AQUASCAPE FOUNDATION INSTALLS RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEM
FOR KUVE SCHOOL IN GHANA, AFRICA
St. Charles, IL – A group of Aquascape Foundation volunteers traveled to the Kuve Village in Ghana, Africa the week of January 12th, 2009 to install Aquascape’s RainXchange™ System and Genieye’s Eye-Nizer™ water purification system. The rainwater harvesting system provides clean drinking water for the village’s school children, and creates the ability to prepare one hot meal per day.
The newly-installed system allows for rainwater to run off the school’s roof and is then stored in a sub-surface 8,000 gallon reservoir. The water enters into the first chamber of the 22’ x 24’ x4’ basin, which acts as a sediment trap to remove particulate matter, before being passed 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 for use by a single hand pump.
“Pairing the Eye-Nizer™ with the RainXchange™ System provided the perfect solution for this village that has no electricity. We were able to install a solar panel on the roof to provide power for the ionization manifold,” claimed Ed Beaulieu, Foundation vice president and chief sustainability officer for Aquascape, Inc. “We want to leverage our water feature expertise for humanitarian efforts and this project will be one of many life-saving applications.”
The system will capture and filter over 100,000 gallons of water per year, providing clean drinking water for more than 400 children throughout the year. Aquascape Foundation chose the Kuve school project after contacting the I.N. Network in Zeeland, Michigan, whose mission is to connect partners in community development.
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; Lauri Mitchell of Mitchell Motivation in Palatine, IL; Roberto Cosme and Tim Bottoms of Aquascape, Inc. in St. Charles, IL; Tim Muttoo of Genieye Systems Inc. in Ontario, Canada; Dale Vnuk of Wyld Creek Water Gardens in Fox Lake, IL; Al Lentz, of Lentzscaping in Warminster, PA; Glenn and Isaac Ferrell of Living Water Aquascapes in Lakeland, FL; Bob Blasing of Ripple Effect Water Gardens in Redwood, CA; Keith Robinson, of Semco, Inc. in Belton, MO; April Dugan of Nature Scapes in Grafton, NH; and Karen and Dayton Wright from Ogden, UT.
For more information on the Aquascape Foundation and its mission, log onto www.aquascapeinc.com/aquascape-foundation. 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™.
