With one third of the world's population having no basic sanitation available to them and 6000 deaths of children daily in third world countries where clean drinking water is unknown, Rotary has made Clean Water and Sanitation an area of service around the world as one of their six areas of focus.  Bob Newlon, Past District 6420 Governor and member of Oregon Rotary Club, has traveled to many parts of the world to help install both sources of clean water and basic sanitation. Tyler Ewing, Rock Falls Rotary member, had invited Bob to share with members of the Rock Falls Rotary his trips to Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nigeria, and Phillipines for this purpose.

 

Bob has designed a UDDT (Urine Diversion Degradable Toilet) which is inexpensive to construct anywhere and which will eliminate the pathogens spreading disease with proper removal of human excrements, at the same time as salvaging each to be used as fertilizer where soil is poor and in need of such.  His device diverts into a container the urine  which is rich in nitrogen and can be used in a vegetable garden to enrich the soil.  The human manure can be used to enhance tree and shrubbery growth where plants often do not flourish.  And the best part of this hands-on Rotary promotion of basic sanitation is the education of the people in the villages  where basic needs are addressed.  To quote one such recipient in a village which received  a bio sand filter system to purify the water, "Now our children will stop dying." 

 

Bob is planning a trip to the rain forest of Costa Rica to install some of the UDDTs.  If anyone is interested in joining his team to install these UDDTs, please contact him or any Rock Falls Rotarian for his contact information.

 

 

Bob Newlon (right), Rotary Zone 29 Chair of Water and Sanitation, shows Tyler Ewing (left) of Rock Falls Rotary how a simple UDDT can save lives for persons with no basic sanitation available.