Merritt Island volunteers to turn Houston floodwater into drinking water

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A trio of volunteers plan to depart Titusville's Space Coast Regional Airport Friday to deliver water purifiers to those in the flood-ravaged city of Houston.

Joe Hurston, who leads Merritt Island's Air Mobile Ministries, and two others will fly 10 water purifiers to Texas so those affected by Hurricane Harvey can filter floodwater into water that's safe for drinking and bathing.

The purifiers, which cost $2,500 apiece, use ultraviolet light and ozone to produce enough clean drinking water to quench the thirst of 1,000 people per day.

The devices require only 54 watts of electricity to run, which is about as much energy needed to power a light bulb.

Hurston said he's had to wait to deliver the purifiers because of weather conditions and because many of the city's runways were submerged.

"The machine is my passion. The machine is as close to a miracle as you can get," he said. "If you're thirsty and somebody shows up with fresh, clean drinking water, that's a big deal."

The storm and flooding have claimed 30 lives so far. Hurston hopes that the purifiers will prevent the death toll from rising any further.

"I'm so thankful to God that the death toll is not higher. However, we are far from out-of-the-woods," he said. "This is (when) diseases kick in... This is the most critical time of the recovery."

The group responded to Louisiana in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina hit and to Haiti in 2010 after an earthquake struck.

There are 1,100 such purifiers around the world. The technology has been used for 40 years.

Hurston said he often travels to disaster zones before raising funds to pay for fuel or new purifiers.

"Our heart is to go with or without," he said. "But this airplane doesn't fly very well on fumes."

The plane departed Titusville at about 7:30 a.m. but had to return to the airport due to a landing-gear issue. Hurston hopes to re-depart Friday because a mechanic has repaired the issue.

Read: Harvey's aftermath: Houston perseveres through immense loss (live updates)

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