According to the World Health Organization, more than 3.4 million people die every year from waterborne diseases, making it the leading cause of death around the world.
Two thousand pounds of shoes equal one water purification system from WaterStep, a Louisville-based nonprofit organization. Last year 10,000 pounds of shoes were collected locally. Two thousand pounds were collected at the marathon alone. Organizers hope to top that this year.
“They give us the shoes and we take care of the rest,” said Senior Airman Sharla Poleman.
The water purification system is called the M-100 Chlorinator.
According to WaterStep’s website, The M-100 is a portable water purification system that generates chlorine through electrolysis. It operates using only a small amount of table salt and either a 12-volt car battery or solar panels, and it generates enough chlorine to disinfect 38,000 liters of water per day — enough for about 10,000 people.
“The only thing that needs to be replaced is the 12-volt car battery,” said Senior Airman Laura Vance.
The clean water and footwear can be of use in places like the Republic of Haiti.
“In Haiti, the children aren’t allowed in the schools unless they have nice dress shoes to wear,” Vance said. “So a lot of times they have to carry their shoes for miles and often get parasites (from) walking those miles without any shoes.
“We’ve had an elementary school donate a bunch of their shoes so now children have shoes to protect their feet while walking to school as well as the dress shoes in order to attend school,” she said.
Organizers are hoping to collect enough shoes in 2013 to fund 10 water purification systems through WaterStep.
“Our goal is to provide 100,000 people with clean drinking water,” Vance said.
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