This seems like a reasonable idea. I think I've heard of people like Jay-Z doing something about promoting consumption of clean water.

If you want I dug up some sort of info. that might seem helpful:

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles /1538213/20060809/jay_z.jhtml

Would your group try to manufacture the filters yourselves or would you try to get another company to sign on that already makes them?

Why are you choosing Ghana in particular? Sounds like a good idea that would not be too hard to implement. Is this different that other models of irigation in Africa? Or has it been successful already in some places?

This does sound like a good idea as well it has a good way to make money so you can keep producing additional water filters. It definitely seems as though it will help a social issue in a sustainable way. good idea.

Comments from Prof:

Social: How big a problem is clean water? How many people in the world? How many health problems? Give number of people and numbers of deaths, this kind of thing.

Your plan for evaluation isn't complete.

The plan to start with Ghana is fine. How many people, what percentage would you hope to reach?

Background: Good job searching for past people working on water filters. It could be organized better. There are repeating sections.

One of the groups mentioned is in Santa Maria,CA. Have you tried talking with them since they are semi-local?

You mention prior groups moving too slowly. How will you move faster?

Find out how to talk to someone with experience in Africa. Start sending email, you can surely find someone to give you some feedback.

You mention you can't talk to anyone in Ghana because of language. Wikipedia says the official language of Ghana is English. Get on it! =)

Econ: Are you loaning the filter? Giving a loan to buy it? Or selling it outright?

This section switched to Uganda. Is it Ghana or Uganda?

You probably need to let the person owning the filter keep charging fees since they do after all own the filter. ??

How much does a filter cost? How much can you charge for clean water? Seriously, these people are broke? How much can they pay, or is this impossible?

Market size. How many people? How many dollars total? Do people sell water filters in Africa? For how much?

I haven't heard of AIDS being related to clean water. Got a citation?

How much does it cost to ship a filter to africa?

Tech: It's ok to use someone else's filter.

Resource: Up front money in dollars? More clarity on who you need as a contact?

Overall you wrote down more stuff than other groups, but its disorganized and doesn't help clarify your goal. You don't need more text. You need the text to be more factual with better organization.

You might try contacting Ted Ernst. He is an active ONetter and has spent time in Ghana. Not sure if his experiences include water projects but it is a start.

This idea is the way to go and its simplicity goes a long way to promoting commerce, health and simply something that has a great chance of working up against the investment :)

About the finances, are you planning on loaning the water filters out to break even in their costs? Or will you be charging a little extra so you have money for expansion? Also I was wondering if you would be building the water filters or just buying them from somewhere and distributing them?

having to pay to use the cell phone is one thing, but making people pay just so they can have fresh water sounds pretty...well, not good. I understand your good intentions and so forth, but maybe try not to charge people for water.

While this is a great idea, and very inspirational, the idea of taking out loans to help developing countries get on their feet for every issue is simply allowing countries to start out in debt. I think it would be more beneficial to start out by using funds collected from charity groups to help establish a loan department in the country to generate interest on the loans, which will be pumped directly back into their economies as opposed to back into ours. Does that make any sense, or way too much of a detriment to the project.

I agree with what Chen Ni said, I think that your idea about providing safe water to drink to communities is a great idea, but I don't know how I feel about making people have to pay for it, especially in third world countries such as Ghana, which is where y'all are planning on focusing I think. I know that this has to be a self sustainable business, but if you can think of another way to self sustain your project that would be amazing.

Just a few thoughts. The biggest hurdle for bringing clean/safe water to third world countries is educating them on the reasons they need it. This will be especially true if you are going to set up a program where they will have to pay for it.

In Uganda I visited one village and they thought I was crazy because I wouldn't drink the water. Their definition of clean water was that it wasn't muddy and they had no concept that there was bacteria in their clear water that could make them sick. So, the first step in any water project has got to be education for the people who will use it.

Do keep in mind also that in the villages, where they need these water projects, cash money is scarce. You may have a very hard time convincing them that they should pay for water from a filter when they can get it free like they have always done.

You might also check out http://www.sodis.ch/ which uses recycled plastic bottles and solar rays to purify the water.

I like your idea of making cleaner water for third world countries.I think providing safe water to drink to communities is a great. I think that if you are going to charge people it should be a really low rate.

I think you have found great filters for your project. Biotechnology (although not in the neo-traditional sense) is always going to be an extremely efficient way of doing things...nature just has that knack.

