RAMP-UP South works with six provincial capitals in southern Afghanistan to improve municipal government capacity, service delivery, economic development, and revenue generation through public-private partnerships that support local financial independence and security. The goal is to provide Afghan citizens with an experience of improved government service, understanding the responsibilities of municipal leaders, and assuming an active role in municipal decision-making.

The MMPs directly support this project by giving Afghan municipalities the capability to provide their citizens with a reliable source of clean water and renewable power, which will also result in increased health and economic benefits as well.

One of the Mobile MaxPure® systems will be used to screen radiation from the pure drinking water it pumps, desalinates and purifies, while the second Mobile MaxPure® system will pump and purify 30,000 gallons of biologically polluted water per day.

In 2008, WorldWater worked with the Food for the Poor and other NGOs to send two (2) Mobile MaxPure® systems in anticipation of providing aid after hurricanes, which regularly batter the coasts of Haiti, destroying the already unreliable electrical grid, causing severe flooding and blowing debris into the streets. The transportation of goods is made nearly impossible and most water sources are polluted during these types of disasters. The Mobile MaxPure designs overcome these obstacles by being multi-modal, modular and self-powered.

Immediately following the earthquake in January 2010, these 2 predeployed systems were immediately put in to action, providing the first source of reliable clean water and power in the city if Port au Prince. The drinking water was distributed by the many Red Cross and Red Crescent teams operating in Haiti in the weeks and months after the earthquake.

In addition to these Mobile MaxPure systems, the City of Rahway, NJ and United Water (and its parent, Suez Environment) shipped another Mobile MaxPure® to Haiti in order to bring some measure of relief to the Haitian people after the earthquake.

“We are pleased to join with the City of Rahway in this undertaking to add to our own efforts of supplying immediate clean drinking water to the Haitian people. Their need demands all of the resources we can supply.” Robert Iacullo, President, United Water.

Since then, other non-profit organizations have sent Mobile MaxPure systems to Haiti to help combat cholera, provide water for drinking and agriculture, and provide sustainable power to help with development and reconstruction efforts.

As part of a project in 2009, two (2) NGOs sought to bring clean drinking water to the enormous number of people living in IDP camps in Darfur and to selected villages without access to clean drinking water. Thirst No More and Humanitarian International Service Group proceeded to install Mobile MaxPure® (MMP), which they had identified as the most economical and reliable solution to bringing clean water to these effected people. The systems provide clean drinking water from polluted freshwater sources for about one penny per gallon in the first year and fractions of a penny annually thereafter.

“The Mobile Max Pure® systems from WorldWater [are] doing the impossible in Sudan; saving lives and bringing hope to broken communities.“
Kyle Adams, Humanitarian International Services Group

Note from HISG’s Special Projects Director:

“The one unit we placed in Nyala Town is having a BIG impact in stemming the spread of Cholera.”
JoJo Copenhaver, NGO operating in Darfur, Sudan

They identified the WorldWater solar powered water purification system, or Mobile MaxPure® (MMP), as the preferred solution.

Prior to the MMP deployments, the effected Iraqis were drinking unfiltered and contaminated water that was being pumped directly from an open-air canal.

According to the Zobai tribal representative to Fallujah District Council, Sheikh Hamid Zobai: “Our bodies used to be the filters, but now you’ve given us filters.”

Euphrates

Between May 2008 and July 2008, the PRT delivered twelve (12) MMPs in and around Fallujah along the Euphrates River. The PRT worked with local leaders in villages along the River, transferring the MMP to their care after providing operation and maintenance training.

Shortly after installation, the Chief Engineer at the Iraq Water Treatment Facility, Abbas Hassan, made the following statement: “It solves both of the main problems we have right now, which is having access to clean water while also having a reliable power source.”

In an article published by the United States Embassy in Baghdad on June 7, 2008, the Fallujah District Council Chairman, Hamid Hamid Ahmed Hashim Al-Alwani, made the following remarks: “Clean drinking water is enormously important to our people. … Most people receive drinking water from wells or directly from the Euphrates River, which is contaminated. The solar powered water purification units will be crucial in preventing diseases like cholera and bilharzia.”

After nearly three years of deployment, there have been no reported system failures and there have been no reported negative health effects.

Tigris

Due to the success of the initial MMP deployment the previous year, the US Army submitted an order for an additional twenty-five (25) MMPs in 2009.

These units were installed along the Tigris River: twenty (20) units pumped and purified freshwater sources, while five (5) Reverse Osmosis systems pumped and purified brackish water.

All of the units were constructed to match local power and voltage requirements to sync with products and electrical systems used in Iraq.

According to Sheikh Salam Halbusi, Spokesman, Fallujah District Council, Iraq: “Many children are taken to the hospital every day from illness caused by unclean water, now hospital visits are down.”

According to Jared N. Gehmann, Private, 82nd Airborne Division, 3rd Brigade Combat Team: “The system also is transportable and can provide clean drinking water to even the most remote villages in the region, a vast, mostly desolate area were most water sources consist of dirty, mineral-filled wells.”

In an article published in Soldiers magazine in January, 2011, Maj. Jess R. Stewart, the commander of Charlie Troop, 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry, remarked: “When someone asks whether the US has been successful in Iraq, we can tell the story of solar-powered water filtration technology, and Soldiers working with the Iraqi people to help them survive on their own.”

After nearly two years of deployment, there have been no reported system failures and there have been no reported negative health effects.

This is how and when the prototype for the first of WorldWater’s mobile, off-grid solar water purification systems, or the Mobile MaxPure®, was conceived.

As the first ever solar-powered water pumping and purification system, the Mobile MaxPure® was one of the few sources of clean drinking water for the town of South Waveland, Mississippi for over seven months. In partnership with the Morrell Foundation, the system was located near a temporary structure providing assistance to affected families and serving as a home base for responders and volunteers.

In addition to pumping and purifying polluted water, making it safe for drinking, bathing and cooking, the system also provided a ready source of power for a range of equipment used in rebuilding efforts.

“WorldWater understands the plight of people in a catastrophic event. After a catastrophe, water and food are some of the hardest things to find…we had no good water, we depended upon bottled water for everything (until the Mobile MaxPure®) gave us pure, clean water to drink that was safe. We didn’t have to worry about becoming sick. It gave us one less thing to worry about.”
Renee Aue-Weaver, Resident of Waveland, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.

“The Mobile MaxPure operated flawlessly for the seven months is was deployed in Waveland. During this time, all potable water for the thousands of people at our relief camp came from this unit…The Mobile MaxPure never let us down. It met or exceeded all advertised performance expectations.”
Alan H. Morrell, Director, Morrell Foundation, after Hurricane Katrina