There’s a small village in Kenya called Kiunga. It is located close to the Indian Ocean and just a few miles from the border of Somalia. The total population is just over 3,000 and they have faced a terrible problem for years. A problem that was literally poisoning the people of Kiunga. The problem with this area is that clean water was not available for many months out of the year. The water they had to collect was not only a long distance from the village, it is also known as brackish water. Brackish water is very heavy with sediment and salt. It is a mixture of fresh water and salt water. One of the first things you learn about salt water is not to drink it. Well the people of Kiunga don’t have a choice. It is the only water source they have and they must cook, clean and drink the water. This was creating liver damage in the children and poisoning the whole town so a non-profit called GivePower stepped in to make a difference that could change the world.
Kiunga, Kenya is a beautiful area that is actually a preserve for a lot of wildlife including turtles, fish and birds. The only problem with the abundant area is that there is no source of fresh water available.
Families are forced to utilize the water that is available which is very salty. This water is scarce and they rely on it for cooking, cleaning and drinking.
The water is also far from the village requiring a trek in order to obtain any of the barely usable water.
Sadly, this is the only option the people of Kiunga have.
You can imagine the impact that this has on the community. Can you imagine drinking saltwater every day? It is devastating to the human body.
The water is untreated saltwater and was literally killing the people of Kiunga.
The people had no hope until a non-profit company called NGO Give Power came along with the hope of testing out a new technology that they hope will change the world.
The non-profit invented a technology called solar desalination.
It takes the salty, brackish well water and salty ocean water that the town has been utilizing and removes all the salt with solar power. This allows the entire town to enjoy and thrive with healthy, purified drinking water.
The solar power energizes the desalination process which takes the salty ocean water and purifies it.
This system costs nothing to maintain and has eliminated any liver poisoning that was the result of drinking saltwater.
Givepower raised $500,000 to build a massive desalination plant in Kiunga, Kenya. It is a 50kW solar system that creates 70 tons of clean, usable water every single day!
The panels receive sunlight throughout the day which powers the desalination system. This takes the groundwater and removes the harmful to drink salt in ocean water.
The town has been used to terrible water conditions for so many years that they didn’t believe the system at first. They didn’t trust it would work.
Once they realized that this water was much different from what they were used to, they were stunned and elated with joy!
The system offers clean water for over 35,000 people every day.
This system proves that it can offer clean water to people around the world who rely on brackish or contaminated water to live.
The feeling of having fresh water is something these people have never known until now.
They are so thankful that their lives are going to change.
Their health will improve and their livelihood is secure when it comes to hydration.
More Info: Give Power
Givepower.org is already building systems in other countries who need it. They are excited for the future of the world because they are making a very positive impact that is literally saving thousands of lives.