The internet often gets a bad reputation, but one organization is using the web to provide clean water to thousands of families around the world who desperately need it.
According to Sustainable Brands, non-profit Water for Life has teamed up with water filtration company Sawyer to launch an Indiegogo campaign in an effort to bring sustainable water solutions to families in underdeveloped countries.
The project is raising both funds and awareness that will help families and villages throughout struggling countries such as Cambodia, Kenya, and India. The money raised will go towards buying personal MINI water filters, which remove dangerous contaminants from drinking water, for the less-fortunate.
Thus far, the campaign has reached its initial goal of $25,000 just days after being posted, currently standing at $32,000 with over a month left for people to donate.
In the United States, about 48 million people receive their drinking water from private wells. This number is much higher in underdeveloped countries that lack a municipal water treatment system, and the personal filters aid in extracting the chemicals that lurk deep inside of untreated wells.
According to The Water Project, a staggering 80% of illnesses in underdeveloped countries can be directly attributed to poor water conditions. Even more disturbing, about one in five deaths of children under the age of five around the world are caused by a water-related disease.
Water for Life intends to drastically reduce these numbers through their campaign, which the organization hopes will benefit over 16 third-world countries by the time of its completion.
“Clean water is a basic human need, but not available to 1.4 billion people around the world,” says Water for Life founder Rudy Shaffer. “I have traveled to many countries where children are in desperate need of safe drinking water…We see the immediate difference and impact in people’s lives from this amazing technology.”
A $1 donation to the campaign will go towards raising awareness of this global health crisis. For $35, a water filter will be shipped directly to a needy family. In total, Water for Life has already shipped over 4,000 water filters around the world.
