Rainwater System in Colombia

Release Date: February 24th, 2010

Aquascape Foundation Installs Rainwater Harvesting System for La Rosa de Saron School in Colombia, South America

St. Charles, IL – A team of Aquascape Foundation volunteers installed a 10,000 gallon rainwater harvesting system at La Rosa de Saron School in Barranquilla, Colombia the week of January 21, 2010. The water project paired the RainXchange® rainwater harvesting system by Aquascape, Inc. with Genieye’s Eye-Nizer™ water purification system. The rainwater harvesting system provides clean drinking water for approximately 400 school children year-round and creates the ability to prepare one hot meal per day.

Rainwater runs off the school roof and into the first sub-surface chamber where particulate matter is removed before passing through the ionization manifold via a solar-powered pump. The Genieye Eye-Nizer™ adds trace amounts of copper and silver ions to the water to kill bacteria and other waterborne pathogens. The sterilized water then passes into the second chamber where it’s stored before being pumped into an above ground rain barrel for easy access.

“Last year we paired the RainXchange® System with the Genieye Eye-Nizer™ at a school in Ghana, Africa and had great success,” said Ed Beaulieu, vice president of the Aquascape Foundation and chief sustainability officer for Aquascape, Inc. “This is the Foundation’s second trek to install a rainwater harvesting system for an impoverished area.”

The Aquascape Foundation worked once again with the I.N. Network in Zeeland, Michigan to locate a school in need of clean drinking water. The I.N. Network’s mission is to connect partners in community development around the world.

Aquascape Foundation volunteers who participated in the rainwater harvesting project included foundation president Carla Wittstock, Wayne, IL; foundation vice-president, Ed Beaulieu of Aquascape, Inc. in St. Charles, IL and his wife, Ellen Beaulieu; Tim Muttoo of Genieye Systems Inc. in Ontario, Canada; Al Lentz, of Lentzscaping in Warminster, PA; April Dugan of Nature Scapes in Grafton, NH; Kelli York of Ewing Irrigation in Phoenix, AZ; Chris Baker, Diane Baker and Alex Krause of James Pond in Doylestown, PA; Mark and John Seavers of Just Sprinklers in Albuquerque, NM; Steve Copeland of Dallas, TX; Paul Edling of Toby’s Treasure Barn in Horsham, PA; Alison Hudak of Phoenix, AZ; and Gord Szolnyanszky of Aquascape, Inc.

For more information on the Aquascape Foundation and its mission, log onto www.aquascapefoundation.com. For information on Genieye’s water purification systems visit www.genieye.com.

The Aquascape Foundation is a not for profit 501 (c) 3 organization established in 2008. The mission of The Foundation is to create sustainable solutions for the world-wide water crisis. The purpose of The Foundation is to promote awareness of water as our most precious resource through environmental, educational and philanthropic efforts.

Aquascape is North America’s leading innovator in the water gardening industry. Aquascape invented the low-maintenance, naturally balanced ecosystem pond that is the # 1 contractor-installed water garden. The St. Charles, Illinois headquarters, dubbed “Aqualand,” received Silver Level recognition in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating system. Aquascape’s mission is to help our customers succeed at building, selling, and retailing water garden products while supplying innovative products and solutions that capture, clean and reuse our planet’s most valuable resource - water. Aquascape and its vast network of Authorized AquascapePRO™ Distributors sell exclusively to contractors and retailers. Founded in 1991, Aquascape made the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies four years in a row. In 2005, founder and CEO Greg Wittstock was named one of America’s Best Bosses by FORTUNE Small Business Magazine and Winning Workplaces™.