WaterHealth India Pvt.
Ltd. will install about 900 decentralized plants across the country to purify water on site.
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the US government’s development finance institution, will fund a project to distribute clean water to millions of Indians at an affordable price.
80 crores) loan to a project that will expand access to affordable clean drinking water to millions of low and middle-income people in India, said a statement issued by the US Embassy in India.
The loan will be provided to WaterHealth India Pvt.
Ltd., a subsidiary of WaterHealth International, Inc. of Irvine, California, to enhance the clean water distribution facilities in India.
The water purified from the plants will be distributed to the public at a price that is three to four times lower than bottled water alternatives currently available in the marketplace.
An estimated 63 million Indians don’t have access to clean drinking water.
“WaterHealth International has been committed to improving access to safe and affordable drinking water for underserved consumers for over a decade.
In addition to expanding the availability of safe water, the project is projected to create more than 1,300 jobs in India and introduce advanced technologies and business models for providing potable water.

A four-year report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources states that 86 per cent of the 28 samples tested in the report in Karachi were contaminated.
Samples collected from Islamabad were 68 per cent adulterated and Lahore had 25 per cent of the tested samples polluted by bacterial contaminants.
In 2015, 81 percent of the samples were deemed contaminated due to bacterial presence.
In most rural areas of Pakistan, ground surface water and tube wells are used for drinking without slow sand filtration and chlorination at filtration stations.
Since most of the cities of Pakistan consume ground water as the primary source of drinking water, its infestation with various pathogens such as viral, bacterial and protozoan agents cause 2.5 million deaths from endemic diarrheal disease each year.
“Direct consumption of water is not the only way one can get ill; dirty water used to wash vegetables can often lead to waterborne diseases directly as well,” says Dr Taj.
“Good hygienic care and consistent socio-economic backup support is required from the councils to ameliorate the disease burden as treatment lays in prevention.” According to Dr Taj, a higher number of people are seen with acute viral hepatitis as it needs immediate tending to than chronic diseases like diarrhea.
AVH is caused due to the transmission of viruses through the fecal-oral route.
Prevention strategies can include source protection, halogenation of water, or boiling water for one minute.
In 2016, an outbreak of a drug resistant strain of Typhoid alerted people from consuming food and water products of questionable nature.

What are the causes of inequalities in access to water in Jakarta?
Beyond piped network Examining the role of centralised piped networks in producing inequalities in access to urban water supply has been a dominant question within academic analysis concerned with social inequalities in the city.
But the theoretical frameworks used to answer questions of water, urbanisation, and inequalities are often derived from experiences in Europe—where centralised piped networks are generally the dominant, if not only, water supply in cities.
To explain inequalities in access to water in Jakarta, examining the flows of groundwater, wastewater and piped water can provide a better answer than looking at the fragmentation of the piped water network.
We found that there is a connection between over-abstraction of deep groundwater in rich neighbourhoods and salinisation of shallow groundwater in poor neighbourhoods.
The result is that the city’s poorest residents, living on the most marginal land, experience higher exposure to flooding and poorer quality water.
The ability of wealthy households and businesses to opt out of centralised water supply limits the possibility to cross-subsidise either water consumption or water connections for low-income areas and households.
Jakarta’s experience shows that inequalities in access to water go far beyond the presence or absence of a piped network.
In looking beyond piped water networks to understand how water inequalities happen, we joined a movement in the scientific world “to world”.
This helps to keep our stories and resources free for all, and it also supports independent journalism dedicated to sustainable development.

Blog post by Shaheen Chughtai Head of Campaigns, Policy & Communications, Oxfam Syria Crisis Response Seven years after the Syria crisis began, families are struggling to access necessities, like water, food, and medicine.
Through your support, we’re delivering clean water to Hani and his family, and thousands more who fled the violence in East Ghouta.
Hani,* 16, and his family are among them.
They had no choice but to set up a tent in this community of 30,000—nearly half of whom come from elsewhere in Syria.
Five years later, they are still living in a tent, but Hani is grateful for what shelter he has.
Oxfam is there Recognizing that Herjalleh’s water supply couldn’t meet the needs of the growing population, Oxfam began trucking water to shelters in the community.
Between December 2017 and February 2018, we provided 66,043 gallons of clean, safe drinking water to over 2,000 families.
Now Hani and his siblings are no longer putting themselves at risk when they collect water.
“My little children used to walk every day, back and forth to fetch water, but now we have been filling water directly from Oxfam water trucks,” says Hani’s mother.
That includes providing safe drinking water, sanitation, and vital food aid, as well as helping refugees make a living.

