ITT Corp., one of the world’s largest suppliers of water and wastewater treatment solutions, has donated eight of the company’s portable water purification units and replacement parts to areas of southwest China affected by the devastating earthquakes. The equipment arrived in Sichuan Province, and will be installed and used at selected relief shelters. The donated equipment will provide nearly 55,000 liters of safe drinking water per hour for quake victims living in the shelters, enough to satisfy more than 200,000 people. ITT executive leaders and technicians currently are in Sichuan to train local workers to operate the equipment.

“The water quality situation in China’s quake-affected region is dire, and ITT is in a position to help. As a global leader in water treatment, we have the technology and expertise to make a difference in Sichuan Province,” says Nick Hill, president of ITT’s Motion & Flow Control group and leader of ITT’s relief efforts in China. “We’ve learned a lot about the needs of natural disaster victims since our experience in Sri Lanka in 2004, and have dedicated time and resources to organize our ability to respond quickly in situations like these.”

According to current statistics, the water supply systems of more than 20 cities and towns in Sichuan Province have suffered critical damage. The Ministry of Water Resources recently said that more than one million people have no reliable source of drinking water in Sichuan’s quake-affected areas. Four of the eight ITT water purification units will be installed in shelters in Pi County and the other four in Pengzhou City, where municipal infrastructures are ruined and quake victims are seriously threatened by a lack of safe drinking water.

ITT’s mobile water treatment units produce safe drinking water from surface water sources in emergent conditions where there is an absence of electricity, making them well suited for the unique needs of the quake-affected areas where power shortages still exist and clean water is in short supply. By disinfecting the water, the ITT units will help to avoid the spread of diseases such as cholera and giardiasis. The unit is designed to be easy to operate, so relief workers will be able to run it themselves after receiving training from ITT engineers. Two ITT technicians will stay in Sichuan for several days to ensure proper installation and operation.