2.1 billion people in the world do not have access to healthy, clean, drinking water.  This affects the lives of the children who live in these areas. When there is no water in or near homes and it has to be collected from far away, the women and girls living there mostly pay for water with their time and their lost opportunities. Walking miles to fetch water puts a disproportionate burden on women and children, especially girls, who are responsible for providing water for the family and who are deprived of schooling because of the time spent carrying water every day.

Ensuring safe, clean and drinkable groundwater supplies for communities across Ghana is a growing concern due to deteriorating groundwater quality, aging infrastructure, increasing population growth and lack of adequate capital injection into the treatment sector. Due to the high risk of exposure to Arsenic, Iron and Manganese contamination in groundwater supplies, point-of-use (POU) water treatment is gaining global acceptance. 

PurAID® WATER, an Independent Drinking Water Provider (IDWP) Concept, as a sustainable approach to point-of-use drinking water treatment solutions. The Independent Drinking Water Provider Concept aims at:

• Discouraging the consumption of sachet water in 300 communities across 10 regions in Ghana,
• Provision of new borehole water supply facilities and rehabilitation of existing facilities in 300 communities across 10 regions in Ghana by 2030, increasing access to clean and sustainable borehole water supply as alternative to sachet water consumption in 300 communities across 10 regions in Ghana by 2030,
• Involving marginalized communities in groundwater-related decision-making processes,
• Establishing partnerships with relevant stakeholders, including government agencies, NGOs, community groups, research institutions and private sector entities
• Contributing to public health by reducing waterborne diseases and health risks associated with contaminated groundwater.

The Independent Drinking Provider Concept utilizes crystalline aqueous cerium powder on polymeric support (AsMET) for the removal of Arsenic from groundwater supplies to less than 1µg/l. It also provides the removal of Iron and Manganese from groundwater supplies up to 200µg/l and 50µg/l respectively using naturally occurring zeolite cation exchange potential (ZMET). 

Independent Drinking Water Provider Concept is a sustainable and low-power solution is a promising sustainable approach for  Ghana to meet the SDGs goals and AU Agenda 2063.