(1888PressRelease)
March 23, 2007 - CHARLESTON, SC — March 22, 2007 — The official kick-off of the Project will be announced at WMI’s Water for Life Gala tonight. Governor Mark C. Sanford, Jr., Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., the First Lady of Honduras, Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, the Minister of the Honduran Fund for Social Investment, Sr. Cesar Salgado, the Director of Water and Sanitation of Honduras (Minister level), Ing. Jorge Mendez, and the Director of the First Lady’s Charity, Ing. Carolina Aspra, will be in attendance at the event.
“The goal of Project SafeWater-Colon is to demonstrate that people in developing countries can be provided access to sustainable sources of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities quickly and cost effectively,” says WMI Co-Founder George C. Greene PE, PhD. “We are launching Project SafeWater-Colon today on World Water Day to draw attention to our belief that the needs of the 1.1 billion people who lack safe, clean water worldwide can be cost-effectively addressed. It is our hope that Project SafeWater-Colon will demonstrate to international agencies new solutions to the global water crisis,” Greene added. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is providing support and technical advice on the public health aspects of Project SafeWater-Colon.
This $4.6 million project will serve the approximate 220,000 people of Colon, Honduras, where a significant percentage of the population lacks access to clean water and adequate sanitation. The comprehensive Project will document current conditions, implement solutions, and track results.
Project SafeWater-Colon is being underwritten by the Pentair Foundation, the charitable giving organization of Pentair, Inc. (NYSE: PNR). The Water Group of Pentair is a leading global water equipment company, bringing a comprehensive array of water products to market in order to serve the needs of the commercial, industrial, municipal and residential markets.
Mirroring its Water Group’s vision to bring safe, clean water solutions to its customers, the Foundation believes that underwriting Project SafeWater-Colon will change how the world addresses the water needs of the billions of people who lack clean water.
About Water Missions International (WMI)
WMI is a Charleston-based nonprofit Christian engineering organization providing sustainable safe water solutions to developing countries and disaster areas. To date, WMI has installed a total of 338 water systems world-wide. In addition to Project SafeWater-Colon, WMI will install 175 more water systems in 2007, making safe water available to more than a half a million people.
About Pentair, Inc. and the Pentair Foundation
Pentair (www.pentair.com) is a diversified operating company headquartered in Minnesota. Its Water Group is a global leader in providing innovative products and systems used worldwide in the movement, treatment, storage and enjoyment of water. Pentair’s Technical Products Group is a leader in the global enclosures and thermal management markets, designing and manufacturing thermal management products and standard, modified, and custom enclosures that house and protect sensitive electronics and electrical components. With 2006 revenues of $3.15 billion, Pentair employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide. The Pentair Foundation, the Company’s charitable giving structure, was established in 1998 and facilitates the charitable giving of up to two percent of the Company’s pre-tax earnings to charitable organizations.
For more information about Water Missions International,
call (843)769-7395
or log onto www.watermissions.org.
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