Viewpoint and the Rotary Club of Calabasas Host WAPI Event to Help Communities Around the World
4/23/2012
On Saturday, April 21, Viewpoint School and Rotary Club of Calabasas hosted the annual WAPI (Water Pasteurization Indicator) assembly workshop on Viewpoint’s campus. The WAPIs are four-inch plastic tubes containing wax particles that melt when submerged into cooking water that has reached 65°C/149°F, a temperature that eliminates microbes carrying E Coli, Rotaviruses, Giardia, and Hepatitis C virus. These devices will be used to bring safe water to communities all over the world.
“Eighty percent of illness in the developing world is due to contaminated water,” said Viewpoint science teacher Hilary Hunt. “The WAPI works as a simple thermometer that indicates when water has reached pasteurization temperature and is safe to drink. Since water pasteurizes at temperatures well below the boiling point of water, WAPIs save time when solar pasteurizing, and save fuel when using traditional fuels.”
Several years ago, Walt and Diane Parrish of the Fresno Rotary Club initiated a campaign to produce WAPIs through community workshops throughout the country and abroad. Since then, high school volunteers and Rotarians have made thousands of WAPIs that have been distributed to communities in rural areas of Africa, Iraq, and the Americas, primarily for use with solar cookers.
“Viewpoint was thrilled to have our students in the Upper School join with students from Daniel Pearl Magnet High School in an effort that will have an impact on villages in the developing world,” said Kristina Duarte, Viewpoint’s Director of Community Service. “This project of the International Rotary is such a simple yet effective way to provide safe water to communities in need.”