Rural Water - Quarter 2, 2013 - (Page 29)

A Tiny Drop of an Idea BY kAren kAleY, cotton electrIc cooPerAtIve riPPlEs form WhEn a single drop of water splashes into a larger body of water. The ripples fan out, spreading the effect of the drop over a much larger area. Ideas can work the same way. For example, Shalyn Files and Ty Dulworth saw a video that gave them an idea for a small project. They sought assistance and were overwhelmed by a flood of support from their small community in Velma, Oklahoma. The video was about water. Nasty water. And, a simple inexpensive way to make it safe to drink. We all know that water is an essential element for life on this planet. Access to safe drinking water is absolutely necessary for children, families, villages to survive. In the poorest of nations, in the remotest of locations, there are many people whose only available source of water is full of pollutants and life-threatening diseases. The teens learned that day that the problem of contaminated water is so great in some places that children rarely make it past the age of five. Parents don’t bother to name them until then. That’s the part that got to Ty and Shalyn, friends since pre-school, now making plans for their senior year at Velma High School. They were attending an ACT prep workshop and the video was shown as an example of projects to take on for an award being discussed. Neither was interested in trying for the award, but they were still taken in by what they saw. In the Water of Life video, a 12-year-old Rwandan girl sets off on a 1.5-mile hike to the nearest watering hole. She fills a 5-gallon plastic jug with murky water and hoists the 44-pound load onto her head for the journey home. Once there, she pours reddish-brown liquid into a clear plastic tank. A blue hose connects an opening near the bottom of the tank and a fat spigot about the size of her fist. The girl uses the spigot to draw clear water into a glass, which she hands to a Ty Dulworth, left, and Shalyn Files compare pond water to tap water. The teens have been raising funds to purchase water filters for families in undeveloped countries. Second Quarter 2013 • 29 http://www.nrwa.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Water - Quarter 2, 2013

From the President
Drought Contingency and Water Conservation Plans
Electric Bills
The Energy Future of Rural America
A Tiny Drop of and Idea
Water University
Regulatory Update
Throwing My Loop
Index to Advertisers / Advertisers.com
From the CEO

Rural Water - Quarter 2, 2013