Why WADI
Worldwide, nearly one billion people have no access to clean water supply, additional 1.5 billion have just limited access to safe drinking water. The problem is usually not water shortage as such, but lack of disinfected, drinkable water. In Africa, Asia and South America, the water is often contaminated with coliform bacteria, legionella, salmonella and others.
According to the UN,
80% of all illnesses and cases of death caused by e.g. cholera, typhoid fever and other diseases in developing countries derive from insufficient or contaminated drinking water supply. Over 50% of the hospital beds are occupied by people who suffer from diseases caused by contaminated water. And it is always the most vulnerable who have to pay the highest price: Each day 5.000 children under the age of five are dying because of polluted water.
Background
The United Nations have set out to reach the Millennium Development Goal to provide drinking water to 125 Mio people p.a. worldwide. A lot of work still needs to be done in order to actively implement the Right to Water, which was officially declared by the United Nations General Assembly on the 28th of July in 2010.
According to the latest MDG update on the progress on sanitation and drinking-water (UNICEF/WHO 2010), the world is on track or even exceeding the drinking water target. But still, water quality is often low and the sources provided are mostly not sustainable. The governmental and global community actions for providing water are not yet enough to reach every person in the countries affected, especially people from the rural areas have limited or no access to safe drinking water. It is estimated that about 21% of diseases in India are water-related, especially among children under the age of five, which have the second highest mortality from diarrhea - a waterborne disease.
A holistic approach, targeting WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) as a whole, will enhance the awareness and outcome on a sustainable level. Private investments in water treatment could be an important contribution for the problems mentioned above. An intervention to improve water supplies at the source (point of distribution) has been recognized as effective in preventing waterborne diseases, but more recent reviews have identified household-based interventions (point of use) to be significantly more effective than those at the source.
WADI is such an efficient point-of-use tool which can support millions of people with an autonomous and independent drinking water supply for many years.