{"id":1082,"date":"2019-03-01T09:08:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T09:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/?p=1082"},"modified":"2026-04-13T16:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:12:13","slug":"the-fight-for-clean-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/the-fight-for-clean-water\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fight For Clean Water Women\u2019s Day Special"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Clean water is a basic right for everyone and on <strong>Women\u2019s Day<\/strong>, we have with us three stories of empowered and strong women who changed the view of the water. This is the story of women who took charge of impure water around them and used their skills to get the attention to one of the most important issues in the country, unclean and unsafe water.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The S3 Trio<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe know that there are water filters out there, so why do we still have impure water?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">asked India Skinner when enquired about why her group always came back to work on clean water. She along with Mikayla Sharrieff and Bria Snell are Washington DC\u2019s S3 trio, as they call themselves, currently working with <strong>NASA<\/strong> to get the lead out. They created a <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/products\/residential\/counter-top-water-filters\/\">transparent filter<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong> system<\/strong> where one could actually see the water getting filtered and looking clean. This prototype managed to get them the second place overall in the <strong>Optimus Prime Spin-Off Promotion and Research Challenge (OPSPARC)<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, 80,000 chemicals approved for use in industrial processes in the United States and are unregulated by the EPA according to the PBS Newshour report, 2016<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But how do we solve the problem? This young girl seems to have a solution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The Young Inventor<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Having a passion for technology and helping others, Gitanjali Rao, now 13 years old was troubled by the news of Flint. She thought she should help out and simply find out a way to get the lead out. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8216;This was like solving global warming with just one solution,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8216; she says, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8216;which seemed almost impossible.&#8217;<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Coming from an 11-year-old at that time, this seems far fetched for a little girl, however, her achievements will contradict this notion about children.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">She looked into gene-editing method when the Zika Virus broke out.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing over the Indian Ocean, she started working on building better black boxes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">She even created an app that monitored cyberbullying once she heard it was a problem.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, Flint\u2019s lead problem had her attention. As soon as the news broke out, her family checked the water quality too and she found the method of testing to be cumbersome as well as expensive. Rao realized probably what frightened her more was whether the water was safe and thought just knowing that little detail could be empowering.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI came across this new technology using carbon nanotube sensors to detect hazardous gases in the air. I immediately connected that thought back to lead detection\u2026 in drinking water.\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> She said. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">She thought she could have the perfect material for water testing which led her to Selene Hernandez Ruiz who was Denver\u2019s Municipal Water Facility\u2019s lab manager. After listening to Rao\u2019s idea, they began working together. With a recent test yielding results for other metals, it\u2019s possible that a device could check tap water for mercury, arsenic, and cadmium. Rao just might invent a tool that could perform a whole battery of tests cheaply and accurately.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>1 Trillion Gallons of industrial waste discharged into the US water supply every year.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>\u2013 Neil B. Chambers, &#8216;How Infrastructure Makes Water Work for Us&#8217;<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But does this mean solving the problem is to be left to scientists and engineers alone?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The Entrepreneur<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Already into solving water problems, Doll Avant, a successful consultant and fellow at the NASA Research Park, found herself helpless when she learned her father was diagnosed with diabetes. After digging more about the disease when she discovered a study that suggested a link between arsenic in water and diabetes, she was more than surprised. This could have been a factor in his disease<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. &#8216;It didn\u2019t take much for me to get copies of local water-quality reports and connect the dots,&#8217;<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> she says. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8216;But my dad was already really sick at that point, and it was too late for much to be done for him.&#8217;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before, it was for Flint crisis, but now the fight for clean and safe water was personal for Avant. After heavy research and going through EPA reports, studies and news articles, what she discovered shocked her. Over a thousand communities in the U.S. still have higher lead levels, higher than even Flint with more EPA violations that one could think. What grabbed her attention further was that people are unaware of the waterborne toxins in the water which could have long term effects because they don\u2019t have the data. This led to Avant developing her own company, Aquagenuity which stores the world\u2019s largest water database<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">3,000 cities in the <strong>U.S. have more lead in their water than Flint, Michigan<\/strong>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with publishing past reports on water quality, the company also gives further direction in case you discover ingenuity in your water. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8216;You put in all your past addresses based on where you lived and how long you lived there,&#8217; Avant says, &#8216;And the system actually tells you, hey, these are things that you can do to detoxify \u2013 certain metals and different things that are built up in your system.&#8217;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The company plans to provide steps for the government and companies. Bottling facility with the <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/applications\/rosystems.html\/\">best method for filtration<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> or assisting the government to find out which is the best water process for manufacturing facilities<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u201cThe 20th century was really hard on the planet. So let\u2019s reinvent how we use water as a resource, and let\u2019s do it the better way for the 21st century,\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">she says<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The one aspect common among these women is their will to do things differently, to take up the reigns and get to it. Not asking for permissions and instead, \u00a0getting involved to find solutions to the water problems. This gets us to another important question. If not us, who? If not now when?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- Phase 2: FAQ Section --><\/p>\n<div class=\"faq-section\">\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<div>\n<h3>How quickly can an emergency water purification unit be deployed?<\/h3>\n<div>\n<p>AMPAC USA&#039;s EPRO and mobile RO units can be operational within 30\u201360 minutes of arrival on-site. Trailer-mounted and skid-mounted systems are pre-plumbed and pre-wired, requiring only connection to a power source and water source. Units treat river water, lake water, or brackish groundwater.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>What flow rates are available for emergency water treatment?<\/h3>\n<div>\n<p>AMPAC USA&#039;s emergency systems range from 1,500 GPD portable units to 50,000+ GPD trailer-mounted systems. Military-specification units are available for forward operating base deployment, producing potable water meeting EPA and WHO drinking water standards from virtually any source.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>Are emergency RO systems suitable for disaster relief operations?<\/h3>\n<div>\n<p>Yes. AMPAC USA&#039;s emergency systems are used by FEMA, the U.S. military, and international NGOs for disaster relief. They treat flood water, contaminated groundwater, and brackish sources, removing bacteria, viruses, and chemical contaminants to produce safe drinking water on-site.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>What power sources can emergency water purification systems use?<\/h3>\n<div>\n<p>AMPAC USA&#039;s emergency systems can run on generator power (120\/240V or 480V 3-phase), solar panels with battery backup, or vehicle power take-off (PTO). Low-power models consume as little as 0.5 kW, making them viable for off-grid deployment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>How durable are military-grade water purification systems?<\/h3>\n<div>\n<p>AMPAC USA&#039;s military systems are built to MIL-SPEC standards with stainless steel frames, powder-coated components, and UV-resistant materials. They are designed to operate in temperatures from -20\u00b0F to 120\u00b0F and are vibration-tested for transport in military vehicles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- Phase 2: Conclusion Section --><\/p>\n<div class=\"conclusion-section\">\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>This post highlighted how emergency and military-grade water purification systems provide safe drinking water rapidly in the most challenging field conditions. For organizations requiring deployable water treatment capability, AMPAC USA engineers portable and trailer-mounted systems built to perform wherever they are needed. Contact our team at info@ampac1.com or (909) 548-4900 to discuss your emergency water treatment requirements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clean water is a basic right for everyone and on Women\u2019s Day, we have with us three stories of empowered and strong women who changed the view of the water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[107,18,175],"class_list":["post-1082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drinking-water","tag-international-womens-day","tag-seawater-desalination","tag-the-fight-for-clean-water-womens-day-special"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1082"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88218,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082\/revisions\/88218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}