India's Tata group unveils two new variants of low-cost water purifiers

This could be interesting - continuous improvement of household water treatment technologies:

India's Tata group unveils two new variants of low-cost water purifiers

Excerpts from the article:

...Tata Group has just unveiled two new variants of its already existing low cost water purifiers - which does not use electricity or running water to operate - in a bid to supply clean drinking water for greater number of people, especially at the lower end of the economic bracket, at almost minimal cost.

Brand named Swach, which in Hindi means pure, the new water purifiers are priced at Rupees 749 (USD $16.6) and 499 and is to be available soon across the country.

Manufactured by Tata Chemicals, the water purifier uses nano-technology combined with natural ingredients, it delivers safe drinking water at a benchmark price of Re.1 a day for a family of five.

The older version of the water purifier, is priced under Indian Rupees 1,000 (USD $ 20)..

Swach, which is less than one metre tall, uses ash from rice milling to filter out bacteria, and also uses tiny silver particles to kill harmful germs that can lead to diseases like diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid.

Power shortage is a perennial problem across India, with the rural and villages facing outages for several hours each day.

The health consequences of poor water quality are enormous for developing countries like India, with millions of people affected.

“The product is a perfect confluence of technology and versatility and would make safe drinking water now accessible to far greater number of people across the country,” according to R. Mukundan, Tata Chemicals Managing Director.

“In December 2009 we launched Tata Swach as the first step towards providing clean and affordable drinking water to the common man. We had also resolved to offer variants at lower price-points and make this remarkable innovation available to a wider section of the society.

“We hope with the entry of this product, many more households will get access to safe drinking water,” the Hindu newspaper quoted him as saying.

Swach is selling around 20,000-25,000 units in (the states of) Maharashtra and Karnataka already, and with the product launched in the north (India) we are expecting to do better.

“We aim to sell over one million units of Swach water purifiers in the current fiscal (that ends in March 2011).We are also looking at expanding our manufacturing capacity by adding a production line probably at Haldia in West Bengal,” Mukundan added.

Jobs! The water sector is growing...

The global water sector is growing... and staffing up. Some interesting positions (see below) opening up at the Global Water Challenge, launched by the UN Foundation several years ago and now expanding rapidly.

One should also be aware of IWA Publishing's Catherine Fitzpatrick's somewhat more technical water jobs highlighted here.

GWC News

March 19, 2009 Job Opening: Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships
The role of the Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships is to support GWC's programs through fundraising and the development and stewardship of partnerships in the corporate, government, and civil society sectors.

March 19, 2009 Job Opening: Water & Sanitation Program Associate
The role of the Program Associate is to support the development and implementation of new initiatives and programs funded by GWC. The Associate will report directly to the Director of Programs and Initiatives and work closely with the entire GWC team.

March 19, 2009 Job Opening: Online Communications Manager
The Online Communications Manager will work with the Director of Communications to develop and oversee implementation of all the components of Global Water Challenge's online strategy. The Online Communications Manager is responsible for managing the comprehensive online strategy including content creation, design development, and on-line partnership building.

World Water Day events from PSI

Megan Wilson at PSI sent us a great list of DC-based events on and around World Water Day, March 22, 2009.

PS. To learn more, check out PSI's WWD 09 website at www.psi.org.

Wednesday March 25th, 1:30‐2:45pm;

"Let Clean Waters Flow": U.S. Leadership and Innovation in Addressing the Global Water Crisis

Room 121, Cannon House Office Building

Introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D‐OR), this PSI‐sponsored World Water Day briefing will be moderated by Global Health Council and feature Anick Supplice of PSI/Haiti, and other speakers from Save the Children and Earth Day Network.

RSVP to Shushanna Mignott at smignott [at] globalhealth.org or 202-833-5900 ext 3214.

***

Tuesday March 31st, 10‐11am;

Water: A Strategic “Smart Power” Tool‐‐ Bipartisan Congressional Water Caucus

Rayburn Gold Room 2168, Rayburn House Office Building

This Caucus event will feature PSI’s own Dr. Krishna Jafa, as well as Dr. Greg Allgood of P&G and other prominent speakers.

