisory may not be lifted until early next week, although water pressure has been returned to most affected areas.
As of today, all the affected communities have their water pressure back, according to the Great Lakes Water Authority, except for about 35,000 people in Farmington Hills.
He says that his division, the Great Lakes Water Authority, and the Oakland Water Resources Commissioner’s Office opened an emergency operation center Monday night and have been working to get the message about the advisory out to all affected citizens and businesses.
“And we will continue to provide the best care possible.” We’re updating this story as it develops.

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That’s about the same weight and distance a 12-year-old Sudanese girl totes water several times a day, just for basic family needs, said Kaylenn Henderson of Temple, who was joined on the hike by her father, Mike Nix of Morgan’s Point Resort.
“The filters allow them to have clean water wherever they go,” he said.
“It was just like drinking bottled water.” There are more than five million people in South Sudan who have zero access to clean water, he said.
“There are diseases that have been eradicated all over the world that are still prevalent in South Sudan.
Roese said that Water is Basic, launched in 2006, was a vision of South Sudanese religious leaders, who realized that providing clean water was the greatest thing they could do for their country.
In 10 years, he said, Water is Basic has drilled 500 new water wells, repaired 300 and distributed 10,000 water filters.
“Every day that’s frustrating and difficult makes me think what it would mean to me if someone provided water for my daughter today.”