However, a new study from nonprofit journalism organization Orb Media and State University of New York at Fredonia researchers found that drinking from a plastic water bottle likely means sipping microplastic particles with just about every mouthful.
Tests, which confirmed the presence of plastic using an industry-standard infrared microscope, revealed plastic contaminants including polyethylene terephthalate (PET), nylon and polypropylene.
Bluewater recently released its own survey, which showed that 56 percent of Americans worry that their drinking water contains harmful contaminants including plastic, carcinogens and lead.
The survey also found that nearly 70 percent of Americans rely on bottled water in some capacity, with nearly 33 percent of them gulping down more than five bottles of water per week.
Last year, Orb Media released a study which found that virtually all of the world’s tap water is contaminated by microplastic fibers.
However, Orb Media’s latest findings in plastic water bottles may have many people wondering – is any fresh water safe to drink?
Microplastic and your health: Why you should worry According to Orb, these findings suggest that anyone who downs a liter of bottled water daily could potentially be consuming tens of thousands of microplastics annually.
Orb Media’s latest study has prompted the WHO to review the potential risks of drinking plastic-contaminated water, the Guardian reported.
“[Based on Orb Media’s recent studies], the absolute majority of all water that we as consumers drink contains microplastics and also other contaminants,” Jacobson said.
“We have to find ways to consume water in a sustainable way that takes both human and planetary health into consideration,” he said.

Following the discovery of perfluorochemicals or PFCs in the drinking water of one southern Delaware town, residents were forced to drink bottled water for weeks.
Now state officials are urging residents using private wells to get their water tested.
Near the end of February, state officials gave the all clear to residents of Blades to resume drinking water from the tap after the town installed a new filtration system.
The cause of the PFC contamination has not yet been identified.
One in six Delaware families gets water from a private well, which need regular testing, according to officials with the state Division of Public Health.
But it’s up to residents to make sure their water is tested annually, said Chantel Mason with the Delaware Health Department.
“Although we do not regulate private well water, we do regulate public water,” Mason said.
“We do see a need for private well owners to have access to the tools that they would need in order to make sure that their water is safe.” The department will test private well water for bacteria and chemicals for just $4.
Residents can pick up test kits at the following health service centers in all three Delaware counties: University Office Plaza, Chopin Building, Suite 105, Newark Delaware Public Health Laboratory, Smyrna Thomas Collins Building, Suite 5, Dover Adams State Service Center, Georgetown While it’s recommended that private wells be tested once a year, more frequent testing is suggested if someone in the home is pregnant or nursing, or if the water is being used to prepare formula for an infant.
State officials also recommend increased testing frequency if neighbors have found a contaminant in their water or if residents notice a change in water taste, odor, color, or clarity.

Hawa’u Dauda, a mother of five, is one of many women in Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria, who had to trek for miles to fetch clean water every day for the family, despite having a borehole close to home.
“We saw earthworms in the water and stopped using the borehole,” says Hawa’u.
The stagnant water was becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes.” “Now it is clean and has improved the health of my family and the community,” explains Hawa’u smiling.
With the help of IFRC, the Nigerian Red Cross is helping more than 40,000 people access clean drinking water through household water treatment, safe storage and the rehabilitating of water points in 63 communities in Adamawa state.
63 million without access to clean water in Nigeria Lack of safe drinking water is a common challenge in Nigeria, affecting many rural communities and city slums.
About 63 million out of 187 million Nigerians do not have access to clean water.
In the northeast alone, the persistent conflict has turned 3.9 million people in need of water.
According to an IFRC and Nigerian Red Cross needs assessment conducted in 2017, about 39 per cent of water infrastructure is non-functioning in Adamawa State.
“Bringing water closer to home means that women and children – who carry the brunt of collecting water – have more time for their school studies, household duties and quality time with their families,” says Zakari Issa, IFRC water, sanitation and hygiene coordinator for West and Central Africa.
“As Red Cross, we’re working to ensure greater access to water for all.” In 2017, the Nigerian Red Cross reached more than 24,000 people with hygiene promotion, water transport and storage containers and water treatment tablets in Adamawa State.

