Disaster Response in Fiji: Fresh Water from a Desalination Barge after Cyclone Winston

2016 was a particularly difficult year for natural disasters. The Marshall Islands experienced record droughts requiring the declaration of a State of Emergency. Hurricane Matthew slammed into Haiti, ravaging the poor island nation before it had even recovered from the devastating earthquake in 2010.  Earthquakes in Central America and New Zealand, Cyclones and Hurricanes all over the world ravaged our global populations.

With each new disaster, it became more clear to us that the emergency response community was ill prepared for such catastrophic events. Aid agencies were air freighting pallet after pallet of bottled water to local populations, leaving them with a temporary water supply at best, and an epidemic of empty plastic bottles at worst. With each of these global events we reached out to those we could find to propose a better solution, and we really feel like we gained significant ground this year with our message of renewable, clean drinking water solutions from nearly any source, powered by solar panels and renewable resources. 

One of our favorite stories this year came from the South Pacific Islands. We have been working with Sea Mercy, an NGO based in Fiji to provide desalinated water to isolated island communities. Sea Mercy has built a fast barge with a Spectra LB 2800F desalination system so that they can provide water to the many small islands spread over 75,000 square miles. They also acquired several portable Aquifer 360 units to be left with villagers to support their water needs.

Sea Mercy's barge can provide 120 gallons (454 liters) of water per hour to the island communities

After Cyclone Winston, it proved to be difficult for the Fijian government to aid these hundreds of small islands, so Sea Mercy stepped in, making large quantities of water quickly from the LB 2800F and leaving the smaller Aquifer systems to provide water to weeks to come. After the crisis passed, they return to collect the Aquifers so they can be reconditioned and ready for the next deployment.

We are proud to have been a part of such an ambitious project with Sea Mercy, and the excellent work they do. We look forward to a bright future of saving lives with our clean, efficient technology.