Hurricane Maria left nearly one million Americans in Puerto Rico without clean drinking water, and the American Federation of Teachers is stepping up to help. The national teachers union has launched Operation Agua, a program to fund and deliver water filtration devices directly to people’s houses and to schools and relief centers around the island.

“We’re talking about getting 100,000 of these water purifiers into the homes of Puerto Ricans so they can filter their water so it’s safe for drinking, bathing and cooking,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten.

The AFT is carrying out the humanitarian project in partnership with Operation Blessing International, the Hispanic Federation and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The group will crowdsource contributions for the water-filtration systems, along with 50 large-capacity clean-water devices. According to the AFT, a single $30 contribution provides an in-home purifier that requires no electricity and generates more than 10 gallons of safe water daily.

Huffington Post, Oct. 23
The Washington Post, Oct. 25