1. Case Study Disaster Relief in the Marshal Islands
Spectra Aquifer Watermakers used to provide emergency
relief efforts in the remote outer islands of the Marshall Island
group. These portable units became lifesavers.
Customer
The IOM and USAID finally responded to the drought condi-
tions after reading a paper published by Tom Vance of
Moana Marine (our distributor) called “Pacific Climate
Change Solutions” and agreed to purchase the first 5 of what
would become over 35 of the Aquifer units deployed in the
region in 2013.
Location
Some of these islands are separated from the Capital of the
Marshall Islands, Majuro, by 680 miles of open ocean and
they have little infrastructure to connect them to the outside
world.
Rainwater is the main source of drinking water on these is-
lands and when the storage tanks went dry after 10 months
of little or no rain the islanders turned to well water. Unfortu-
nately almost all the wells were found to have salinity levels
15 times higher than the EPS limits. On top of this the wells
had become polluted with human waste and there was a
sharp rise in water borne illnesses. The drought was also
decimating local staple crops like banana, Coconut, Panda-
nus and breadfruit, 6400 lives hung in the balance.
Project description
The Aquifer 360 units were combined with portable solar
power systems from Moana Marine and were first deployed
to the areas of the most need. When the conditions in the
Marshall Islands were elevated to a “State of National Disas-
ter” in May of 2013 USAID, IOM, and AUSAID (Australian
Aid) responded by contracting Moana Marine for another 30
Spectra Aquifer 360 watermaking units and Moana Solar
Power Packs. The thirty-five Aquifer 360s have been produc-
ing a continuous flow of clean, fresh drinking water to the
Marshallese people ever since. No drought-related deaths
have been reported and the local people are grateful for the
reduction of clutter on their beaches that inevitably occurs
with the distribution of bottled water.

2. Product
The Aquifer 360 units are portable watermakers designed for
the disaster relief environment. The unit requires only 240
watts to produce 15 gallons per hour of pure, safe, fresh wa-
ter from the sea.
Summary
President of Moana Marine LLC, Tom Vance says “The peo-
ple of the Marshall Islands are very fortunate to be the benefi-
ciaries of these cutting edge technologies. I commend
USAID, IOM, and AUSAID for their forward thinking in choos-
ing energy efficient, RO technology powered by alternative
energy to address the current water crisis. This saved the aid
agencies and their respective nation’s taxpayers many thou-
sands of dollars in generator, fuel, and ship charter fees, and
reduced the carbon footprint of the overall aid effort.”
When you calculate the transportation cost alone of getting
water to these remote islands it is easy to see how cost effec-
tive the Aquifer 360 can be.
For more information please contact:
Katadyn Desalination LLC.
Michael Anderson, Sales Engineer Phone 415.526.2780
20 Mariposa Road Fax 414.526.2787
San Rafael, CA 94901 | USA michael_a@spectrawatermakers.com www.spectrawatermakers.com