RSVP to chall [at] csis.org

***

Tuesday March 31st, 12:30‐1:30pm

Safe Drinking Water: How One Company Makes a Difference in the Developing World

JHU SAIS Kenney Auditorium, Nitze Building, 1740 Massachusetts Ave. NW

Featuring Dr. Greg Allgood, director of P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program.

RSVP to 202.663.5626 or saisevents [at] jhu.edu.

For more information, reach out to Megan directly at:

Megan Wilson
PSI
Tel: (202) 785-0072
mwilson [at] psi.org

Water Innovations Alliance - Launch in Washington DC

The Water Innovations Alliance invites you to attend its founding meeting:

December 3, 2008
11:00-2:30
At the office of K&L Gates in Washington DC
1601 K St. NW (entrance on 16th St.)
202.778.9000
RSVP to info@waterinnovations.org

The Water Innovations Alliance is the public policy voice of the world's water innovators. The Alliance's role is to advocate policies that promote the aggressive development of water technology and innovations across all sectors and all users of water by creating new market opportunities through increasing funding and removing barriers to deploying new innovations.

The Alliance also serves as a platform to improve awareness and collaboration between large companies, universities, start-ups, NGOs and utilities within the water sector – exposing all key stakeholders to new technologies, innovations and prospects.

The Alliance is developing groundbreaking reports and policy briefings, hosting events, conducting member surveys, and tracking new technology developments to increase awareness of new water develops, needs, and opportunities. The Alliance is collaborating with its members as well as other global water organizations to support a global agenda for safe, fair and sustainable water policies.

The Alliance was founded by leaders in the water, investment, technology and non profit field. It is jointly headquartered in Cambridge, MA and Washington DC. For more information go to: http://www.waterinnovations.org (launching 12/01/08).

The Founding Meeting will be an opportunity to help set the course of the Alliance. Attendees will include will include leaders from key water-related sectors, as well as researchers, funders, public entities, and grassroots groups.

Supporting the membership will be an advisory committee of highly-regarded water technology experts from around the globe, as well as a team of veteran technology association executives with years of experience representing broad coalitions. Please join us in Washington DC on December 3, 2008 and take part in building a new movement in water.

Paul Newman - the man, the myth, the Water Advocate

Many have said most of what needs saying about Paul Newman's vast legacy: as a man, a husband, a father, an actor, a philanthropist and as a really fast race car driver.

One under-recognized but impactful part of his legacy may well be his Safe Water Network, founded a couple of years ago to "develop, optimize, and validate viable water purification solutions that provide safe water to neglected populations." Groovy.

The Safe Water Network includes Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and PepsiCo, and counts as members of its very prestigious Board of Directors Jack Hennessy (CSFB), Josh Weston (ADP), Bob Forrester (Payne Forrester), Hank Greenberg (C.V. Starr & Co.), Harold Newman (Neuberger Newman), Linda Nordstrom (Northstream Development), James Quigley (Deloitte), Steve Reinemund (PepsiC0), and John Whitehead (former State Department and Goldman Sachs).

They already have projects underway in Bangladesh, Ghana and India, and are essentially an early stage incubator for water-purification technologies and approaches appropriate for the developing world. With Paul Newman and his legacy as catalysts I hope the Safe Water Network can continue to scale up its activities.

Save The Date - March 12, 2008

******************************************************************

Save the Date -- March 12, 2008

******************************************************************

For: The Launch of a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools Initiative

Where: The National Geographic Society Auditorium, Washington, D.C.

When: Wednesday, March 12, 2008, 9:00am - 11:00am

Water Advocates and a growing list of non-governmental organizations, foundations, corporations, and schools will launch a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Schools Initiative on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at the National Geographic Society Auditorium in Washington D.C. While much is already being done for WASH in Schools, there is still an enormous unmet global problem - half the world's schools lack adequate water and sanitation. This initiative will focus on expanding WASH to 1,000 schools in developing countries while creating the momentum to help as many additional schools as possible worldwide. Water Advocates encourages interested corporations, foundations, organizations, and individuals to use this event as a platform to highlight their activities or to pledge their support to do more for WASH in Schools.

