According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water.[1]  This poses a major health problem for developing countries.  More than 2 million people die every year due to diarrheal diseases, 88% of which are attributed to unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene.[2],[3] It has been estimated that 6,000 children under five years of age die each day from waterborne diseases.[4]  Underemployment is another pressing issue in impoverished countries.  While many very poor people work, they don’t earn wages sufficient to escape poverty.  The United Nations and development experts recognize that productive employment is essential to fighting poverty.[5]

The resources necessary for addressing the problems of underemployment and unsafe drinking water are available.  Schools give students the knowledge and skills to become productive members of society.  Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) coach entrepreneurs and facilitate the formation of new businesses in developing countries.  Multiple water treatment technologies, known as point-of-use treatment systems, have been designed specifically for treating water at the household level in developing countries.  Sand filters, ceramic filters, and chemical disinfectants represent a few of the products which families can use to make their water safe to drink.  These systems cost between $3 and $60 per family per year and have been shown to reduce the incidence of waterborne diseases in developing countries.  In fact, some non-government organizations (NGOs) are specifically devoted to the production and distribution of these technologies. 

What is lacking in the current environment is the alignment of these resources.  Existing schools and vocational training institutes provide little or no focus on training for jobs in the water treatment industry.  NGOs which provide water treatment technologies rarely focus on providing jobs.  Most NGOs provide products at subsidized cost, which limits the sustainability of their work and their potential for growth due to the fact that they depend on the current and changing priorities of funding sources.  The NGOs that do provide job opportunities for local people normally do not invest time, money, or resources in the dissemination of business knowledge, the coaching of entrepreneurs, or the provision of start-up capital.

At Deep Springs International, we believe that partnerships between schools, NGOs, and MFIs can accomplish what their individual efforts cannot.  By working together, they can equip people living in low-income nations with the training, coaching, and financing they need to create their own water treatment businesses.  This is the premise behind our work.

Learn more about how we work.

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