Rainwater harvesting, drinking water project launched

Coca-Cola Far East Ltd in partnership with Plan Bangladesh yesterday launched an innovative rainwater harvesting and drinking water project to ensure water sustainability and to provide safe drinking water at the schools.
The project includes installation of Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) systems, storage tanks and water filters in five primary schools in Mirpur area under Dhaka City Corporation and Barguna Sadar Upazila, says a press release.
Coca-Cola and Plan Bangladesh are also partnering to raise awareness amongst the school children and their families for better water resources management.
The RWH systems once commissioned will have an overall harvest capacity of 32,50,000 liters of rainwater per year, the release added.
The entire 'Rain Water Harvesting and Drinking Water Project' will get commissioned at a total cost of $20,000 by September 2009.
The unique initiative would benefit over 1000 children with access to potable water throughout the year and in addition millions of litres of harvested water can also be utilised for secondary purpose like washing and sanitation, the press release said.
Thomas Espey, country director of plan Bangladesh, said Plan Bangladesh is committed to provide deprived children with access to basic amenities.
Launching the project in partnership with Coca-Cola is a unique initiative in this direction, he added.
Debasish Deb, country manager of Coca-Cola Far East Ltd, said this initiative will harvest 3250,000 litres of rainwater, additionally resulting in over 1000 children having better access to safe drinking water.