THE PROBLEM

Clean water is a basic necessity.  Without it peoples lives are cut short. Children are sickened and die. The elderly are sickened and die. Health problems and diseases such as HIV/AIDS are exacerbated when clean water is unavailable. Take a moment to ponder the staggering statistics below.

Statistics

• 1 billion people lack access to improved water supply
• 2.6 billion people lack access to improved sanitation
• Every day, diarrheal diseases cause some 6,000 deaths, mostly among children under five.
• In 2001, 1.96 million people died from infectious diarrheas; 1.3 million were children under five.
• Between 1,085,000 and 2,187,000 deaths due to diarrheal diseases can be attributed to the ‘water, sanitation and hygiene’ risk factor, 90 percent of them among children under five.

Source: UN World Water Development Report

Specific Issues

We are developing relationships with people around the world experiencing water issues. Our current focus is in east Africa, where people suffer from lack of water, lack of clean water, and water with extremely high mineral content. Simple purification practices and basic chemical processing can provide drinkable water which will solve the problems listed above.

Along with the provision of drinkable water must come proper sanitation and personal hygiene. When used in conjunction, these strategies can and can reduce the spread of infectious disease. Lives can be saved.

THE SOLUTION

Simple, inexpensive technology exists to provide clean water in a third world environment.

Marah Water will pool the mental, financial and physical resources of scientists, engineers, students, entrepreneurs and logisticians to develop a solution that meets the following criteria:

• Simple – the solution must be adaptable to a third world environment. Minimization of moving parts and consumables is key.
• Inexpensive - the solution will be funded by charitable donation. Our vision is to provide the best “bang for the buck”.
• Repeatable – we will strive for standardization and repeatability.
• Trainable – Marah Water will train locals in development, construction and maintenance of the installed systems. We desire to create ownership and pride in the provision of drinkable water

As Marah Water grows, we hope to develop a sustainable, easy to construct, repeatable solution that translates to as many affected areas throughout the world as possible with minor modification.