Water4 Interview
3.8 billion people across the world don’t have reliable daily access to safe drinking water. With $120 billion per year spent on international development, why is this enormous problem so perpetual?
Water4 is a non-profit dedicated to eradicating the world’s water crisis whilst empowering local communities.
Find out how you can start supporting local people in a bid to end the water crisis once and for all.
Listen here or find us on your favorite podcast app.
April 7, 2021
How to Solve the World’s Water Crisis Whilst Empowering Locals
#175 Great.com Talks With... Water4
With $1.2 billion worth of water infrastructure investment wasted over the last 20 years and the world’s water crisis no closer to being solved, what have we been doing so wrong? In this episode, we spoke with Matt Hangen from Water4 about their mission in empowering locals to be the solution in water-deprived regions of the world. Water4 have departed from the traditional model of providing finite aid resources for water-thirsty countries, and rather follow a business-like approach which is driven towards sustainability and locally-led solutions.
Breaking the Perpetual Loop of Temporary Solutions
The mass of funding directed towards water issues is usually spent on building wells and installing pumps. Whilst this may provide temporary solutions to an emergency situation, the reality is that 40% of the water pumps installed are broken after just 11 months of usage. Hangen explains how Water4’s holistic approach differs from this flawed and unsustainable model. Firstly they partner with locals and people on the ground in order to assess the needs of a particular region. Not only do they replace broken pumps with new ones that are maintained with checks every month; their main focus is to support local people to start their own scalable businesses for the management of their water. This provides long-term solutions which generate profit for local enterprises, as well as returning the power back into the hands of local people.
Listen to the whole interview to find out how innovation in the aid industry could lead to much greater impact and structural change. You can also read more about Water4’s approach to social enterprises, check out their resources section and donate directly to their cause. Everyone has a role to play in the fight to ensure safe and accessible water for all.
Want to learn more about Water4? You can subscribe to their newsletter, check out their blog and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Great.com was founded in 2017 with the goal of generating donations to stop climate change. The organization operates within the typically uncharitable online casino industry, where it tries to create something good out of something sometimes harmful. Great.com generates profits by competing with traditional casino companies in Google search rankings for online gaming signups coming from search terms such as Play Blackjack and best online casino NJ. All profits are then donated towards causes fighting against climate change. So far They have generated donations of over $1.3 million.