More than one billion people in the world still don't have access to a safe, clean source of drinking water. Heartbreakingly water-borne disease is responsible for the death of more children aged under-five than any other cause.
Simple steps are all that is needed to start to make a difference. Everyone should have access to clean drinking water - and everyone should be equipped with life skills that can help to keep them safe from the catastrophic effects of poor sanitation.
Water for life
Of those who do not have access to clean drinking water, 40 percent live in sub-Saharan Africa, and it is here that an organisation's determination to make a difference inspired the creation of fast, effective and affordable solutions to bring clean drinking water to communities in dire need.
Cleanwater, based in the UK, was formed in 2009 from a project in East Africa called LifeWater which is an arm of Watchmen International, a UK-based Christian charity.
Using British Berkefeld® ceramic filters; Cleanwater has designed two highly effective filtration kits specifically to help tackle the problem of water-borne diseases in communities in Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zambia and Malawi.
Cleanwater kits - access to clean drinking water
These gravity-fed, standalone water filter systems can be quickly put into use in emergency situations, or in communities with no means of accessing clean drinking water.
The emergency Bag Filter Kit is ready for immediate use. The British Berkefeld® ceramic filter is fixed inside a durable plastic bag designed to be hung from a suitable place, providing safe drinking water within minutes.
Easy to maintain, the Static Siphon Kit has been successfully used for humanitarian relief. Harnessing what resources are available on a local level in combination with a British Berkefeld® ceramic filter, Cleanwater Siphon Kits can be used to convert almost any plastic containers into a water filter unit. Providing low-cost access to clean drinking water where it can really make a difference, including schools and hospitals.
Change for the future
British Berkefeld® ceramic filters have been used to help communities across the world. In Guatemala, the Utz Ja' Project brought low-cost water filtration to rural communities after ceramic water filters were integrated into locally manufactured containers to provide clean drinking water.
Another project saw British Berkefeld® gravity-fed water filter systems introduced to more than 4,000 homes in Oaxaca, Mexico, drastically cutting water-borne diseases in local families.
High-quality solutions are the bedrock of lasting change. By relying on the ceramic technology that has been a proven success to filter water for more than a century, aid agencies have been able to bring clean water to communities with no other solution in sight.
British Berkefeld® filtration systems are a key factor in the Millennium Development Goals to support drinking water projects.
Made to exacting standards, British Berkefeld® ceramic filters are helping to make sure more people across the world have access to the clean water they deserve.
