Providing clean water to people who need it is the mission of Make Water Safe for the World, whose directors include Molly and Rick Jesse of Essex Junction (left and right in photo at right)
Nothing is more fundamental to life than access to safe water. A small Vermont non-profit, Make Water Safe for the World, Inc. of Essex Junction is trying to provide affordable, sustainable water for those who do not have it.
Safe water is essential. People need safe, clean water for drinking, cooking and keeping themselves clean. Diseases such as cholera, dysentery, giardiasis, hepatitis A and typhoid are linked to contaminated water and poor sanitation. The mission of our small non-profit is to help improve the living conditions of the poor in our world by providing affordable and sustainable water treatment to those who do not have access to safe water. We also support sustainable initiatives and programs that provide basic necessities while always recognizing the dignity of people in need.
Making water safe
The H2gO Global is the smallest, easiest and most cost-effective water treatment solution for developing nations. Our hope is to get these units into as many family households as possible.
- Designed for the developing world, the H2gO Global purifier creates a consistent disinfectant dose of 2.5 ppm sodium hypo-chlorite and hydrogen peroxide to treat a 5 gallon volume of water.
- The unit will treat 75 gallons of water per battery charge and is recharged via the on-board solar panel or a micro USB port.
- Recharged once a week, a single unit will provide 10 gallons of water per day, and the device will last a family at least 10 years.
Common salt is the only on-going operating cost – $0.50 per year and it is readily available everywhere.
Some Statistics
Here is the sobering reality of accessing safe water worldwide:
- 1 in 9 people worldwide – 844 million people – do not have access to safe, clean drinking water.
- In the least developed countries, 38% of the people – more than 1 in 3 – do not have access to safe and clean drinking water.
- Half of the world’s hospital beds are filled with people suffering from water-related diseases.
- As much as 80% of illnesses in poor countries are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions.
- At least 1.8 million under 5 years of age die from water-related disease every year, or one every 20 seconds.
- Women and girls walk an average of 3.5 miles a day, carrying as much as 5 gallons (about 45 pounds) at a time of much needed water.
Our work so far
Making water safe for the world is a huge undertaking to say the least, and the question is how does one begin to achieve this goal. Having been to several impoverished countries, we have observed the many needs of people living in poverty where access to safe clean water is a constant struggle.
From our beginning in 2018, we have provided H2gO Global water purifiers to the community of Rivière Froide in Haiti. We are working with the Little Brothers of St. Thérèse in Rivière Froide, the Friar Suppliers (a New York Catholic charity), and Aqua Research, LLC, providing us with the aid network needed to place water purifiers directly in the hands of Haitians who need safe water.
In the past year-and-one-half, we have also been able to donate H2gO’s or Aqua Research STREAM Disinfectant Generators to Honduras, Lebanon and Ukraine. Please visit our website https://www.makewatersafe.org.