RAPID RESPONSE
PROJECTThis project addresses urgent research needs in response to the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010. The project focuses on two immediate needs, water and energy, and seeks to address these needs with novel approaches that are both rapidly deployable and sustainable. To address these immense needs, we propose to design, construct, deploy, demonstrate and test two novel disaster relief technologies. For water collection, storage and treatment, we have designed a system for combined rainwater harvesting and treatment using porous clay ceramics. Such porous clays have been used in point-of-use water treatment systems in many developing countries and are in local production in Nigeria and other countries. The cistern and clay ceramic filtration system we envision for Haiti is a larger-scale version and would serve a population of 50 to 100 people. For renewable energy production, we plan to deploy novel 3 kW wind turbine designed specifically for fast deployment in a disaster-relief scenario. The electricity production would be sufficient to power a clinic, small hospital, or school. The design includes a vertical axis turbine on a telescoping mast, all of which can be contained inside a cargo shipping container for portability. Our target city for this project is Jacmel. It is located on the southern coast and has a population of 40,000. Seventy percent of the buildings were damaged. For both the wind turbine and the water collection/treatment system, our intent is not only to provide a local service but also to create visibility for these technologies and demonstrate their viability for Haiti, for the developing world and for disaster-relief efforts in general.
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