What should all Rotary clubs know about clean water projects?

By Joseph Derr   

Past District Governor Carolyn Crowley Meub, executive committee member for the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group, and executive director for Pure Water for the World stresses the importance of clean water projects. She is a past governor of District 7870 (Vermont and New Hampshire, USA).

The goals of the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group are to provide information, support and encouragement to Rotarians, Rotary clubs and districts to take active roles in projects and programs to develop safe water and sanitation as a means of promoting health and alleviating hunger

Strategies for Achieving Goals

• Creating awareness among Rotarians of the importance of conservation and sustainability and of local and global water issues

• Creating awareness of the need for, and benefits of, safe water and sanitation

• Developing a compendium of best practices to ensure sustainability and cost-effectiveness

• Distributing information on appropriate technologies for supplying, conserving and purifying water and for sanitation

• Developing and encouraging mutually beneficial relationships with other organizations, corporations, agencies and NGOs sharing common water-related goals

• Identifying alternative sources of financing to complement The Rotary Foundation e.g. private foundations, corporations, government agencies etc

• Assisting in identifying and formulating programs and projects that will promote sustainability

• Implementing mechanisms to determine the effectiveness of projects

• Creating a network of experts accessible to Rotarians and Rotary clubs

• Providing training and education on water/sanitation technologies and issues

• Creating a forum for exchange of information

• Creating a bibliography of relevant materials, references etc

• Providing information on relevant conferences

• Acting as advocates on water issues

• Providing support to Rotary clubs seeking financial and/or technical assistance

• Creating “Centers of Excellence” on water/sanitation

• Operating a web-site, producing a newsletter

• Implementing procedures to ensure sustainability and cost-effectiveness

When asked, “What should all Rotary clubs know about clean water projects?” Carolyn responds with the following answer:

First, know the importance of this work. The basis of good health is access to clean, safe drinking water. Experts say that unsanitary water is responsible for about 80 percent of all diseases in developing countries. For most of the world, clean water is medicine.

Rotary clubs of all sizes can get involved in a water project, but developing a project takes planning, and these projects can be expensive. Most clubs aren’t equipped to run a project on their own and often don’t know how to get started.

By uniting several clubs together and/or partnering with a reputable organization, a single Rotary club can make a bigger impact. Pick your partners well.

When getting involved, look for projects that are sustainable. Poorly planned and poorly built shallow wells won’t work two years after construction.

The most important thing to remember is that the project doesn’t belong to the Rotary club or district — it belongs to the people it serves. Water projects must begin and end with the local community.  

To ensure that the project provides the intended benefits long after the donor has left, make sure the local community has ownership from the beginning. As Rotarians dedicated to the communities we serve, we wouldn’t want to do it any other way.

Footnote: Rotary E-Club One works with other Rotary clubs on clean water projects. “La Mulita”, the water cart proof of concept trial in Mexico is a major project of Rotary E-Club One. It will enable women and children to carry clean safe drinking water from the collection point to the place where they live.