Why it matters

Microbe-contaminated water is the largest health problem in the world.

And takes an incredible human and economic toll on the world. This causes more disease, deformity, and death than anything else in the world. This preventable scourge rips apart families and communities while hurting economic growth.

3 billion people lack consistent
household access to safe water

5,000 children die of diarrhea
every day in India

The leading cause
of child deformities

Globally children die at a rate
of one every fifteen seconds

A major cause for loss of productivity
and thus retarded economic growth

Every year it causes

4M deaths

Half of all hospital
admissions globally

Over 4B cases
of diarrheal disease

This is NOT just an issue facing
the developing world

Deteriorating infrastructure in developed countries means water will be increasingly contaminated as it reaches your tap

In the U.S. alone…

the EPA estimates that the backlog of water infrastructure replacements/upgrades is anywhere from $300 billion to $1 trillion. The current capital spending rates imply a that a pipe is replaced once every 700 years. As a result, by 2020, 60% of all water main pipes in the US will be classified as substandard.

There is an emerging understanding that point-of-use water filtration is a much more cost-effective method of providing potable water, compared to wholesale replacement of water infrastructure.

Sources: IFC “Safe Water for All – Harnessing the Private Sector to Reach the Underserved”; UNICEF; Times of India, November 2009; Citibank Global Water Sector handbook, May 2011