Aquascape Foundation installs rainwater harvesting system in Colombia

A team of Aquascape Foundation volunteers installed a 10,000 gallon rainwater harvesting system at La Rosa de Saron School in Barranquilla, Colombia the week of January 21, 2010. The water project paired the RainXchange rainwater harvesting system by Aquascape, Inc. with Genieye’s Eye-Nizer water purification system. The rainwater harvesting system provides clean drinking water for approximately 400 school children year-round and creates the ability to prepare one hot meal per day.

Rainwater runs off the school roof and into the first sub-surface chamber where particulate matter is removed before passing through the ionization manifold via a solar-powered pump. The Genieye Eye-Nizer adds trace amounts of copper and silver ions to the water to kill bacteria and other waterborne pathogens. The sterilized water then passes into the second chamber where it’s stored before being pumped into an above-ground rain barrel for easy access.

“Last year we paired the RainXchange System with the Genieye Eye-Nizer at a school in Ghana, Africa and had great success,” said Ed Beaulieu, vice president of the Aquascape Foundation and chief sustainability officer for Aquascape Inc. “This is the Foundation’s second trek to install a rainwater harvesting system for an impoverished area.”

The Aquascape Foundation worked once again with the I.N. Network in Zeeland, Mich., to locate a school in need of clean drinking water. The I.N. Network’s mission is to connect partners in community development around the world.

Aquascape Foundation volunteers who participated in the rainwater harvesting project included foundation president Carla Wittstock, Wayne, Ill.; foundation vice-president, Ed Beaulieu of Aquascape Inc. in St. Charles, Ill., and his wife, Ellen Beaulieu; Tim Muttoo of Genieye Systems Inc. in Ontario, Canada; Al Lentz, of Lentzscaping in Warminster, Pa.; April Dugan of Nature Scapes in Grafton, N.H.; Kelli York of Ewing Irrigation in Phoenix, Ariz.; Chris Baker, Diane Baker and Alex Krause of James Pond in Doylestown, Pa.; Mark and John Seavers of Just Sprinklers in Albuquerque, N.M.; Steve Copeland of Dallas, Texas; Paul Edling of Toby’s Treasure Barn in Horsham, Pa.; Alison Hudak of Phoenix, Ariz.; and Gord Szolnyanszky of Aquascape, Inc.

For more information on the Aquascape Foundation and its mission, log onto www.aquascapefoundation.com.  For information on Genieye’s water purification systems visit www.genieye.com.