Welsh technology is being deployed to help provide safe drinking water to some of the poorest people on the planet as part of a global partnership to meet one the most critical UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG6).
State of the art water purification systems have been shipped to Bangladesh last week and will be up and running within weeks in Morrelganj where two thousand citizens are currently reliant on contaminated water from a local canal.
Tests carried out by British scientists revealed dangerous levels of bacteria, parasites, e-coli and – in some cases – arsenic. The systems, designed and developed by Hydro Industries in Swansea, will deliver 40 thousand litres a day of clean water that complies with the stringent standards of the World Health Organisation. WHO have warned that 140 million people in 50 countries are drinking arsenic-contaminated water.
Hydro Industries are collaborating with BRAC (www.brac.net ), one of the largest NGO’s in the world and financed by Partnerships for Growth, a global initiative which funds and fosters partnerships between businesses, governments and civil society to promote sustainable development and counter some of the greatest challenges of climate change.
The Hydro systems include the company’s pioneering electro-coagulation technology, which can handle large volumes at low energy, removing pollutants at an economically sustainable cost. The ambition is to expand the initial programme beyond Morrelganj to other desperate communities in Bangladesh and elsewhere.
Wayne Preece, CEO of Hydro Industries, said:
The prospect of our technology helping some of the most deprived communities in the world whilst providing decent jobs for young scientists and engineers at home is extremely exciting and everyone at Hydro is thrilled to see our systems start their journey to Bangladesh this weekend”
Nick Virr, Programme Director of BRAC UK said: “working with private sector partners like Hydro is critical to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals and solving some of the most difficult barriers in getting services to the world’s poor. Hydro bring extensive experience, innovation and high quality solutions that when coupled with BRAC’s on the ground understanding of the problems and people’s needs can deliver sustainable improvements in people’s lives at the scale needed”
The systems are being shipped from the UK to Chittagong port and will arrive during the first week of October (October 5th)
They are due to start operating on 20th October.
