According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas by 2025. This World Water Day, Metito and Planet Water Foundation are bridging the gap between water supply and demand by improving existing water sources in the communities.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WHO reported that nearly 663 million people lack access to an improved water source. The situation is expected to deteriorate further as a result of rising populations, urbanisation and industrialisation, and more importantly, the lack of sufficient knowledge among consumers about water scarcity, the importance of safe water access and the prospects of conflicts pertaining to water security.
By driving fundamental changes through sustainable projects across water-stressed markets and its community engagement programmes, Metito strives to positively impact on this impending scenario with effective knowledge transfer on water preservation, responsible consumption and wastewater recycling and reuse.
Metito has extended its partnership with Planet Water Foundation, a leading non-profit organisation that addresses global water poverty by delivering clean water access and hygiene education programmes, to construct and deploy an AquaTower, a drinking water filtration system, in the Palghar district in India.
Planet Water Foundation’s AquaTower is a sustainable source water filtration solution that secures access to clean water, helping the community by improving health, increasing educational opportunities through higher rates of school attendance, and transforming the lives of women and girls, who often dedicate several hours a day to collecting water.
“Individuals and organisations must play their role if we want to evoke positive change in the world water balance. We believe that knowledge sharing is the most critical aspect of it all. By deploying our resources – technological, intellectual and practical experience – we can bring about more sustainable solutions and secure water where it is needed. We must also educate and tap into the youth’s curiosity, unrestricted thinking space and ability to bring about effective change. Project 24 led by the non-profit organisation Planet Water Foundation checks all these boxes for us,” commented Mutaz Ghandour, Chairman and CEO at Metito.
While the greater Palghar area is a growing and more modern city by most standards in India, the rural communities have small-scale industries to drive their economies. Every village, or taluka, has a river or well acting as the primary water source, with villagers and children traveling approximately half a kilometer to collect water.
Bathing and defecation are performed outside due to a lack of proper plumbing and hygiene practices, making uncovered wells susceptible to overflow with waste and therefore unfit for human consumption. The lack of hygiene education is also demonstrated by families using unsanitary containers for purposes other than drinking water at home.
“Following our project last year in Indonesia, we are more than equipped to change the lives of many more in another area of need – this year, it will be the Palghar District in India. This continued initiative reinforces both our and Metito’s commitment to ending global water poverty and to supporting organisations who share the same vision of bridging the gap between depleting natural water supply and the increasing demand for clean and safe water,” said Mark Steele, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Planet Water Foundation.
In 2018, Metito successfully deployed a similar project with Planet Water Foundation securing 30 volunteering hours, transferring water-health and hygiene knowledge to 16 teachers, reaching over 350 school children and over a thousand beneficiaries in Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia.
Elsewhere in the world, Metito continues to promote the importance of information dissemination and knowledge transfer on water scarcity, water preservation, safety and security. Primarily targeting school and university aged children, Metito hosts workshops, presentations and site visits where students are introduced to latest water statistics and the concept of water recycling and reuse, challenging the youth to improve the water situation in their country and worldwide and change their water consumption lifestyle.
Paving the path for a future with increased water security, Metito has been at the forefront of creating sustainable iconic projects in Africa and the Middle East including: AlGalalah mega seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant project, the largest plant of its type in Egypt, built on 60,000m2 with a capacity of 150,000 m3/day and serving 1M residents and industries; the first Independent Sewage Treatment Plant Project in West Dammam in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and Kigali Bulk Surface Water concession, the first project of its type in sub-Saharan Africa, securing potable water needs for Kigali and other towns.