The Michigan City Rotary Club has donated $1,000 towards the purchase of a new water tank system in Central Mexico for school children. Matching dollars from District 6540 (District 6540 is composed of 55 clubs, of which Michigan City is a part of) and the Rotary Foundation helped fund the total cost of $3,500 for each system.
The Heart 2 Heart program is a collaboration of Rotarians in Zones 30-31 [Rotary International Zones 30 and 31 is known as the HEART OF AMERICA and is comprised of 26 districts in 13 states (the Michigan City Rotary Club is Zone 30)] and District 4170 in central Mexico. Since 2004 the program has been undertaking humanitarian projects to improve the lives of those less fortunate in Central Mexico. One of those ongoing projects is to provide clean water to schools in Mexico City and the surrounding rural areas.
The water tank system primarily consists of a 2,600 gallon water tank that is connected to a school’s internal plumbing system to supply water to faucets for drinking (includes a filtering system) and to bathrooms for toilet flushing and hand washing. Each school’s plumbing varies, and often the Rotarians and school parents have to rework (and add to) the existing plumbing to accommodate the new water system. The average school size for the recipients of Heart 2 Heart tanks to date is about 800- 1500 students per school, and the tanks have all been placed in grade schools.
A typical tank is primarily steel, weighs about 2200 pounds, and has an expected life of 30-40 years or more (depending on the average quality of water in the tank and the average quality of maintenance). Plastic tanks are not used because they are subject to more damage and vandalism, can be easily moved if empty, have a shorter life span, and can weaken with harsh weather.
For more information, go to http://www.rizones30-31.org/news/heart-2-heart/ or visit the Michigan City Rotary website at http://portal.clubrunner.ca/4174