I am not sure that your business idea has a solid foundation though. Yes, micro-credit works, but from what I know of Grameen Bank is that it typically works if the people receiving the credit use it to economize/streamline an already possessed marketable skill. Your idea, if applied to a model similar to Grameen Bank, essentially turns the 2-3 people in each village into water salesmen...how do you know that a market exists for this? Of course, people need clean water, but is it worth whatever it is going to cost them? They might not think so...

If you are not going to try to simulate Grameen, then you are trying to do something fairly new...at least, something that hasn't been known to work on any large scale yet.

You mention that there have been attempts at this type of project by other corporations - why do you think you will be successful where they have failed?

You also mention that you hope that eventually everyone in the village will have a filter. If a filter can serve 10 to 20 people, is this really necessary? Couldn't the resources be used more efficiently?

How would you engineer your program to get to the poorest of the poor - the people that have no currency? What I'm asking is that there are surely villages where nobody has currency - well, the water can't be sold for that currency, and a loan can't be returned. Are there any plans for being able to provide for these situations?

Matthew Johns said:

I think you have found great filters for your project. Biotechnology (although not in the neo-traditional sense) is always going to be an extremely efficient way of doing things...nature just has that knack.

I am not sure that your business idea has a solid foundation though. Yes, micro-credit works, but from what I know of Grameen Bank is that it typically works if the people receiving the credit use it to economize/streamline an already possessed marketable skill. Your idea, if applied to a model similar to Grameen Bank, essentially turns the 2-3 people in each village into water salesmen...how do you know that a market exists for this? Of course, people need clean water, but is it worth whatever it is going to cost them? They might not think so...

If you are not going to try to simulate Grameen, then you are trying to do something fairly new...at least, something that hasn't been known to work on any large scale yet.

You mention that there have been attempts at this type of project by other corporations - why do you think you will be successful where they have failed?

You also mention that you hope that eventually everyone in the village will have a filter. If a filter can serve 10 to 20 people, is this really necessary? Couldn't the resources be used more efficiently?

How would you engineer your program to get to the poorest of the poor - the people that have no currency? What I'm asking is that there are surely villages where nobody has currency - well, the water can't be sold for that currency, and a loan can't be returned. Are there any plans for being able to provide for these situations?

In response to your question about everyone in the area needing a water filter, you're right. We meant to say hopefully everyone will have cheap access to clean water. Giving everyone in the village a water filter is a waste of resources, since so many other people in the world need one. But we would like enough in an area so people can have access to clean water.

Where are the water filters going to be used exactly? A lot of people in Ghana don't have good water systems and faucets to apply conventional filters (such as Brita). I think it would be a great idea to somehow use the filters on water pumps and wells where lots of people can acees them.

"I feel that these other programs are probably not solving it well because they are moving to slowly and not reaching many communities in need, which we will be doing."

the problem of moving slow is because of lack of money. And i am not convince that asking the villagers for money will help you get more money. Maybe you need to think of a better way to make money. Great idea though and the filter is nice.

comments from prof pt 2:

I notice Linda posted above. She has worked on water issues. If you are serious about the project, you should follow her suggestions of who to contact which in this case included someone in Ghana.

social - expected return - I was looking for a desired outcome here. Are you going to provide clean water to 50% of the population in your target village. 100%. WDI deaths are down 75% or what? What do we expect to be the result of this project? Both qualitatively like you provided and quantitatively.

Background: Installing safe wells. There was a huge UN program to do this. Unfortunately many of the wells had arsenic and they ended up poisoning people. It was a huge disaster. Side point, but in case you didnt know. I'm sure there were also successful well programs.

This sentence is repeated a lot. "The cost to build, distribute, and install a concrete Biosand water filter is $50, which in turn benefits 10 to 20 people in need."

Language: I think last time I mentioned that language isn't such an issue and that you can find people in africa to comment on whether the plan makes sense.

Econ: market size: these filters are $50. How many does Ghana or africa or the world need? You can just multiply to get the potential market.

Who makes money selling water now? Is there a history of people buying water or is it a "free" resource.

You have some organizational cost probably. What is this cost? How much do you need to bump the price over $50 to cover your costs? I see the $1000 plane fare. Is there a way to run this program using someone who is already in the other country? Right now it looks like someone has to take out a $1000 loan in order to get a $50 device. This doesnt make sense. Perhaps you should say that you want to personally oversee the first installation, but that after that you expect a purely Ghana based operation. Then how many filters do you need to "sell" to eventually cover the cost of your plane ticket?

