| A novel private
sector initiative for the poor
By Robert E. Sullivan
How does one get cheap, clean
water into a Philippine coastal town? Easy,
with a debit card that you carry in your pocket.
It is beginning to work fairly well, and cheaply,
for the poorest people, in Ronda, Cebu, the
Philippines. According to entrepreneur Quentin
Kelly, it may be the wave of the future for
poverty stricken rural and urban areas that
do not have electric power.
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| Water gushes from a newly installed
solar-powered well pump in Pakistan. Photo
© R.E. Sullivan |
Mr. Kelly sees the system
as ideal approach for "slum upgrading
projects in the world's most derelict urban
neighbourhoods." His New Jersey-based
WorldWater is installing a complete
water system for the town of Ronda, from a
deep, solar-powered well that needs neither
diesel fuel nor any connection to an electricity
grid. The water is fed through channelling
pipes, to standpipes and taps. The project
goes well out on a limb from his core business
of solar-powered water pumps.
"First we convinced
the mayor and the town council," he said
in an interview with Habitat Debate,
"then we went to the local banks."
The ace up the sleeve, he said, was the so-called
AquaCard which is pre-paid by water
users into an account, from which money is
automatically deducted as the water is used.
"We told the banks
they'd get their money instantly," Mr.
Kelly said he said. "And we told them
that according to the World Health Organization
people use about 20 litres a day. That's a
lot of business. They were convinced by that."
It took about two years
to get the system up and running. "And
the result is that the banks are getting their
money back, while the people are getting clean
water for about 15 to 20 per cent of the price
they used to pay," he said. The entire
project is run and sponsored locally.
The construction of a complete
water system is a new advance beyond Mr. Kelly's
normal core business of solar pumps - a field
they have been involved in for more than 20
years. WorldWater solar panels and
pipe systems are currently pumping up water
for remote populations of the Cholistan Desert
of Pakistan to the suburban green houses of
Ecuador. They are also pumping water in rural
areas Sri Lanka, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique,
Ethiopia, Angola, Somalia and several parts
of the Philippines, as well in huge farms
and vineyards in California.
He has been invited to bid for contracts in
several other countries, but would prefer
not to be too specific. All his projects in
the developing world have two very basic things
in common: solar power brings the water up
without need of polluting fuel or connection
to the electricity grid, and the operations
are locally run. Even the pumps are locally
bought as to make for easier repairs and maintenance.
The projects are 100 percent financed ahead
of time, and the overwhelming majority of
his projects are in conjunction with partners
in the private sector.
As to urban areas, Mr. Kelly
said he had been examining various parts of
the world and was eager to roll up his sleeves
and work in the worst city conditions.
Referring to slum areas
like those, which are close to downtown Rio
but with little or no water, Mr. Kelly said:
"What we would do is tap into the main
water supply. We would establish our own distribution
system and set up standpipes, and then, using
solar energy, pump the water into the neighbourhoods
where they need it."
When Mr. Kelly read that
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recently launched
a new UN commission to get the private sector
more directly involved in development, he
said, "that's exactly what we do".
WorldWater started
as a research and development company in 1984
specifically aimed at private business activity
supplying water and power in developing nations.
The company also makes solar powered refrigeration
units, and even street lamps, the kind which,
he said, "could be used in slum upgrading
projects" without the need for an electricity
grid.
Robert E. Sullivan, an
Irish journalist based in New York, specialises
in the developing world for a range of international
publications and electronic media.
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