When the founders of Design Outreach began the process of looking for just the right piece of equipment to deliver clean water in underdeveloped countries, they thought they would have to look at corporations on different continents. However, a chance exchange between a former Peace Corp volunteer and a member of Design Outreach led the Columbus-based non-profit organization to develop a productive and essentially life-changing relationship with the seepex, Inc. company by manufacturing and installing hand-operated water pumps in remote parts of the world.<\/p>\n
Abe Wright, Co-Founder of Design Outreach, said when he and Greg Bixler formed the organization, they put a picture of a prototype pump on their Facebook page. The design of the prototype had been discontinued, but Wright and Bixler were going to use it as a point of reference in designing a type of pump that could effectively deliver water to those in need. Told that the capability for manufacturing such pumps would likely only be found in Germany or even farther, Wright was shocked yet relieved when he discovered that the solution existed only 60 minutes away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put that picture on Facebook, and a random guy in California saw it,\u201d Wright said. \u201cHe had been a member of the Peace Corp back in the 80s, and somehow knew exactly what we were talking about, and told us that we needed to get ahold of Mike Dillon at seepex right here in our own back yard, essentially,\u201d said Wright. \u201cWe had been looking all over the world, and here it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
seepex, Inc. of Enon manufactures the pumps needed, and sells them to Design Outreach at cost. \u201cWe\u2019re not really interested in profit here,\u201d said Kamran Mirza of seepex, Inc. \u201cWe\u2019re more interested in becoming citizens of the global world by participating in such a program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greg Bixler of Design Outreach said his organization started unofficially in 2008, when he partnered with the Central African Republic. He said the demand for his project became so important and so needed amongst many African countries, that it exceeded the scope of his capabilities. Bixler also said the effects of many civil wars on the African continent also forced him home to regroup. He said that World Vision, the other charity group responsible for the clean water project, has lost many vehicles and members of their personnel to the constant conflicts gripping the majority of Africa.<\/p>\n
Bixler said Design Outreach officially began three years ago, and is funded primarily through donations. \u201cWe get a lot of \u2018gifts-in-kind,\u2019\u201d Bixler said. \u201cJohnson and Johnson recently gave us a couple of large grants as well,\u201d said Bixler, adding that the organization is looking into kicking-off \u201ccrowd funding,\u201d or asking large businesses or churches to essentially \u201cadopt\u201d a village in need of clean drinking water in a third world country.<\/p>\n
Clark County Commissioner John Detrick said Enon was very fortunate to have such a globally-responsible corporation in the area. \u201c150 people work here, and they\u2019re growing,\u201d said Detrick. \u201cThe work they do is phenomenal, and they\u2019ve nearly tripled in size since they started,\u201d he said, gesturing around the huge building that was once a fraction of its current size. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at 175 to 200 jobs in the next few years, it is truly a first-class operation here under Mike and Kamran,\u201d said Detrick.<\/p>\n
Richard Hooper, a seepex, Inc. employee, explained the process of creating such water pumps from start to finish. Hooper said the company manufactures two types of components for the pumps\u2014carbon steel and brass. \u201cThe brass can go a little deeper, and it works more efficiently and stays cooler than the carbon steel,\u201d said Hooper.<\/p>\n
Mike Dillon, President of seepex, Inc. said he takes great pride in the wetter aspect of his business, as water comprises nearly half of his enterprise, be it water pumps, waste-water, and water used in sanitization. \u201cWe are really careful about how we treat our water here,\u201d said Dillon. \u201cWe moved here from Dayton, and we\u2019re in a well-field here, just like we were in Dayton\u2026we\u2019re very careful not to put anything dangerous into the sewer,\u201d Dillon said. San Francisco, California even uses a seepex, Inc. product in sanitizing the city\u2019s waste-water supply.<\/p>\n
Enon Mayor Tim Howard attended seepex, Inc.\u2019s presentation of their life-changing water pumps last Thursday evening, saying the company\u2019s collaboration on such a project was something to be proud of. \u201cI\u2019m really excited about this. How meaningful it is that this is happening in Enon\u2014the land of plentiful springs,\u201d Howard said. \u201cI\u2019m taken away by all of these efforts\u2026it fits like a glove into the Enon community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When the founders of Design Outreach began the process of looking for just the right piece of equipment to deliver clean water in underdeveloped countries, they thought they would have to look at corporations on different continents. However, a chance exchange between a former Peace Corp volunteer and a member of Design Outreach led the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}