Alabama’s Black Belt region is receiving a helping hand to improve health and safety. The Community Plumbing Challenge is a weeklong event is to improve the health and sanitation by creating better wastewater removal systems.
Seán Kearney works with the International Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Foundation. He said the program will take place over the next two years with the challenge kicking it off.
“These living conditions aren’t acceptable, and we are just aiming to do something about it and help in the small way we can," he said. "The industry we represent, the plumbing industry, it’s crucial in that it’s an essential service in providing safe water and sanitation for those that don’t have it.”
Kearney said these living conditions are not acceptable.
“So, whatever we can do to support the Black Belt program, which is a really ambitious and important program, from the plumbing industry side, that’s what we’re hoping to achieve," he said. We hope that we can deliver something useful and practical, and we can build on that together with those local partners from here.”
The event runs through Friday. It will upgrade five homes and provide plumbing support to the areas affected.