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WAPI's for World Health
Water Pasteurization Indicators:
A way to improve world health
and save the lives of children
through safer water
“There is so much
that needs doing in the world, and...the answer is in millions of people
doing small things that all add up to a better life for people.” (William H.
Foege, MD, epidemiologist and former Director, Center for Disease Control,
1977-1983)
WAPI's
(Water Pasteurization Indicators)
Water pasteurization is
needed in many places around the world where water is contaminated, causing
disease and death. The microbes that cause these diseases can be easily
killed in a solar cooker.
WHAT ARE WAPIs?
WAPIs are short
poly-carbonate plastic tubes that are half filled with soy wax and heat
sealed on both ends. The soy wax melts at about 158
F, a temperature that kills
many microbes (see table).
WAPIs are effectively
used with solar cookers and other heat sources and are becoming increasingly
important in parts of the world where forests and cooking fuel are rapidly
disappearing.
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ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF...
My name is Kelsey Minor. When I completed my Gold Award project in
2007, which is the highest earned award in Girl Scouting, I was a senior at
South Eugene High School in Eugene, Oregon. I was fortunate to have as my
project advisor Barby Pulliam of the Girl Scout Solar Cookers Fund and to
have the support of the Girl Scouts of Western Rivers Council.
MY GOAL...
Through my project, I hope to raise awareness about the need for
pasteurized water in developing countries and in disaster areas. By making
water pasteurization possible for more families around the world, together
we can help improve world health and save the lives of children.
MY PROJECT...
I collected supplies for as many water pasteurization indicators (WAPIs)
as possible (the materials cost approximately 33 cents for each WAPI). My
goal, which I was able to reach through the help of many community members,
was to gather supplies for 5,000 WAPIs and to organize volunteers to help
make as many WAPIs as possible to be sent to families worldwide. Now that
my Gold Award project is complete, I am making available the information I
learned in the hopes that it will help others in making and distributing
WAPIs for world health.
THIS WEBPAGE...
I compiled the following information on this webpage for a brochure that
I distributed for requesting assistance for my project. It
explains the importance of WAPIs in improving world health and includes
links for more information. For those who would like to know more about
making and distributing WAPIs, please see below:
THANK YOU FOR HELPING
TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
I want to thank Barby
Pulliam for her guidance and help throughout this project. SCI generously
provided advice and technical instruction. My grandpa, Bert Toepel, was
instrumental in generously sharing his workshop as well as his time and
energy to help me implement my project. My friend Tad Merrell encouraged me
and helped me complete the hardest part—the melting of the tubes. I would
also like to thank my mom (Kathryn Toepel), my little sister Abby who is a
Junior Girl Scout, my grandma (Mildred Toepel), and my great-uncle William
H. Foege for their support and suggestions. The members of Emmaus Lutheran
Church were generous in allowing me space for workshops, in helping me
obtain supplies, and in finishing some of the WAPIs. And to all those in
Girl Scouting, at school, at church, and in the community who lent a hand or
contributed supplies to make this project possible, I am most appreciative. |
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TEMPERATURES THAT KILL DISEASE MICROBES
IN CONTAMINATED WATER |
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MICROBE |
KILLED RAPIDLY AT |
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Giardia, Entamoeba,
Cryptosporidium, Guinea
Worm and Other Worms |
131°
F (55°C) |
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Escherichia coli (E. coli),
Shigella,
Cholera,
Rotaviruses, Polioviruses
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140°
F (60° C) |
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Hepatitis A virus |
149°
F (65° C) |
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WAPI wax melts |
158° F (70° C) |
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Milk pasteurization |
160°
F for 15 seconds |
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“Over one billion people
do not have access to safe water. Preventable waterborne diseases are
responsible for approximately 80% of all illnesses and deaths in the developing
world. Children are especially susceptible, with nearly three million deaths
each year.” (from Solar Cookers International’s website on solar water
pasteurization)
The deaths of three million
people each year due to contaminated water is the equivalent of losing as many
people every five weeks for a year–every year–as the total deaths caused by the
Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. This is an astonishing number of deaths – and
most are children.
HOW DO WAPI's HELP IMPROVE WORLD HEALTH?
In 1990 the United Nations
and the World Health Organization (WHO) set eight Millennium Development Goals
for the next 25 years. Three of the eight goals are related to world health.
WAPIs contribute to these goals by helping to reduce child mortality, improve
maternal health, and combat disease by improving water quality.
One out of every two
people in low-income countries dies at an early age from an infectious disease.
Most of these deaths should have been prevented.... If the world invests in
priority strategies to fight infectious diseases, much of this death and
suffering could be prevented.” (Dr. Gro Harlem-Bruntland, Director-General,
World Health Organization, 1998-2003)<
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM
WAPIs?
Both Solar Cookers
International and the Girl Scout Solar Cooker Fund distribute WAPIs mostly to
African countries struggling with having safe water. But in cases where the
need to pasteurize water is immediate, WAPIs can also prove useful. For example,
in disaster locations where standard cooking methods are not available and where
water is contaminated, solar pasteurization of water using WAPIs could help
reduce the spread of disease.
THE GIRL SCOUT
CONNECTION...Sixteen countries in Africa,
including Ghana, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Guinea, and others, now
have active solar cooking projects sponsored by Girl Guides aimed at improving
people’s lives.
“We hear a
lot about starvation, deforestation and water-borne disease in some countries,
and usually we feel helpless to do anything about it. This is one way we can
make a real difference.” (Barby Pulliam, Girl Scout Solar Cooker Fund)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WAPIs,
SOLAR COOKING, AND
WORLD HEALTH, GO TO...
Girl Scout
Solar Cooker Fund
( http://www.barby.com/ )
Solar Cookers
International
( http://solarcookers.org )
UN Millennium Development
Goals ( http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ )
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