The Designers Accord

Introduction

Water For People is an international nonprofit development organization committed to the long-term impact of increased access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation and health. Time after time, Water For People finds that providing safe drinking water serves as a catalyst for greater community development. That's because Water For People coaches and facilitates. Our local partners implement.

Mission

Water For People helps people in developing countries improve their quality of life by supporting the development of locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation facilities and health and hygiene education programs.

Our vision is a world where all people have access to safe drinking water and sanitation; a world where no one suffers or dies from a water- or sanitation-related disease.

Water For People's Guiding Principles

We believe in people. We believe in the dignity of all people and that access to safe drinking water and effective sanitation are basic human rights.

We keep it local. We believe that drinking water, sanitation and hygiene problems are most effectively solved using local resources. Local communities must be the driving force in all of our programs to make sure solutions are sustainable.

We keep good company. We believe in the power of partnerships. We search out trusted partners who share our vision and work together to build long-term relationships based on trust.

We keep our promises. We believe we owe it to the communities we serve, our volunteers, staff and donors to keep our promises and manage our resources effectively and efficiently.

Work in India

In a nation of a billion people, 18 official languages, hundreds of dialects, severe environmental concerns, abject poverty among vast segments of the population, disputed territories, illiteracy, and a strong social bias against women, problems can be difficult to prioritize. But for the people of West Bengal, efforts to reduce the devastating effects of arsenic poisoning are changing the lives of large numbers of people.

Water For People began working in India in 1996. What started as a small pilot project, has grown into a full-fledged program to help eliminate arsenic from community wells in West Bengal. Water For People is partnering with the Deemed University Bengal Engineering College (BEC) to design and install domestic and wellhead arsenic removal units.

A single arsenic filter unit may serve 200-300 families and needs regeneration (back flushing maintenance of the filter) after eight to 12 months. The cost of a single wellhead is offset by the fact that it provides safe drinking water to a greater number of people. The community wellhead unit is preferable with respect to maintenance and monitoring. A fundamental component to this initiative is fostering community participation, developing an educational model and establishing operational capacity.

West Bengal is very rich in groundwater and more than 80 percent of its population taps this source for its drinking water.

Arsenic occurrence in the region's aquifers has been attributed to geological factors. Arsenic mobilization in the water is speculated to have been caused by over withdrawal of groundwater during cultivation, application of arsenic pesticides followed by phosphate fertilizers, or both.

The contaminated groundwater constitutes the sole source of drinking water for 5.3 million people in West Bengal who use hand pumps to draw water from scattered wells. The effects of arsenic accumulation in the human body are well documented--skin lesions and disorders of the circulatory and nervous system.

Current evidence indicates that symptoms of arsenicosis develop after years of exposure to arsenic contaminated water. The crisis in West Bengal unfolded over many years, and its solution will demand a commitment of time, expertise and funds.

But while the accumulated effects of arsenic poisoning will take years to reverse, the West Bengal arsenic filter project has already improved the health and quality of life for significant numbers of villagers.