Thebe Foundation delivers safe drinking water to Zululand community
Posted: September 23rd, 2012.
The Thebe Foundation has been able to deliver on an undertaking to provide safe drinking water to a rural community in north-eastern Zululand thanks to the efforts of Head-stream Water Holdings and a generous sponsorship from FX Africa Foreign Exchange – both of which are members of the Thebe Group of companies.
This initiative is aimed at assisting the South African government to address water provision backlogs by making it easier for rural householders to access water from rivers and then to ensure that the water is clean and free of waterborne diseases.
At a ceremony held at the Royal Palace on Friday 20 April 2012, Thebe chairman, Vusi Khanyile, handed over 100 Ceramic Candle Filter (CCF) units and 100 Hippo Water
The CCF units were assembled and supplied by Headstream based on exclusive technology developed by Just Water, a philanthropic organisation who developed the technology in order to provide potable water in natural disaster situations such as tsunami’s and earthquakes. The beauty of the CCF units lies in their combination of simplicity and efficacy.Rollers to His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini for distribution to members of Nkunzana village, all of whom rely on the Nkunzana River for their water requirements.
From the outside, the unit resembles two twenty litre plastic containers mounted on top of each other. The difference lies in the unique dome shaped, silver impregnated ceramic candle filter in the heart of the system which has been proven to remove more than 99% of disease-causing pathogens found in river water, producing water of a better quality than most bottled water. And it couldn’t be simpler to operate. River water poured into the top container is gravity fed through the filter to the bottom container which is equipped with a plastic tap which dispenses clean drinking water. There are no chemicals involved and no need to boil the water before use.
Given that the burden of fetching and carrying water often falls on women and children who spend much of their waking hours balancing 20 liter buckets of water on their head, often incurring spinal injury and hair loss in the process, the Foundation was indeed fortunate to have the support of FX Africa Foreign Exchange, whose generosity allowed us to include 100 Hippo Water Rollers to accompany the filter units.
The Hippo Roller is a South African innovation that allows an individual to transport more than 90 litres of water across uneven terrain, with relative ease. The Hippo Roller comprises a strong drum and handle and when full, has an effective weight of only 10 kg’s on level ground, allowing even children to roll the water home safely.