Good econ numbers. Not fully thought through yet.

Tech: You have good numbers in tech that also belong in the expected social outcomes above.

Resource: I'm still a little unclear on how much money you need. If its $50 I'll hand it to you next time we talk. If its $1000 for your plane ticket, I still have some questions. =)

Oh did I mention, I like the general project plan a lot. The question I mainly have is if the money numbers work. Can poor people pay for water? Will they? Will they pay enough to repay the loan for the filter? How cheap would the filter need to be to make it work?

I am sorry that I have been so slow in responding but I have been off-line for almost 5 days.

These were three of the water sources that we saw when we were in Mubende Uganda in February to install a water purifier there that was purchased with the assistance of a funding project here at ONet in December.

As far as we could see, there was not but perhaps one safe water source that we looked at. I have not receive the results of the water tests on the sources we visited. These people do not have the money to pay for water.

This is the purifier that we supplied to them. Their plans were to transport it by boda boda (motor cycle) between the different water sources so that it would provide safe water to a larger number of people.

I am on limited connectivity so I am having trouble finding the links on ONet to give you more detailed information but if you search on WDI Mubende you should be able to find the details: cost and number of people.

Here is why we did it.

Linda, Those are awesome pictures! Thanks for all of the advice. Could you tell me what your job is? I want to go into international public health, and I'd be very interested to hear more information.

This is a very noble idea. How are you guys gong to charge people in third world counties... aren't they poor?? In another note.. how are you guys going to chose which people to give a water filter to so they can sell it??

Samantha Riffle said:

Linda, Those are awesome pictures! Thanks for all of the advice. Could you tell me what your job is? I want to go into international public health, and I'd be very interested to hear more information.

I am on the Faculty of Management Science at Ubon Ratchathani University in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand (I will be teaching a class starting in the new semester on Technological Change and the Environment using a forum much like this class) and currently working on a PhD with a research project that will be looking at modifying the Thai Sufficiency Economy Philosophy to be used as a development tool in a non-Buddhist country (We will be working in Gulu, Uganda. You can see the rough draft of the proposal here. hahah... I am doing my PhD transparently online here!)

EDIT: added the class

So, one member of your team is going to be in Dominican Republic this summer working with an NGO group on water issues. Is there a reason your plan can only work in Ghana? Maybe you should take a filter or two with you in your luggage to Dominican Republic and start asking questions when you get there.

I'll buy you 2x $50 filters to take with you, if you agree to try to figure out how to start a sustainable business around them once you get there. I won't buy the filters for you if you want to give away charity help, only if you agree to try figuring out a method that is profitable and scales so next year we can do 1000 filters instead of 2.

Interested in the deal?

>>The question I mainly have is if the money numbers work. Can poor people pay for water? Will they? Will they pay enough to repay the loan for the filter? How cheap would the filter need to be to make it work?<<

Good questions. (and in I like this general project plan a lot as well)

Some experiences to consider.

Grameen Phone works because it either saves or makes people money. Not just the reseller who is running it as a business, but the people paying the reseller to use the phone are more often not using the phone in such a way it saves them time/effort and they get the positive economic benefit of that.

In Gulu, Uganda the local community was introduced to the Life Straw, even at $3.50 USD (one Life Straw lasts one person 12 months) that was way too expensive to consider.

In Malawi Population Services International in DC stumbled across a way to get insecticide treated bed nets to the poor. PSI sells bed nets for .50 to mothers thru antenatal rural clinics with initial funding and logistical support from local aid agencies and the nets are reaching those that value and need them. (pregnant women and children being at most risk for Malaria). The nurse who distributes nets gets .09 cents each, so they are always in stock. PSI sells bed nets in richer areas of Malawi for $5 each, using profits to help subsidize nets sold at clinics. PSI's bed net program has increased children under 5 using net from 8% in 200 to 55 % in 2004. There is nearly universal use of nets by those who paid for them. In Zambia where there is a free bed net program only 30% of the recipients used the nets. (see page 13 of White Man's Burden for more details)

Assume the people you are providing the water service for are among the 3 billion people making less than $2 per day. What could the solution look like for them? FWIW I think there is an answer, I just think it will take noodling around to find.

BTW, if the professor allows I'll match his 2x $50 filters to take with you (on the same condition you agree to try to figure out how to start a sustainable business around them once you get there)