Safe drinking water is essential to good health and quality of life. However, in resource-poor settings like Vietnam and Cambodia, water often comes from unsafe sources and carries dangerous pathogens. This fact sheet outlines the work that PATH is implementing in Vietnam and Cambodia to enable commercial enterprises to produce, distribute, sell, and maintain good-quality household water treatment and storage products for low-income populations.

Publication date: July 2008

Region: Asia

Commercial markets are a viable model for selling some products to the very poor in Vietnam. But can household water treatment and storage products be provided in the same way? This fact sheet discusses the results of an analysis of distribution and marketing channels in Vietnam that PATH conducted to help answer that question.

Publication date: September 2009

Region: Asia

PATH conducted a qualitative study of consumers in four regions of the country to inform potential interventions to increase access to household water treatment and storage products through the commercial sector in Vietnam. This fact sheet summarizes the findings from this consumer research study.

Publication date: September 2009

Region: Asia

This document outlines PATH's work with private-sector partners to make appropriate household water treatment and storage products accessible and affordable for low-income families.

Publication date: September 2009

Region: Asia

This document outlines PATH and Cascade Designs, Inc.'s work in optimizing electrochlorination technology for water treatment in small, low-income communities.

Publication date: December 2010

Region: Africa

This commercialization toolkit offers guiding principles, tools, and case studies to demonstrate how PATH has helped partners through the commercialization process for household water treatment and storage products in several developing countries.

Publication date: September 2011

Region: Global

In 2006, PATH launched the Safe Water Project with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to investigate the potential for market-based approaches to providing clean water for low- and middle-income users with the ultimate goal of reducing disability, illness, and death related to unsafe water. PATH worked with product developers to design the C1 Common Interface—a standardized connection point between water filter devices and filter elements that allows interchangeability of parts between different household water filters. Manufacturers have designed water filter devices with this specification to enhance competition and choice for low-income households in developing settings. PATH's comprehensive guide to water filters with the C1 Common Interface includes product specifications, test results, advice on what to consider when comparing products, practical advice for the procurement and import of products, and manufacturers’ contact details.

Publication date: November 2012

Region: Global

This fact sheet summarizes the PATH Safe Water Project's work in Cambodia to integrate prevention and treatment options for diarrheal disease. By harnessing successes from one prevention-focused project (microfinance loans for household water filters) and one treatment-focused program (oral rehydration solution and zinc), the project streamlined community strategies and increased overall efficiency for better results. Key to this effort were the local, village health volunteers whom PATH trained to educate and empower Cambodian women to successfully protect their families from the dangers of diarrheal disease.

Publication date: November 2012

Region: Asia

Since 2006, PATH's Safe Water Project has investigated how commercial market forces can help extend access to safe water in developing countries and reduce waterborne disease. This publication is a single-issue magazine which serves as the final read-out from PATH's Safe Water Project. Perspectives highlights the most valuable nuggets of learning from the Safe Water Project.

Publication date: October 2012

Region: Global

PATH's Safe Water Project undertook a household research study in Andhra Pradesh, India, interviewing 1,000 respondents about their water sources, perceptions of water quality, definitions of "safe" water, and water treatment behaviors. This publication presents the five consumer personas that were created from the data to exemplify various aspects of water values.

Publication date: December 2010

Region: Global

Part of series: Safe water briefs

PATH’s Safe Water Project is implementing innovative methods to enable commercial enterprises to produce, distribute, sell, and maintain effective household water treatment and safe storage products for low-income populations in multiple developing countries around the world. This fact sheet summarizes PATH's work in partnership with Hydrologic Social Enterprise and VisionFund to explore the viability of distributing household water treatment devices through retail and direct sales models.

Publication date: June 2012

Region: Asia

PATH’s Safe Water Project is exploring the potential for commercial enterprises to reach low-income populations with household water treatment and storage devices. This document describes the household water treatment and storage market and low-income user needs to guide current or potential manufacturers’ decisions about where it is most or least fruitful to try to increase end-user satisfaction.

Publication date: January 2011

Region: Global

Part of series: Safe water briefs

PATH’s Safe Water Project joined a number of partners in an effort to monitor and better understand the increased use of a water-treatment product, WaterGuard, among groups of new mothers in Malawi. The chlorine-based water treatment product was made available to pregnant women at antenatal care clinics as part of a hygiene kit. Uptake and use of the product rose sharply, not only among these women, but also among friends and relatives. PATH conducted qualitative research involving in-depth interviews to better understand why this uptake occurred.

Publication date: March 2011

Region: Africa

This publication details PATH's pilot project to support distribution of effective household water treatment and safe storage products for low-income populations via local health workers. The pilot took place in two districts in Can Tho, Vietnam.

Publication date: November 2011

Region: Asia

PATH’s Safe Water Project is implementing innovative methods to enable commercial enterprises to produce, distribute, sell, and maintain effective household water treatment and storage products for low-income populations in multiple developing countries around the world. This project brief summarizes the findings of PATH's work with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the effects of an innovative program that promoted a chlorine disinfectant for treatment of water at home to pregnant women seeking antenatal care.

Author: Kols A

Publication date: July 2011

Region: Africa

Part of series: Safe water briefs

This fact sheet provides an overview of PATH's work in protecting children from diarrheal disease.

Publication date: September 2012

Region: Global

Part of series: PATH's areas of focus fact sheets

This poster describes the Smart Electrochlorinator 200 (SE200). The SE200, developed by Cascade Design, Inc. in collaboration with PATH, is a small, community-scale electrochlorination system. Using salt, water, and the resources of a car battery, it creates and dispenses enough chlorine to treat up to 200 liters of water.

Publication date: October 2010

Region: Global

This is part of a series of working draft documents that discuss key questions and preliminary findings of PATH’s Safe Water Project. These reports will be used to inform follow-on research, identify potential partners, and contribute to the development of pilot activities. This particular document reports on “snapshot” research that PATH commissioned in 2007 on the safe water situation in Cambodia, Ghana, Tanzania, and Vietnam.

Author: Adrienne Kols

Publication date: April 2009

Region: Global

Part of the Technology Updates series, this fact sheet describes PATH's work in safe water, specifically on household drinking water and storage products.

Publication date: April 2012

Region: Global

Part of series: Technology Updates

This fact sheet describes PATH's strategic approach to improving sanitation in low-resource settings.

Publication date: June 2012

Region: Global