A water filter produced by a legacy industry in Peachtree City has been distributed in Haiti to prevent the spread of cholera and other diseases.
M.A. Industries, located in the city’s industrial park on Dividend Drive, is manufacturing the water filter for the California-based Seychelle company, which combines the filter with a special water bottle.
Seychelle has contracts with governments and other organizations to provide the combination water filter-bottles, said M.A. Industries Vice President Scott Peacock.
Some 2,000 of the units have been delivered to Haiti, which is battling a cholera epidemic that has claimed at least 1,400 lives and affected more than 50,000 people.
The filters are made with a porous plastic material that includes an additive that “pretty much kills anything in the water and makes it safe to drink,” Peacock said.
“It’s strictly marketed through them. We just make the water filter unit that goes inside the bottle,” he said.
M.A. Industries production employees have been briefed on the good the water filters are doing in Haiti, Peacock said.
“To be able to show them the pictures of the filter in use and how it’s helping in another country, it was good for them to see that and it made them feel, ‘Hey, we’re actually making a difference,’” Peacock said.
Seychelle first made contact with M.A. Industries about the project after finding them on the Internet, Peacock said. M.A. Industries, staffed by 105 employees, has been producing these specialized water filters for the past three years, he added.
The company, established in Peachtree City in 1971, specializes in plastic injection molding, a paper tape for the pulp and paper industries and a wide variety of products for the concrete industry, largely pre-cast concrete that is used in structures that are buried underground.
The company also for 25 years has made products used by the automotive battery industry, Peacock said.
