Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
water quality coming out of the POU unit is compromised and not safe to drink. WHCs
provide the optimal balance—treating water primarily for drinking purpose as in the
case of POU units while servicing, maintaining, and monitoring water quality on periodic
intervals using qualiied personnel as in the case of a large centralized system. Cost wise,
WHCs are more effective than a centralized treatment facility or POU systems. POU sys-
tems average US$ 80 per unit; for a community with a population of 20,000 people (average
of 4000 households), it will cost around US$ 320,000 to furnish each household with a POU
unit. For one-third of that cost, a WHC with distribution kiosks can easily be installed
serving the entire community.
22.2.2 Services Offered by WaterHealth
WaterHealth believes that the world's underserved people deserve products and services
that are better than “good enough” and comparable to those available to more afluent
communities. Through innovations, WaterHealth is able to offer world-class quality at
costs previously thought to be unachievable. WaterHealth retains control of maintenance
and operations of its centers to ensure quality. Local workers are hired from the communi-
ties it serves, and are trained to carry out routine maintenance and operations. Services
offered by WaterHealth include
• Site assessment and preparation
• Conveyance of raw water from source to treatment facility
• Turnkey assembly, installation, and validation of water treatment equipment and
civil works
• Building a modern, aesthetically designed, and landscaped civil structure that
also serves as gathering place for the community
• Provision of specially designed water containers that minimize the potential for
recontamination during customer use and storage
• Extended maintenance contracts to keep high quality and operating standards
• Recruitment, hiring, and training of local residents to operate facilities
• Overall management of WHCs
• Ongoing education programs on health and hygiene
22.2.2.1 Financing
WaterHealth works closely with the community securing the inancing for WHC installa-
tions. It has a signiicant line of credit and loan guarantees preestablished with major banks
worldwide. The irst priority is for the community through its own resources, government
leadership, or through private sponsors to provide the funds. To facilitate the purchase,
WaterHealth provides an innovative inancing program in most cases that meets qualii-
cation criteria, such as the size of the community, potential user interest, and willingness
to pay. In such cases, the village leadership or other sponsors provide a down payment
for the facility; a signiicant portion of the balance is then inanced. The collection of user
fees allows the repayment of inancing costs over time, after which the facilities become
income-generating assets for the community. The term of the inancing will vary depend-
ing on the size and scope of the project, as well as the particular needs and resources of a
community. WaterHealth has offered as long as 8-year inancing in India.
