Water Wagon

For nearly five decades, Marc Shaye (currently Of Counsel to Lippitt O’Keefe Gornbein, PLLC of Birmingham, MI) has practiced in the area of environmental law and occupational safety, wading through the legal aftermath of hundreds of natural and man-made disasters. “I’ve built my practice based on my professionalism as a lawyer, but also as someone who could spell pH,” he observes with a smile, “I’ve always had an interest in the chemical, engineering and technical aspects of what the law could represent. That kind of discipline has served me for my entire career. But nothing prepared me for what I observed of this disaster and the scope of humanitarian needs in the wake of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. Sending thoughts and prayers just wasn’t enough. We knew we had to do anything we could to help.”

Fortunately, Marc had connections and a longtime client of like-mind in Bill Korreck, the genius behind the Water Wagon, a fully mobile and self-sustaining water purification system capable of producing about 3,600 gallons of safe drinking water per hour, running round the clock. Built in 2015, the unit was designed specifically as a filling station serving residents in the wake of the water crisis in Flint. Almost immediately following Maria in September 2017, Marc and Bill started working together on a plan to get the Water Wagon to Puerto Rico.