Access to clean drinking water is a significant problem in India, and the pandemic has only served to reinforce its vital importance in protecting the most vulnerable communities. Only 44.7 percent of rural households in India have access to clean water. This means that only two in five rural homes have access to clean running water.
In October 2020, Halma plc and WaterAid joined forces to implement the Water for Life campaign, which is a two-year programme highlighting the global issue of access to water by providing 8,000 people in Buxar and Bhagalpur in the state of Bihar, India with clean drinking water.
As part of the partnership, Halma – which has six world-leading water companies as part of its global group – will donate a minimum of £ 200,000 (approx. Rs. 2 crore) of funds, as well as its own water quality treatment technology, that will ensure:
- 5,000 people gain access to a clean water supply through the installation of water quality treatment systems;
- 10 villages have community management of operations and maintenance and water quality monitoring – with Halma also training community volunteers to maintain and operate the systems; and
- 3,000 people have the resources to safely harvest water.
Commenting on the Water for Life campaign and the WaterAid partnership, Prasenjit Datta, Managing Director, Halma India, said: “Lack of clean drinking water is one of the biggest issues faced by people in developing countries such as India. Access to safe and clean drinking water is vital for health, especially among children. As a global group of life-saving companies, we are committed to playing an integral role in making water supplies safe and reliable for our communities through innovative technologies.
Over the past year, we have started the process of ensuring a safe and clean water supply for 8,000 people in Bhagalpur and Buxar in Bihar. The programme is leveraging the life-saving technology in our group to help achieve this, with specialised testing kits from Halma water company Palintest sent to support the project on the ground.”
As part of the programme, Halma India has also created water champions to increase awareness on water conservation as well as to raise funds for the programme by training, engaging, and supporting its employee network across India.
Working with WaterAid, Halma’s water companies–Palintest, HWM, Hydreka, Mini-Cam, Sensorex and UV Group–are donating specialist water testing equipment and raising money to support and train villagers in India to overcome dangerous local water contaminants, such as arsenic and fluoride in their water supply.
The programme has so far trained over 200 community volunteers from across ten villages on water quality and will provide 8,000 people with a safe water supply.
Find out more about the company's technologies and learn how the partnership with WaterAid in India is changing lives and supporting UN #SDG6. Watch the video: https://bit.ly/3FBuoJd
