Water for Humansis a 501(c)3 nonprofit social venture enterprise (under the umbrella of A WISH[1]) that provides low cost, clean water solutions to the 1.1 billion people in the world who lack safe drinking water. We work with local, social entrepreneurs in watersheds throughout the world to provide local employment, clean water and public retention of its common water asset.

The Problem

Potable water is not readily available to 18% of the world's citizens[2]. Consequently, communities that have no access to safe drinking water commonly cope with many water-borne diseases, including diarrhea, cholera, typhoid and several parasitic infections[3]. "Approximately four billion cases of… illness(es) associated with contaminated water cause nearly three million deaths annually."[4] Entire communities suffer: working adults, parents, subsistence farmers, infants and school-aged children, all with high mortality and morbidity rates. Many families in Mexico buy bottled drinking water at a significant cost.

Our Solution

Water for Humans will work with an entire watershed at a time to engage communities in the restoration and preservation of both their regional watersheds and water delivery infrastructures. Our top priority is to ensure that the public retains control over these common assets. Some of the possible methods employed for this effort will be deployment of composting latrines, implementation of living machine and biofuel digester style wastewater treatment technologies, as well as wetland and forest reclamation projects. All of these endeavors will help facilitate public health and watershed improvements. Water culture education will be an integral part of all our efforts. To change a watershed requires significant community effort, coordination, expense and time, we are focusing our near term efforts on providing point-of-use clean water solutions while building the required community organizations to realize our long term mission.

Our near term mission is to build a social venture enterprise which will allow us a more stable funding source to support our long term mission. We will work with communities to deploy in home, point-of-use water purification systems with long-term leases. These systems will improve health and reduce disease at a lower cost than bottled drinking water (in Mexico). The systems efficiently kill or remove harmful parasites, bacteria and chemicals in the local water supply.

We envision a four-part approach that engages an entire watershed: testing and filter selection, certification, demonstration and distribution. Within a single watershed, we will oversee water testing to determine the appropriate, short-term filtration system. Once a system is chosen, we will facilitate training for local entrepreneurs (plumbers) in water culture and certification. Certification will include water sampling techniques, filtration system installation, use and maintenance. Such training/certification will position these individuals to be known as “water experts” within their watersheds. These “experts” will conduct education and demonstration events to generate public awareness and demand. As a distributor/supplier, we will work with local manufacturers to ensure the supply of filtration systems. We will secure space for the certification classes and work with micro-financiers to implement leasing plans that ensure product affordability. Eventually, this will provide Water for Humans with the capital to support our long-term mission to engage communities in the restoration and preservation of their regional watersheds and water delivery infrastructures. In addition, this will provide a long-term funding source to expand our efforts.

Products and services

In deploying our long-term mission/strategy, we envision teaming with existing organizations such as Engineers Without Borders, Humboldt State University and Action in Sustainability (an AWISH organization). We will use funds to support both our long term and our short term missions of watershed restoration and the deploying point-of-use water purification systems. Proceeds from the implementation of our near term mission will go directly to supporting our longer term mission.

Our near term work will focus on providing immediate cost effective solutions to households who lack potable water. Initially, we will focus on watersheds and communities that have community water systems which are not safe or drinkable. By leveraging the existing water infrastructure, we will deploy point-of-use water purification systems specifically tailored to the water quality to ensure cost effective safe and good tasting water, via a long-term lease. We will be using commercially available water purification technology that typically consists of a series of cartridge filters, an in-line sealed UV lamp, and a micro-injection chlorine system. It should be noted that the technology chosen for a specific application (typically standardized within the community water distribution system), will vary from community to community depending on the water quality and hazards. For example, communities where the water supply is contaminated with heavy metals or arsenic will require different technologies.

For homes without water piping, Water for Humans will deploy culturally-appropriate, proven technologies. For example, the Aqua UVo is a relatively simple product that is currently being deployed by Niparaja AC[5] (an NGO in Baja California Sur, Mexico). This system can disinfect water collected from a well or a stream. Customers pour water out of the bucket with a nozzle much like that of an office water cooler. Currently, this system only removes biological contaminants. Water for Humans is developing add-ons to improve the safety and reliability of this system; and is working with the manufacturer to have these features included on the units we deploy. There are many additional culturally-appropriate technology solutions for these types of applications (sand filters, silver impregnated porous ceramic, etc...). We will work closely with individuals, organizations and community members to determine the best system for each watershed.

Our Team

Directors

Rick McKenney, MBA 2007, Physicist-Materials engineer 20+ years, successfully started one company, worked for one other startup.

Stan Brown, MBA 2007, Computer Telephony 25+ years, one prior startup.

Associate

Geraldine Rodriguez, MBA 2008 Cultural Liaison and Business Development Officer (Latin America)

Board Members

Brian C. Setzler, CPA, MBA         Accounting and Finance

James Fox, Ph.D.                          Founder - Custom Pure The Water Store

Hector Seaz, Ph.D.                       Professor - WWU,  Political Economics

Jeannette Diaz-Laplante, Ph.D.      Professor - Saybrook Graduate School, University of Phoenix, BGI, Social Justice, Community Development, Research Methodology and Sustainability

Susan Bolton, Ph.D.                      Professor - University of Washington, Forest Resources Adj. Prof., Civil & Environmental Eng. and School of Fisheries, Center for Water & Watershed Studies, Advisor; Engineers Without Boarders.

April Atwood, Ph.D.                    Professor - University of Washington, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Marketing

Craig Nakagawa, MBA                 Village Reach - Director of Social Enterprise

Advisors

Gifford Pinchot III                       Founder - Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI)

David Green                                 Ashoka Fellow

Paul Hudnut, Ph.D., J.D.             Professor - Colorado State University & BGI Professor, Entrepreneurship, Founder – Enviorfit  

Jim Poss, MBA                             Professor - BGI, Entrepreneurship, Founder - BigBelly Solar

Richard Watkins, J.D.                   Non-profit legal

Sabrina Watkins, MBA                  Strategy, Organizational Intelligence

David Stewart Ph.D, P.E.             Stewart Engineering Denver CO- Water treatment systems