Clean Water Systems around the World

It’s easy to take clean water for granted. Simply turn on the faucet, pour the water into your filtering system, and wait a couple of minutes—simple, convenient and practical.



Some people are not as fortunate. Countries in South and Central America, Africa, and Asia do not have the advantages of water filters and other consumer products designed to purify drinking and cleaning water. But brave, generous people all over the world are committed to fixing this situation.

One of the situation’s most recognized proponents, Ron Rivera, died last week of Malaria in Nicaragua.

Rivera was a champion of clean water. He worked tirelessly to promote clean water programs and devices in Latin American and Africa. At the time of his death, his ceramic water filters purified drinking water for some of the world’s poorest countries. His contributions significantly cut disease, and sicknesses that led to death. The New York Times wrote his obituary.

Mr. Rivera, a Bronx-born Peace Corps volunteer who spent much of his life as a development worker in Central and South America, discovered his life’s mission in Ecuador in the early 1980s. A Guatemalan chemist, Fernando Mazariegos, was showing local potters a ceramic pot he had invented. It was made of clay mixed with sawdust or ground rice husks that burned off during firing, leaving pores so tiny that they blocked the passage of water-borne bacteria while letting the water seep through.

After being coated with a bacteria-killing silver solution, the pot effectively eliminated 98 to 100 percent of diarrhea-causing contaminants like E. coli, cryptosporidium and giardia.

The pot was easy to make and cheap to buy. Suspended inside a five-gallon container to collect the water, it could purify one to three quarts an hour, drawn through a spigot.

Off and on, Mr. Rivera began working with charities and development groups to set up workshops for turning out the filters. He later improved the filter by developing a mechanical press and standardized molds to ensure a consistent product.

The world is a better place because of Mr. Rivera. We must continue his mission and work to provide the world with clean water. For those of us in the United States, foundations and organizations are always available for donations or if you’d like to lend a hand. Also, for consumers, numerous products are available to help keep your family’s water safe, pure and refreshing.