This is the VOA SpecialEnglish Development Report.
Each year more than two-million people die from diseases causedby drinking dirty water. That is the estimate of the World HealthOrganization. Dirty water is a leading killer in developingcountries. Most of the victims are children.
Diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, and infectious hepatitis are allspread through unclean water by bacteria or viruses. Malaria, riverblindness and dengue fever are spread by insects that lay their eggsin drinking water or live around water resources.
There are systems designed to make dirty water safe to drink. Agroup called Potters for Peace has developed a low-cost system foruse by families. Potters for Peace is a non-governmentalorganization based in the United States and active in CentralAmerica. The system this group developed is called the Ceramic WaterPurifier.
The purifier is a round container with a filter inside made ofporous clay. Clay is hard earth. A process called firing strengthensit with intense heat. Porous means it still lets water flow through.But the clay acts as a filter. It traps harmful organisms. Also, theclay filter is painted with a substance called colloidal silver.Colloidal silver kills bacteria. It is used in water purificationsystems in many aircraft.
The purifier sits inside a larger container that catches andstores water as it flows through the filter. This larger containeralso protects the purifier from damage. The filter is supposed to becleaned about once a month to make sure water is still able to flowthrough. Potters for Peace suggests that users replace the filterafter a year. Ceramic water purifiers are being used in developingcountries around the world. They first became popular in Ecuador andGuatemala. Today they are being used throughout Central and SouthAmerica, and in parts of Africa and Asia.
Ceramic water purifiers can help communities meet their waterneeds. But Potters for Peace says they can also help communitiesearn money. With a little training, local artists can produce andsell the containers that hold the purifier.
You can find out more about the Ceramic Water Purifier at thePotters for Peace Web site. That address isw-w-w-dot-p-o-t-p-a-z-dot-o-r-g. Again, p-o-t-p-a-z-dot-o-r-g.(www.potpaz.org)
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss.