Saha Global

THE NEED
Over 800,000 people in Ghana’s Northern Region depend on dirty surface water for drinking. Most of the region lies within the tropical savanna belt that experiences long dry spells followed by hard seasonal rains. There are only a few year-round streams and groundwater is inaccessible. Rural villages rely on water collected during the rainy season through big, stagnant ponds called “dugouts.” But the water in these dugouts is muddy and severely contaminated with bacteria and fecal matter, putting villagers, especially children, at risk for waterborne diseases. Clean water solutions like household filters or bore- holes rarely reach these places, and when they do, they are poorly maintained. Household filter- ing products are too expensive for poor families, and lack of proper handling easily re-contami- nates the water.

A SIMPLE, LOW-COST WATER TREATMENT MODEL FOR REMOTE VILLAGES
The startling reality is that villagers can easily treat the water that they do have with resources available locally. This is where Saha Global comes in. Since 2008, we have connected the poorest, most remote communities to simple, cost-effective water treatment technology so that families beyond the reach of costly solutions can access clean drinking water. In each village, we have trained women to start and sustain small water treatment businesses so that their communities can have safe and affordable drinking water while women can earn supplemental income.

THE SAHA MODEL
1.) COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Saha works with local governments to identify villages that rely solely on contaminated surface water sources. Local leaders nominate two to five women to become Saha entrepreneurs to start a water treatment business.

2.) STARTUP TOOLKIT
We provide each business with locally available materials to build a water treatment center in the village, including a 1,000- liter Polytank, a metal Polytank stand, and three blue 200-liter drums.

3.) WOMEN’S TRAINING
Women learn to treat the water from contaminated sources to make it safe to drink and to run the water business, including pricing, frequency of treatment, and social marketing.

4.) COMMUNITY EDUCATION
Saha visits every household in the village to educate families about clean water, explain the water business to them, and distribute safe storage containers (SSCs) that prevent water re-contamination in the home.

5.) WATER TREATMENT
Women entrepreneurs fetch dirty water from the dugout, fill up the drums, and treat the water with aluminum sulfate that causes sediments to settle to the bottom of the drums, leaving the water clear. They transfer the clear water into the Polytank where they disinfect it with chlorine. They sell the treated water for a price that everyone in the village can afford: $0.03 per 20 liters, which is 40x more water for the same price of a sachet of sold in the nearest city. Villagers then store the treated water in SS