International Medical Relief partners with Song Saa Foundation to bring clean water to the Koh Rong.

In 2013, the International Medical Relief Team and the Song Saa Resort Boat of Hope evaluated the water sources in the Koh Rong for neighboring communities. We discovered that all sources of well water were contaminated and the water was not clean. Since this time, our collaborative organizations have been researching a plan that would be sustainable for these communities and provide clean water to everyone.

We are pleased to announce that today marks the first day we are bringing this dream to fruition. IMR, through our Partner Program, was able to purchase much needed water purification systems and we installed our first units today.

Clean water saves lives by reducing the fatal water borne diseases and saves time and energy spent walking to clean water sources. Our filtration system uses fiber membrane filters to yield more water than you would know what to do with. The filter is developed using dialysis technology. The Hollow Fiber Membrane filter has tiny “U” shaped microtubes with 0.1 micron pores to filter harmful bacteria and contaminants. The filter uses gravity and can be attached to any bucket or bag. The extremely fast flow rate and compact size (it weighs just 3 ounces) allows individuals to filter water in their own homes as they need it, eliminating the need for a large water storage system as well. The fiber filter is easily cleaned with an included backwash syringe. Each water filter generates 500 gallons of water a day and lasts for up to 1 million gallons of water or ten years for a family or small community.

884 million people in the world don’t have access to safe water. As a result, 1.4 million children die every year from water-borne illnesses–that’s 1 child every 20 seconds. We look forward to reducing water-borne illness in the Koh Rong.