FUND THIS PRODUCT: Lifestraw Family water filters for Mumbai
What we’re funding and who will benefit:
100 (or more!) Lifestraw Family systems at $25 each. Lifestraw Family is an amazing point-of-use water filtration device designed and manufactured by Vestergaard Frandsen that eliminates 99.999% of waterborne disease bacteria, parasites, and viruses, bringing clean drinking water quickly and reliably, and preventing life-threatening disease from spreading through unclean water. The family system (an extension of the personal Lifestraw seen above) we’re funding filters up to 15,000 liters of water (about 2 years’ worth). See below for all the technical details.
In August 2008, Project H will travel to Mumbai, India, in partnership with Berkeley-based organization Haath Mein Sehat (Health In Hand). Haath Mein Sehat pairs technology and education to implement point-of-use household water treatment for urban slums, and educates Mumbai slum communities on unsafe water and disease prevention issues.
$25 sponsors one Lifestraw family system,- DONATE A LIFESTRAW SYSTEM NOW! (all donations are tax-deductible)
Details on the Lifestraw Family system:
THE NEED:
Currently, more than a billion people lack access to safe drinking water and five million people die each year from water-related diarrheal disease. The need for safe and clean water is especially acute for people living with HIV and AIDs. Chronic diarrhea is a leading cause of death for people with AIDs, and it affects up to 90% of HIV patients. Further, diarrhea is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among HIV-infected children. Thankfully, products like LifeStraw® Family can make a huge difference. In a study among HIV-infected persons in Uganda, for example, the use of safe drinking water decreased diarrhea illness by 36%.
THE SOLUTION:
LifeStraw® Familyt is a point-of-use product designed to allow consumers in the developing world to create safe and healthy homemade drinking water.
LifeStraw® Family is an instant microbiological water purifier that can provide, at an average, at least 10 liters of purified water an hour and more than 10,000 liters over the product’s lifecycle-enough to provide a typical family with 1.5 years worth of clean and safe water.
When used properly, it removes at least 99.9999% of all bacteria, 99.99% of all viruses, and 99.9% of parasites. It also removes dirt from water.
LifeStraw® Family builds upon the success of LifeStraw® Personal, a portable water filtration device developed two years ago by Vestergaard Frandsen and designed to be used outside of the home. Like its predecessor, LifeStraw® Family does not require electricity or batteries, making it ideal for use in difficult environments.
HOW IT WORKS:
Hit “Read More” for additional information about Vestergaard Frandsen and the Lifestraw personal device.
About Vestergaard Frandsen:
Founded in Denmark in 1957, Vestergaard Frandsen is an international company specializing in complex emergency response and disease control products. With headquarters in Switzerland, branch offices in Denmark, India, Ghana, Nigeria, Vietnam, Kenya, USA and UAE, and licensed production in India, Vietnam and Thailand, Vestergaard Frandsen’s international reach allows the company to quickly respond to complex emergency needs around the globe.
Vestergaard Frandsen strongly believes that business is for profit, but that profit must be for a purpose. The company’s unique business model, Humanitarian Entrepreneurship, has allowed these two ideas to coexist, turning humanitarian responsibility into its core business, and making Vestergaard Frandsen a leader in its field.
Lifestraw Personal (individual straw-type filter):
April 27th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Please provide US office contact information.
What is the cost to operate and maintain the family life starw unit over it’s life???
Thnak you tim
June 19th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
I love that Project H is promoting poverty alleviation around the globe! What an awesome mission. I’m a water techie who has have been working directly in humanitarian aid and international development for various non-profits in sub-Sahara Africa in the water sector for many years now and seen some great projects. I’ve also seen some not so-great project. In regards to the Lifestraw and what you’re promoting I’d love to offer two thoughts.
The first is that Lifestraw is an amazing piece of technology that has saved thousands of lives and hats off to Vestergaard Frandsen for the design. It’s has amazing applications in emergency relief settings where the ability to instantly reach tens of thousands of individuals is critical for survival. The one organization I worked for purchased containers of these for tsunami relief along with millions of P&G’s PUR Sachets which are another great water purification technology for emergency relief situations.
The second thought is that people often confuse relief work with development work. Development requires sustainable solutions that can be implemented at the local level. With a one/two-year lifespan on a lifestraw filter, who is going to export these and pass them out to millions of impoverished people year after year? Poverty is about building hope and self confidence and changing perceptions of ones-self, and whole-sale charity creates a hand-out mentality and exacerbates dependency (similar to the welfare trap in the USA). In a development setting, technology should empower communities towards self-reliance, not dependence. Technologies like the BioSand Filter can be built right in a community and passed on down to grandchildren. That’s sustainability, and that empowers local people with the ability to take charge of their own futures.
On the flip side, the Biosand Filter weighs 300lbs and is made from concrete… it’s not applicable to emergency relief. The lifestraw is amazing for what it accomplishes in that context. Each has their place but it requires knowledge of the context and understanding of the long-term consequences to determine the right technology for the right circumstances.
You guys have great hearts and a great vision and I love you’re working towards solving poverty. Not knowing how the Lifestraw is being used in the context you’re funding I wanted to throw in my two cents, Because HOW you help people is just as important as WHAT you use help people with. If it were just about technology we would have solved poverty a long time ago.
Peace
~Barak