Innovations Bringing Safe Drinking Water to 1 Billion People

at the Bottom of the Pyramid

4th World Conference on the Future of Science

Food & Water for LifeVenice, Italy

September 24-27, 2008

by Susan MurcottSenior Lecturer,

Civil & Environmental Engineering Dept.Mass. Institute of Technology

Water pollution and water scarcity are the 2 biggest water challenges of the 21st century

Clean Water for 2 Billion People?By Susan Murcott, Lecturer, MIT

Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept.

Today, an estimated 884 million people drink water from an “unimproved” water supply

Drinking Water Ladder

54%

33%

13%

• Household connection inside or outside user’s dwelling

Piped Supply on Premises

• Public taps• Tube wells & boreholes• Protected dug wells & springs• Rainwater harvesting

Other Improved

• All surface waters (rivers, streams, dams, lakes, ponds, canals, irrigation channels)• Unprotected dug wells & springs• Tanker trucks and carts• Vended water

Unimproved

(UNICEF/WHO, 2008)

Drinking Water Coverage, 2006

(UNICEF/WHO, 2008)

Who are the people lacking improved water? Where do they live? Rural areas…

(Credit: Time Magazine)

746 million people in rural areas use unimproved water supplies

(UNICEF/WHO, 2008)Rural Drinking Water Coverage 1990 - 2006

(Photo: Genevieve Connors)

… and Urban / Peri-urban Slums

Women and children are the ones most profoundly impacted by water pollution and water scarcity.

Photo: Sheila McKinnon

Photo: Ralph Coffman

Women shoulder the largest burden in collecting water

(UNICEF / WHO, 2008)

Women are the primary care-takers of children and other family members sick and dying from waterborne illnesses.

Clean Water for 1+ Billion People?By Susan Murcott, Lecturer, MIT

Civil and Environmental Engineering Dept. National Geographic

Leading Infectious Killers - 2002

Lower RespiratoryInfections

HIV/AIDS DiarrhoealDiseases

Tuberculosis Malaria Measles

Over age 5

Under age 5

Dea

ths

in m

illio

ns

Source: WHO 2004

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0 3.9

2.8

1.81.6

1.3

0.6

Diarrheal diseases are the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide from infectious diseases and are responsible for the stunted growth, from loss of nutrients, of 1/4 of surviving children in the developing world

Photo: Donna Coveney

3 Global Economic Classes

BiomassDurablesThrow-awaysMaterials

WalkingBicycles, buses

Private carsTransportation

Insufficient grain and nutrients

GrainMeat, canned & packaged food, soft drinks

Food

Unimproved water sources

Unimproved & improved water source

Piped water, bottled water

Water

Low<=$1/day20%

Medium<=$2/day60%

High >$2/day20%

Income

“Bottom of the Pyramid”

Microbially Unsafe Water

Chemically Unsafe Water

Arsenic contaminated well painted with a red spout

(Photo: RIchard Cash, 2007)

Example of Diseases from Unsafe Water: Diarrhea, Dysentery, Cholera

Examples of Diseases from Unsafe Water: Guinea Worm

Photo: Braimah Apambire, World Vision

Arsenicosis from Arsenic Contaminated Water

Toxicology• Poison• Skin disease such as melanosis, keratosis• Vasular diseases• Cancer to lung, kidney, bladder• Low IQ in children• Low birth weight

Based on numerous studies in India, Bangladesh, China, Taiwan, Chile, US, etc

50 ug/LNepali Interim guideline

10 ug/LWorld Health Organization (WHO) guideline

Skeletal and Dental Fluorosis from Excessive Fluoride in Water

One “Future of Science & Engineering” solution to global water pollution and scarcity is the

application of Household Water Treatment

and Safe Storage Systems (HWTS)

What are Household Drinking Water Treatment and Safe Storage Technologies?

Stone Filter – Peru,c.1600 (Photo: Tom Clasen)

A cluster of innovative technologies invented and disseminated only within the last 3 to 15 years that are explicitly designed to address the safe water needs of more than one billion people at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

They are distinct from 1st World post-tap devices that give “luxury water” to the rich, or to traditional water management practices, that may or may not give safe water.

Post-tap filter for “luxury water”

Traditional unsafe storage

Health impact of household drinking water treatment and safe storage:

“safe water alone can reduce diarrhoeal and other enteric diseases by 6% to 50%, even in the absence of improved sanitation or other hygiene measures.”

(Nath, 2006)

Cost Effectiveness

“While increasing access to piped water supply and sewage connections on plot was the intervention that had the largest health impact across all the sub-regions, household water treatment was found to be the most cost-effective intervention.”

(Haller et al., 2007)

I. Safe Storage Products

CDC Safe Storage Vessel Oxfam Safe Storage Modified Clay Pot

II. Disinfection

Photo: Jeff Albert, AquayaBoiling Liquid and dry chlorine products

Solar Disinfection (SODIS) UV Disinfection

III. Filters

Ceramic Candle Filter, Biosand Filter

Cloth Filter Ceramic Pot Filter

VI. Coagulation Products

Settling Time

0 min

Raw Water Settling Time

30 minCoagulation

Regime

V. Membrane & Reverse Osmosis

Photo: Vestegaard Franden

VI. Combined Systems

“Aquasure” - Eureka Forbes Ltd. “PureIt” – Hindustan Lever Ltd.

“PUR” - Proctor & Gamble

VII. Arsenic or Fluoride Chemical Removal Systems

Arsenic FiltersArsenic Filters Defluoridation FilterDefluoridation Filter

Examples - Household Safe Storage and Water Treatment Systems

I. Safe Storage• Plastic or modified clay pot safe storage containers

II. Disinfection• Boiling• Household chlorination – liquid or dry tablet • Solar disinfection (SODIS) and UV disinfection

III. Filters• Cloth Filtration• Ceramic Filters

– Candle Filters, Pot Filters, Siphon Filters• Biosand Filters

IV. Coagulation Products

V. Membrane / Reverse Osmosis• Membrane, Reverse Osmosis, Ultrafiltration, Nanofiltration

– Family Life Straw

VI. Combined Systems • Coagulation/Precipitation + Chlorine Disinfection (e.g. PUR) • Filtration + Disinfection + Aesthetics (Hindustan Lever, Pure-it)

VII. Chemical Removal Systems • Arsenic Removal System• Fluoride Removal Systems

World Health Organization

A Public-Private Partnershiphosted by:

theInternational Network to Promote Safe Household Water Treatment

and Storage

Number of HWTS Projects

• HWTS Network is comprised of 117 organizations

• Disseminating in 60 countries and rapidly expanding

• Exclusive of boiling, HWTS reaching an estimated 6 million people in 2005.

MIT Experience with HWTSImplementation and Scale Up

Since 1998, about 26 MIT Since 1998, about 26 MIT multimulti--disciplinary teams of disciplinary teams of engineers, planners & engineers, planners & MBA business students MBA business students have supported HWTS have supported HWTS research & dissemination research & dissemination in about 10 countriesin about 10 countries

Our Group

• Put group photohere

Systems Approach

• Technical feasibility• Socio-cultural acceptability• Behavioral• Financial sustainability• Inter-disciplinary• Focus on women and children