September 18, 2019

 

  

Starting a Waterwheel Revolution in India

Moorestown Rotary’s WaterWheel Project

 

 

            A woman trudging a long distance with a huge pot of waterprecariously balanced on her head is a familiar sight in rural India.

            The Rotary Lunch Club of Moorestown, NJ,  is helping to change that picture.

            In a partnership with the Rotary Club of Bombay Hanging Gardens in Mumbai, India, the Moorestown Rotariansprovided 1,300 Indian families from 55 villages with waterwheels. As shown in the photo below, they are large plastic containers with ergonomic handles.  

 

Each family lives at least 1-2 kilometers from a clean water site and pays a small fee toward the cost of their waterwheel which holds 12 gallons of water.  Now, they can roll their waterwheels any distance and fill them up with clean water.

            “More water is collected in less time and some of that extra water can be used to irrigate vegetable gardens,” said Michelle Rohan, the Moorestown Rotarian who came up with the project after hearing an online Ted Talk by Cynthia Koenig, founder of Wello, a US venture working on ways to deliver clean water in poor countries. 

            Representatives of the Hanging Gardens Rotary Club of Mumbai, India, recently attended a meeting and presented the Rotary Club of a Moorestown with a “Gold Miracle Award”  (shown below) for their contribution to the Waterwheel project.