Doors will open at 8:30am and a half hour social will follow the event.

Media interview opportunities will be available from 11:00am - 11:30am.

Clinton Global Initiative Part 1: Water, water, nowhere

Sorry for the gap in posts – have been on the road a lot lately, including a couple of very interesting visits to water development groups in Guatemala – check out Agua del Pueblo here or google them to find out more about their work for those of you interested in Guatemala. They are primarily funded by a bilateral relationship with the Spanish government now, but looking to diversify and expand their work with water, sanitation and hygiene promotion.

I’m blogging today from right in the middle of the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative, waiting patiently for a direct mention of water, sanitation, hygiene, diarrhea, cholera, or anything… Throw me a bone people! There has been a great deal of optimistic, inspiring discussion in the plenary and breakouts so far from 52+ current and former heads of state and probably 1000 other people, representing 600+ commitments, tens of millions of lives impacted or saved, in over 100 countries.

Five significant commitments have been made public so far, the most interesting of which is the “Global Campaign to Reduce Maternal and Child Deaths in Poor Countries” launched by Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg with others.

Finally, a discussion early this afternoon in the Global Health session about Prime Minister Stoltenberg’s commitment elicited an interesting remark from CARE’s President and CEO Helene Gayle. She suggested that in order to meet the goals laid out by the Prime Minister, it is necessary to take a broader approach to child and maternal health, and focus on the causes of that mortality and morbidity – and she mentioned safe water and sanitation specifically.

More to come.

PS Off to question Jane Goodall about the nexus of biodiversity conservation (viz. great apes) and homo sapiens need for safe drinking water. See earlier related post here.

PPS Best quote ever: Development is about much more than safe water, but never about less.

15,200 miles to go for safe drinking water

The New York Inquirer is duly impressed by several statistics associated with the Blue Planet Run: the 15,200 miles the BPR runners are putting in around the world to raise awareness of the global safe drinking water and sanitation challenge, over four continents and 95 days.

Even more meaningful statistics, however, compellingly link the issues of safe drinking water and human mobility:

• Poor women in Africa and Asia walk an average of six kilometers a day to collect water.


• Poor rural women in developing countries may spend eight hours a day collecting water, carrying up to 20 kilos of water on their heads each journey.

We have all seen and cooed at the glorious, romantic photographs of women in the developing world carrying those buckets of water on their heads with a baby strapped to their backs while dressed in colorful saris.



You think that’s romantic? You try it. A twenty liter bucket of water weighs 45 pounds, in some cases half the body weight of the woman carrying it. Add wild animals, snakes, and unduly interested men to the commute, and you’ve got a recipe for trouble.

The Blue Planet Run is performing admirably in raising ‘name recognition’ of the global health crisis of unsafe water and inadequate sanitation (which remains largely unreported in the U.S.) Name recognition will get an issue far, but not far enough (who hasn’t heard of Howard Dean?). It is up to everyone now to capitalize on the awareness that has been raised by the Blue Planet Run and move toward meaningful political and financial support:

• How can we keep each of the actors who designed sneakers for the campaign engaged in the issue (Hilary Swank, Courteney Cox, Rosie O’Donnell, Lance Bass, Alan Cumming)? Thanks to the Blue Planet Run they are now aware of this issue, and likely interested in doing more.
• How can we all encourage the New York Giants, also supporters of Blue Planet Run, to dedicate a day at the field to global safe water?
• How can the Blue Planet Run Foundation best prepare for its 2009 round-the-world footrace, which is expected to travel through the southern hemisphere? What can the world community do now to encourage the governments in the countries through which the 2009 runners will travel to greet those runners with increased budgetary commitments to water and sanitation infrastructure, particularly in rural communities? How many of those countries will commit at that point to universal coverage of water and sanitation (such as we enjoy in the US, Europe and Japan)?

Vote Early Vote Often

Get warmed up for November 4, 2008 by voting at:

American Express - Members Project

I suggest Children's Safe Drinking Water. It's a point-of-use water purification system from UNICEF et al.