The Water Initiative (TWI) aims to combat global water contamination problems by focusing on solutions at the household level. Traditional water treatment plants are expensive to build, consume large amounts of energy, and even re-contaminate water during storage and distribution. The Water Initiative has created an alternative by developing “Point-of-Drinking” (POD) water purification devices that are affordable, convenient and effective.
TWI’s innovation lies in customizing its products to local community needs. TWI staff work with community members to co-create community-specific, integrated technologies that can be used in homes, schools, or hospitals. The company works primarily in Mexico, but has some projects in South American and the Middle East.
TWI has already made great progress. Recently, they launching of a POD filtration solution in the State of Durango, Mexico. They have been contracted to manufacture 30,000 POD devices to remove arsenic and bacteria for in-home drinking water. As a result, over one hundred rural and urban communities will benefit from access to clean drinking water.
As water-borne diseases and deaths occur in nearly every part of the world, TWI’s products are a part of a vital effort to provide clean drinking water for everyone on the planet. Today, over 1.2 billion people do not have access to water that is safe to drink. TWI’s model could be replicated around the world and thereby reduce that number in a way that incorporates the ideas and needs of local communities.
