BREAKING: Fundraiser launched to provide water filters for East Palestine

As residents of East Palestine, Ohio continue to deal with potentially contaminated drinking water, self-proclaimed "Water Bro" Augustus Doricko has set up a GiveSendGo fundraiser to provide filtration systems to those in need.

Nearly 5,000 people in the community are at risk of drinking toxic water, and the government has not acted, despite it being over three weeks since the chemical-carrying train first derailed.

"Authorities have yet to improve municipal or residential water filtration," Doricko wrote on Twitter, "so we'll do it ourselves."
 

Doricko explained that "when toxic chemicals settle into the soil and rivers, they seep through the ground and into the aquifer," noting that "the only source of water in East Palestine is their aquifer."

"Without filtration systems," he continued, "they will be at risk of drinking the toxic chemicals from the industrial accident."

Donations will assist with the "acquisition, distribution, and installation of whole-house granular activated carbon filters for everyone in East Palestine."

Doricko noted that while the goal is to provide safer drinking water to all of East Palestine, the "first milestone is to install a reverse osmosis filter in 100 residences," at a cost of $50,000.

He explained that carbon filters are capable of removing around 97 percent of contaminants from water used for bathing, drinking, and washing dishes. The units $320 each, and while fitting typically costs between $40 and $100, local plumbers agreed to install them for $50, which Doricko called "a huge discount."

Doricko said that he currently had five local plumbers lined up, and that if he could find another twenty-two, 100 filters could be installed in a week.

Upgrading the municipal filtration system is expected to cost around $600,000, a price Doricko hopes to bring down via grants and leftover money from the residential fundraiser.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.