By Franklin N. Kwenah in Gbarnga Residents of Butiesue of District #3 in Bong County are in dire need of safe drinking water and healthcare services and have called on the Liberian government and humanitarian organizations to come to their aid.
Town Chief Leemu Sackie said since the establishment of the town in the late 60’s the people never had any access to safe drinking water and healthcare.
According to Chief Sackie, they usually fetch drinking water from a nearby creek which has resulted in many coming down with diarrhea and other water-borne diseases.
Sackie noted that due to serious pipe-borne diseases and diarrhea, they decided to dig a well that will help to minimize the occurrences of these water-borne diseases and save the lives of children and women in the town.
She added that there are still problems in the town in terms of safe drinking water.
“The one well cannot serve all the houses in the town, and even it can get dirty and dry during the dry season, and we have to get back to drinking from the creek water.” The Butiesue Town Chief made special references to the months of January, February, and March when citizens go in the bush looking for safe drinking water.
Chief Sackie therefore, called on the government and other humanitarian organizations to come to their assistance.
“In order to save lives in the district, the government and organizations need to help us at least to construct some hand pumps in our town so that citizens can have access to safe drinking water,” she said.
As of the the health condition in the area, Chief Sackie explained that it is one of the challenging issues affecting her town and noted that pregnant women and the sick are transported to Phebe Hospital.
“When a big belly is at pains in the town, she has to be carried in a hammock to Phebe, and the road is very far,” she said.

But instead of sitting at a desk with a book in her hand, Veronika sets out for the forest to gather wood every day after school.
After gathering wood, Veronika doesn’t have enough time to study.
I am tired, really tired, but I must help them”, she said.
Mary Anyango, a young mother and health worker from Migori, Kenya walks for 20 minutes each way from her home and back to fetch water from the river.
The lack of access to clean water has threatened her young children’s health with typhoid, cholera, and diarrhoea.
Water borne diseases are the biggest health problems for her community, she said.
Her eldest daughter dreams of becoming a doctor some day, and Negrete sees that making sure her children are drinking clean water is one way to help them realise their ambitions.
The lives of these three women are featured in the documentary, “The Power of Clean Water,” produced jointly by Procter & Gamble (P&G) and National Geographic and screened in Singapore on for World Water Day.
“Clean water can improve people’s health, help children stay in school and provide better economic opportunities for their families,” she said.
Jill Cress, chief marketing officer for National Geographic partners, said the documentary reflects the very real and powerful stories of people whose lives have been impacted by programmes that provide access to clean drinking water.

And while it may seem counter-intuitive, among the first of these is water.
With changing weather patterns, increasing urbanization and growing competition for what water these islands have, sustainably managing this resource is fast becoming a top priority.
“Most Small Island Developing States are experiencing increasing shortages of freshwater as a result of multiple anthropogenic pressures and climate change impacts on their already vulnerable freshwater resources,” reads the UN’s 2014 Emerging Issues for Small Island Developing States report.
With a population of just 200,000 people, São Tomé and Príncipe is Africa’s second-smallest nation.
So when the Global Environment Facility-backed Implementing Integrated Water Resource and Wastewater Management in Atlantic and Indian Ocean Small Island Developing States project – or Water 4 Islands – set out to help São Tomé and Príncipe’s government to improve the islands’ water resource management, Neves and the surrounding Provaz River Basin – with its diverse water users and reliance on both freshwater and marine resources – was fast chosen as a demonstration site.
The Water 4 Islands team undertook research on the basin’s hydrogeology and water use, then brought together water users from across society and industry to form the Provaz River Basin Management Committee – the first initiative of its kind in São Tomé and Príncipe.
Inspired by the clean-up, a small group of Neves’ women decided to make it a regular activity.
“We are proud that our river is clean.
“In São Tomé and Príncipe women are the ones who fetch water, who use the river to wash – so when you go to a river, it’s mostly women you see.
With another three river basin committees now operating around the nation and two more under development as the Water 4 Islands project draws to a close in 2018, Maria and her fellow women continue to be an inspiration, from Neves to the capital.