Impact Water: providing safe drinking water solutions at scale.
As operations at Impact Carbon progressed, there was a realisation of the need to simultaneously introduce water purification systems.
“We found that we could also look into introducing water purification systems as a channel to reduce consumption of wood based fuel so instead of having to boil water and use lots of wood which has a negative impact on the environment, households and institutions could use purification systems,” Mark Turgesen, Director of Impact Carbon and Impact Water in Uganda explains.
The water is then filtered to remove dirt and large pathogens.
This was the case for Mr Adam Kakembo, a teacher and sanitary master at Kawempe Muslim Secondary School in Kampala.
Kawempe now has three Impact Water systems and consumes about 4500 litres of water a day.
Kakembo says safe drinking water is now always available, the system is energy efficient and affordable; the costs can be met within the confines of the school’s budget.
This is possible because when business commenced, Impact Water sought a new way to make the water system affordable for schools.
Since Impact Water’s inception, 650,000 students in 1300 schools have been able to access safe drinking water thanks to its systems.
“Down the road five to ten years from now, I hope that with these meaningful engagements – with school associations for example – that safe drinking water will be expected in the school and that when a parent takes their child to school they know safe drinking water will be available just like food,” Turgesen says.