Operation Blessing's Huge New Effort to Combat Puerto Rico's Water Crisis

Operation Blessing is still on the ground helping people in Texas and Florida, and now they're launching a major partnership to increase their ability to provide safe drinking water in Puerto Rico. It's called Operation Agua.

OB has already been providing safe water for hurricane victims there with machines that turn salty sea water around the island into safe drinking water.

"Operation Blessing has been working nonstop to help residents of Puerto Rico with a focus on providing safe water, as it remains in critically short supply even a month after the hurricane," said OB President Bill Horan.

Now Operation Blessing is also working with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the Hispanic Federation, to launch Operation Agua to crowdsource contributions and provide reliable source of safe drinking water to families across Puerto Rico.

That includes purchasing and distributing 100,000 individual water filtration systems for households and classrooms, as well as 50 large-capacity safe-water devices for larger community-based groups.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said, "When I was in Puerto Rico, I saw children collecting water in contaminated streams; AFT nurses have treated people suffering from dehydration and in danger of contracting deadly diseases from drinking dangerous water."

People are resorting to collecting water in contaminated waterways, or from runoff, and there are reports of some even drinking from toxic Superfund sites.

Even those who have running water are still at risk because water-treatment plants are not operational, so tap water may be tainted with raw sewage.

A single $30 contribution will pay for one of those in-home purifiers that requires no electricity.

And $5,000 delivers a disinfectant generator that can disinfect 150,000 gallons per day—enough safe water for thousands of people.

You can donate by clicking here.