Clean water a priority in earthquake ravaged Haiti

International aid agencies and others are racing against the clock to get vital water supplies to the earthquake-hit county of Haiti. A lack of clean drinking water and thirst emerges as a major threat a month after the disaster. The shortage of clean water threatens survivors with dehydration and massive outbreaks of water-borne diseases like dysentery. Most Haitians received water from wells or tanker delivery, but the fragile water infrastructure has been damaged and the treatment works is shut down because no electricity is available.

According to Ivars Jaunakais, President of Industrial Test Systems, ITS; “You can live without food for weeks, but without water days”. ITS is helping the victims survive with clean drinking water.

Industrial Test Systems (USA) (ITS) is sending its products, over 20,000 drinking water test strips to Haiti and has slashed prices a few pennies per test. Medical workers, volunteers and victims can easily use these test trips to determine if water is safe to drink., Mr. Jaunakais said, “It does not need anything except, water, strip and some sense of time.”

Water can be treated until it is determined by the test strips that levels are safe for humans to drink. ITS products are made for quick and reliable field testing of major water parameters. They are being used on the ground to test for Chlorine and bacteria levels in portable field testing systems.