Getting Safe Water and Sanitation to the Botttom of the Pyramid through Bold and Game-changing Innovations
Accelerating Water.org’s vision by IXL Center As one coconut after another broke open next to shiny new water taps, afternoon air with great festivity. this as representing just a tiny sliver of the one billion people lacking access to safe water and 2.5 billion individuals without basic sanitation. “We need to keep pushing the envelope and look at bigger and bolder solutions that will further accelerate Water.org believes that new business models are needed to reach 100 million people in five years. WaterCredit has been a breakthrough innovation and is on an exponential growth path towards

India had quick-and-easy access to

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purchased with a “WaterCredit” loan).

around the necks of philanthropist

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Water.org that had partnered with tion, and banking are penetrating the of out-of-the-box innovations are next after WaterCredit that use busi-

residents and cracking it open guration” of each new water tap. As Matt set coconut halves on either side of the last water tap, Gary said: around the world. I wonder when celebrations like this will no longer be needed as access to clean water

Copyright, IXL Center 2011

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Walking back across the lane of silver-colored water taps, Gary stopped and turned to Matt: “We

well as grass-roots advocacy to help and bring transparency to subsidies failing to reach needy people. What

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Getting Safe Water and Sanitation to the Bottom of the Pyramid through Bold and Game-Changing Innovations

Clean water and sanitation is an issue for over a billion people Water is life. It is a plain and

cities throughout the developing located right in the city, while others

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very top and then, as she had done countless times before, strained to lift it back up into her arms. After regaining her balance, the little girl turned toward a dark stream of open sewage and trudged back down the beaten path to her family’s shack, her tiny image slowly fading into the distance… “At that moment, I knew what my life was going to be about bringing safe drinking water to people living without it,“ said Gary White.

One billion people lack access to

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billion people lack access to safe sanitation. The collection of water girls who spend about 5-6 hours per day walking to water sources and waiting in frustratingly long lines. Together they spend an astounding the pursuit of water that is often

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This “moment” dates back to Gary’s undergrad days in 1984 when he visited Guatemala with the volunteer organization of engineering students that he had founded at University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR).

contributions to society. It is

people lacking access to safe water and sanitation was cut in half. Water.org wants to focus on getting clean water and sanitation to Urban and Peri-Urban regions Lack of clean water and basic sani-

Copyright, IXL Center 2011

F als such as corrugated tin, plastic sheets, and pieces of plywood. An people. One shack after another is tightly packed in, leaving little chaotic sea of people on foot and in dirt lanes. The air is loud and full sewers and trash heaps. Rain covers breaks, typhoid, skin and diarrheal 50% of the world living in urban projected to “tip” further to 70% by 2050. The developing world is
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A little girl’s face said it all – a strength and look of seriousness beyond her years as she bent down to dunk a bright orange-colored jug into an old rusty barrel of polluted water. Tilting the jug on its side, she waited patiently for the moment

people in the developing world,

diarrhea is the second biggest killer

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responsible for providing public services such as trash collections and access to water and sanitation). As

Getting Safe Water and Sanitation to the Bottom of the Pyramid through Bold and Game-Changing Innovations

“Where is the water?” Today, a group of Haitian women and girls in