Pentair Delivers Sustainable Access to Pure, Safe Water

 

As a global manufacturer with the resources, technologies and expertise to make a positive impact in the world, Pentair is pleased has announced that its Project Safewater efforts have provided over 1 million people with sustainable, safe water services around the world.

Through Project Safewater, the company's holistic approach to providing safe water solutions to people in need, Pentair collaborates with a range of partners with innovative approaches - combining technology, micro-enterprise business models, and scientific research - to provide sustainable access to safe water. One such innovative collaboration is the Nairobi Water Fund, Africa's first water fund to combat rising threats to food security, water and energy supplies.

"Pentair is proud to be a founding partner of the Nairobi Water Fund and, together with our partners, we aim to improve the quality, quantity and reliability of freshwater delivery to Nairobi's growing and underserved population," said Randall J. Hogan, Pentair Chairman and CEO . "This collaborative effort reflects our belief that safe water is a fundamental human right, and one of the foundations of freedom and economic development."

Launched today, in honor of World Water Day, March 22, 2015, the Nairobi Water Fund is designed to provide a sustained water supply to a system that delivers water to over 9.3 million people and to generate US$21.5 million in long term benefits to Kenyan citizens including farmers and businesses. As a founding partner, Pentair serves on the private-public Steering Committee comprising The Nature Conservancy, Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, Kenya Electricity Generating Company, International Center for Tropical Agriculture, Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority and a coalition of other businesses.

Providing Sustainable, Safe Water to 1 Million People
Since 2007, Pentair has implemented numerous Project Safewater programs around the world, from Central America, to India and Africa-helping to deploy sustainable water systems to provide clean, safe drinking water to more than 1 million people. Current initiatives include:

Project Safewater Health Impact Study in Colón, Honduras:

In 2014, Pentair commissioned a study to evaluate the long-term impact and sustainability of its inaugural Project Safewater efforts in Colón, Honduras. Between 2007 and 2010, Pentair and Water Missions International developed and implemented an innovative, improved approach to providing sustainable access to safe water for 300,000 people in the region  - combining technology, micro-enterprise business models and scientific research.

An initial health impact study demonstrated a reduction in illness resulting from waterborne diseases by 80 percent, and visits to the local health clinics for diarrheal diseases have dropped by over 50 percent. The follow-up study, which is expected to be completed in 2015, is intended to confirm that the pediatric diarrhea rates as well as the infant mortality rates of the region were profoundly improved by the water and sanitation project.

Safe Water Stations in India:

In 2011,  Pentair helped to launch Safe Water Network's first Station in Uttar Pradesh, India. With the local groundwater contaminated with excess fluoride causing fluorosis (a painful bone disorder) and other health problems, self-sufficient Safe Water Stations treat contaminated water to World Health Organization standards using Pentair's reverse osmosis technology and sell water to community members at an affordable rate.

Today, 80 Stations provide access to safe water to over 300,000 people. One hundred percent of them cover their operating costs from water revenue, contribute to a maintenance reserve, and operate at less than 2 percent downtime, each important requirements for sustainability. With renewed support from The Pentair Foundation in 2014, this model is being taken to scale throughout India.

Collective Impact Effort in Kibera, Kenya:

Pentair, along with its partners, is helping to bring clean, safe water to 15,000 residents of Kibera, an impoverish settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, over the next two years. The revenues from the micro-enterprise business model will not only sustain the water system, but also help fund the Kibera School for Girls, thereby creating an integrated link between clean water, girls' education and community development. In doing so, the organizations hope to reduce by half the incidents of waterborne disease in the same community. This effort was announced by Pentair in late 2013, as a Commitment to Action at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting in partnership with Shining Hope for Communities and the Starkey Hearing Foundation. In 2014 Pentair engineers doubled the volume the existing water supply system delivered to the community.

Project partners are now designing an expanded system that is expected to provide six times the current water volume capacity, while avoiding some of the persistent problems that have plagued water projects in Kibera in the past, including theft and contamination.

Clean Water Access Initiative in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Pentair and Action Against Hunger are concluding the three-year Clean Water Access Initiative-providing access to clean, safe water to thousands in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Through this endeavor, Action Against Hunger and Pentair have protected 32 springs and built 13 water networks to improve access to clean water for more than 75,000 people. As a result, the risk and incidence of waterborne diseases such as cholera has been reduced in the provinces of Bandundu and South Kivu.