Our | Projects

In order to create access to safe drinking water, BWN works together with numerous NGOs, Ministries of Health and many other public and private partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America in the fields of HWTS and WASH. Here are some examples of safe drinking water projects around the world of BWN and her partners. Would you like to know more about one of our projects or are you interested in exploring a partnership with Basic Water Needs, contact us.

Water quality and business in Delhi

In February 2013 Plan Nederland and Basic Water Needs (BWN), started a pilot project in three resettlement colonies in Delhi to improve the drinking water quality. During the pilot BWN is training (female) entrepreneurs and enabling them to sell affordable water filters. Plan India will enhance these activities by creating awareness in the three neighbourhoods on drinking water quality and hygiene. The sales of affordable water filters by local self help groups and entrepreneurs will have a positive effect on the health of about 30,000 people during the project. After the project sales will continue, creating sustainable access to water filters and spare parts within the neighbourhoods and city.

Basic Water Needs as a company, and Plan Nederland as an NGO, are working together in a Public-Private-Partnership (a PPP). In this partnership we complement each other with expertize, knowledge and means.

Safe drinking water for coffee farmers, Tanzania

In 2014, Basic Water Needs started with a pilot project for CO₂ reduction and access to safe drinking water in the Kagera region, Tanzania. This project was initiated together with South Pole Carbon and the Karagwe Development and Relief Services organization (KADERES). In this project BWN has set up a sustainable supply chain to make affordable water filters and spare parts available in the region. With a Tulip water filter, families no longer have to boil their drinking water, thereby reducing CO₂ emissions. This will safe them much time, energy and money, while making their families and the environment healthier.

BWN has trained local community banks called SACCOS and entrepreneurs, which were interested in selling the filter. Mid 2015, they started offering the filters to their members and customers. Both the product, a water filter and the brand, Tulip water filters, were both completely unknown in the overall rural region and awareness and trust needed to be developed. This was done through regular marketing activities, such as radio spots, promotion posters and market demonstrations. But also by involving local schools, health clinics, and other authority figures in the area. In the first four months, more than 400 water filters have been sold. As the activities continue, and trust, product and brand recognition grow, we expect this number to increase rapidly.

The project set up is unique in that it does not receive any donor funding, but is financed by carbon credits. Currently people are boiling their drinking water as a way to purify it. By using a filter they will no longer have to boil their water and thereby reduce their usage of wood/charcoal and CO₂ emissions. For this reduced amount of CO₂ emissions the project partners can receive carbon credits, which they will sell to gain project income. Through this structure, the project can be set up and sustained.

Safe drinks for the Philippines

In 2014 the Coca Cola Foundation and Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI) started working together to give remote rural communities on the Philippines access to water by installing AIDFI’s unique RAM pump systems. These low-cost systems, can transport water over long distances over uneven territory, bringing water right into the communities. To make sure that the water is also safe for consumption, AIDFI and the Coca Cola Foundation involved Basic Water Needs and her Tulip water filters. Already over 10,000 people have been given access to safe water through this unique partnership, which will last until 2020.

The unique character of this project lies in the combination of low-cost techniques for both water access and water safety. This keeps the initial investment costs low and the impact per dollar very high. To ensure that the system will be durable, households pay a small fee every month for the maintenance of the system and to safe up for a replacement candle for the filter after one year.

After the water system is installed families suddenly have an average of 2 hours extra, as they no longer have to get their water from far away. Especially women and children benefit from this, as they are usually responsible for water. They can now use this time for school and/or economic activities. And more, the whole family feels healthier because they no longer get sick from the water.