Phouc Le Clean Water Project

On a gray, rainy day in April of 2010, representatives of the D.O.V.E. Fund, accompanied by Provincial officials, were summoned to a small village in a remote part of Quang Tri province. Huddled in a small room, residents of the Phouc Le commune told of the many problems caused by the poor water in all of the wells. Many felt that the discolored and foul smelling water had caused an unusually high rate of sickness among the families in the commune.

Surrounded by acres of rice paddies and farmland, Phouc Le is a low lying area that has an unusually high concentration of chemical buildup in its ground water. The 70 families living in the village had a primitive, gravity based sand type filtration system that was ineffective in eliminating the toxic material from the shallow wells. At first, villagers were asking for only a few new fresh water systems that would be shared among all the residents of the commune. After a discussion with district officials, however, the project plan expanded to provide each family with a new well and filtration system that would give each household clean, safe water for the first time in years.

First, to get away from the surface water and fertilizer runoff, deeper wells were needed. Not only were more wells planned, the new wells had to be at least 40 meters deep. Then, new high capacity pumps to move the water to the holding tanks were required. Finally, a new activated charcoal based filtration system that had proven itself in other parts of Vietnam would be utilized. After discussions with local officials, the D.O.V.E. Fund, along with a generous contribution from the Maumee Rotary Club approved funding for the project. Drilling on the new wells began in the summer of 2010 and by September, improved holding tanks and new filtration systems were in place providing clean, safe water to each family in the village.

The D.O.V.E. Fund wishes to thank the Maumee Rotary for its contribution and to the memory of longtime member, the late Greg Hendel, who committed himself to many humanitarian projects with the Club. To commemorate his efforts, a plaque honoring Mr. Hendel will be posted on each well in the village.