In the year since the earthquake in Haiti, Hach Company has donated over $124,000 in water quality testing equipment to the devastated country. To raise the funding for this equipment, Hach employees donated money and hosted a bake sale and raffle within the company; Hach Company donated funds to match those donated/raised by the employees; and Hach customers donated loyalty points towards $7,000 worth of products.

Initially, Hach sent representatives to Haiti to assess what was most needed. Hach met with the State University, which had suspended labs and was holding classes in the library; the University of Quisqueya, a non-profit foundation to educate students in science programs, which was rebuilding its facility; and CAMEP (Centrale Autonome Metropolitaine D’eau Potable), the state-owned company that manages water resources and distribution for the capital city of Port-au-Prince and its surrounding areas. Hach learned how monitoring water quality was becoming increasingly difficult due to the lack of portable field instruments, the challenges of bringing samples into labs, and lab instruments that were rendered inoperable due to the earthquake’s destruction.

As a result, Hach has helped restock the CAMEP lab with $77,000 worth of Hach products including DR2800 spectrophotometers, 2100Q portable turbidity meters, DR980 colorimeters, reagents, and much more. In October 2010, Hach representatives returned to Haiti and CAMEP to ensure the donated products were received and to train recipients on how to use the products. Responding to the call from multiple non-profits seeking to provide safe water in Haiti, Hach has supplied an additional $47,000 worth of Hach products to Water Missions International, Mercy Corps, Innovative Water Technology, Oxfam, International Action, and Haiti Outreach.

“Hach was founded on the principle of bringing clean water to the world. Our employees are proud of this mission and they stepped up to raise the money to bring Hach water analysis products to Haiti,” Renee Garcia, chairperson of Hach’s Donations Committee explained. “With over 3,000 deaths in Haiti from cholera in recent months, clean water still remains a highest priority. We will continue to work closely with agencies that are helping to bring water solutions to Haiti.”