THE NEED FOR CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
Water is a basic necessity for life. However, access to clean drinking water remains a pressing issue with 785 million, or approximately one in every nine people across the globelacking access to an improved water source, while at least 2 billion, or one in four, people use a drinking water source with fecal contamination.
Water poverty is a cross cutting issue that not only has an impact on health but also has significant implications for education, gender equity, and social wellbeing. Rates of water poverty are even higher in some communities, including areas of rural Cambodia, where more than three out of every 10 people, do not have access to an improved water source, while we can estimate that the rate of people using contaminated water are even higher still (WHO). Meanwhile, UNICEF estimates that approximately 40% of primary schools and 35% of health centers in the country do not have access to safe water and sanitation, demonstrating the scale of need for clean water in these crucial settings.
Planet Water programs focus on addressing this critical need through the following programs:
PROVIDING A CLEAN, SAFE WATER SUPPLY
Planet Water projects create access to clean drinking water by deploying the AquaTower water filtration solution into primary schools. The AquaTower supports the daily drinking water requirements of up to 1,800 people. The system can operate without power or use of chemicals harmful to the environment and requires a very simple maintenance process. The AquaTower requires an existing water source, which is pumped to an elevated storage tank from which point the system operates by gravity alone, drawing water through the filter, removing organisms harmful to human health, and producing clean drinking water, which surpasses WHO quality standards. With a routine cleaning procedure, the system will operate for at least 5-7 years without any consumable components.
PROMOTING WATER-HEALTH & HYGIENE
Our Water-Health and Hygiene education program is an essential complement to providing clean water access. The program teaches children the important aspects of hand washing and protecting against germs through a child-friendly, activity-based program. Planet Water provides a teacher training on the program, including a comprehensive explanation and demonstration of the three program modules. The AquaTower includes banners depicting the same key messages taught in the classroom, reinforcing behavior change in the classroom and at the point of use. In addition, we have equipped all classrooms in our project schools with additional Water-Health & Hygiene posters to reinforce the 10-steps of hand washing and when to wash hands.
PRIORITIZING ONGOING MONITORING, EVALUATION, & SUSTAINABILITY
Project sustainability is central to Planet Water’s approach. The deployment of a project marks a long-term commitment to each community. Planet Water visits each project three times per year, for four years to ensure that all AquaTower systems are fully operational and to reinforce any training on maintenance procedures or the education program. To facilitate monitoring, Planet Water utilizes an online workflow management system to track all projects, implement a 20-point checklist at sustainability visits, and ensure appropriate follow-up, as needed.
AQUASAN – SURFACE DISINFECTION SYSTEM
With the need for a clean school environment more important than ever, all Planet Water Projects now are being deployed with our new mobile AquaSan system. This system is set on a sturdy steel frame with handle and 10” flat wheels for easy mobility and provides schools with the capability to sanitize latrines and surfaces with chlorinated water to improve the hygiene and health of school children. Using water sourced from the AquaTower and standard household bleach, it can quickly disinfect large areas with a bacteria and virus killing bleach mixture, providing sanitization capability to WHO standards.
Join us as we continue to expand our impact in the Mekong region by supporting our programming in Cambodia!
