Water Equity in Western Honduras and Beyond

by Marybeth Thorsgaard

It’s World Water Week—an annual opportunity to collaborate on global water issues and the ways we all contribute to the state of water around the world. Established nearly 30 years ago by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), World Water Week brings together activists, policymakers, and businesses to address the world’s most pressing global water issues.

At Pentair, we believe the health of our world depends on reliable access to clean water, so this year’s World Water Week theme, "Water for society: Including all,” feels especially close to our hearts.

Water equity can be hard to imagine, because for many of us, clean, safer water is always available on tap throughout the house. Still, 2.1 billion people—more than a quarter of the world’s population—still live without access to safe water at home.¹

World Water Week provides us the opportunity to reflect on the progress we’ve made to our goal of increasing access to clean water around the world as we make a renewed commitment to the work ahead.

More clean water for more people

Through the Pentair Foundation’s Project Safewater initiative, originally launched in 2007 in Colón, Honduras in partnership with Water Mission, we’re working to deliver more clean water to more people across the developing world.

By providing water delivery equipment and guidance, and collaborating with community members and organizations, we have been able to empower this community of 300,000 people to sustainably operate more than 200 safe water stations, reducing water-borne illness incidents by 80 percent in Colón.

Now, more than a decade later, we’re still at it, with additional efforts in India and Kenya.

We’ve made serious progress

In 2017, we launched a five-year, $5 million investment to expand on our success in Colón to more of western Honduras. Alongside Water Mission and local Honduran government organizations, we are working to deliver improvements in water quality, sanitation infrastructure, and WASH (Water and Sanitation for Health) behaviors in the Honduran Departments of Lempira and Intibucá.

Two years in, we’re excited to report some serious progress: Nearly 25 percent of the planned safe water stations are complete, serving more than 19,000 people. Additionally, 922 homes have been outfitted with healthy latrines and handwashing, providing access to proper sanitation for 5,500 people.

“Together with Pentair, we have been able to provide thousands in western Honduras with safe water, sanitation, and hygiene training. As a result, individuals and families have experienced significant improvements in their health, ultimately leading to more opportunities for education and work,” says Water Mission’s Country Director for Honduras, Héctor Chacón. “No other company has done so much for so many of the rural communities here.”

Water equity is a community effort

We’re extremely proud of our work with Project Safewater, but we also know it wouldn’t be possible without the collaboration and coordination of many community members and organizations.

The same is true as we recognize World Water Week alongside thousands of people from 130 countries pushing for water equity across the world.

Join Pentair, and the World Water Week community, in support of water for all—in your community or anywhere. Explore our Project Safewater initiative and follow along with all World Water Week events with the hashtag #WWWEEK.

Source: WHO/UNICEF (2017). “Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene.”