5) Description of health product/service offering: The proposed project will develop the equipment and workforce training necessary for the production and distribution of highly-effective point-of-use household water purifiers that will be affordable to very-low income families in Kenya. The key component of the water purifier is a porous filter element consisting of fired clay; hence the system is commonly referred to as the “Pottery Purifier.” A very small amount of silver is incorporated into the filter element that acts as an effective long-term in situ disinfectant. The pottery purifier removes or destroys virtually 100% of E. coli and the other pathogens that cause water-born illnesses. This system has been optimized over a number of years (www.SilverCeramicSystems.com) and has been successfully deployed in Nepal, in collaboration with International Development Enterprises (IDE). The pottery purifiers are to be made by local craftspeople in Kenya using materials that are inexpensive and (almost all) available locally. The pottery purifier will be affordable to very low income families since they should be priced at no more than KShs. 225/- to 300/- (US$3.00 to $4.00). As a result, there stands to be a dramatic decrease in the diarrheal illnesses: cholera, typhoid, and dehydration due to dysentery among families that use the water purifier.

6) Description of innovation: To control pathogenic disease clean water is a vital necessity. Tragically for many millions of people in the developing world, the physical, political and economic infrastructure does not exist to construct and maintain piped water systems. There is an immense and immediate need for effective POU water purification that is not dependent upon tenuous supplies of electricity and/or chemicals. What is needed, in effect, are millions of “magic buckets” that render disease-laden water safe to drink at the point-of-use in family households. Such “magic buckets” already exist, however these are expensive. For over a hundred years porous ceramic water filters have been manufactured and successfully used. It is a proven technology that has been tested and certified to meet strict standards in Europe and North America. Potentially disease-laden water is poured into the top; safe, potable water flows from the bottom for drinking. There is, however, a problem with cost. One of the least-expensive of these water filter systems made in Great Britain costs about $150 (shipping extra) with the replacement filters costing about $60. The second, and related problem, is that the filters are made with materials and techniques that are not widely available in the developing world. There are two types of earthenware filters that can be produced almost anywhere. One is the ‘filter pot’ of Potters for Peace, a filter element that resembles a seven liter flower pot. The other is the Pottery Purifier of this application, a filter element that is small, robust and inexpensive. Both types of filter are treated with a tiny amount of silver, the guarantee of removal of E. coli and other pathogens. In Kenya the pottery purifier systems will be priced between US$4.00 to $8.00, a price that will make the system more affordable.

7) Operational model: The production of pottery purifiers will be attached to the stoneware pottery facility of the Eastleigh Community Centre, which is a project of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). The Centre as such is a craft and vocational training organization, and trains low-income persons in the neighboring community of the depressed, Mathare Valley in useful skills, ‘restoring lost hope.’ The PCEA has a sizeable infrastructure which includes hospitals and schools around Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The production of pottery purifiers will be managed as a self-sufficient non-profit company. A name for the company has yet to be determined, but will consist of a meaningful name or phrase in Swahili, the dominant native language, that will be featured prominently in the purifier marketing and hygiene education campaigns. All production operations will be the responsibility of an Operations Manager who will be appointed by, and report to, a small Board of Directors, chaired by the Director of the Eastleigh Community Centre, Mr. Ehud Mukuha. Financial accounting will be assisted by the Eastleigh Community Centre, but with separate books and accounts in order to demonstrate self-sufficiency. Pottery Purifier production will initially share some equipment and facilities with the existing stoneware pottery but compensate the Eastleigh Community Centre on a cost-recovery basis for fuel and kiln repairs. Four full-time workers, currently under training at the pottery, will be employed to produce the water purifiers. It is anticipated that other workers-in-training at the pottery will be trained in purifier production as market demand requires increased production. A woman will be employed as Business Development Manager who will be in charge of executing a marketing plan and developing a network of point-of-sale retailers in the surrounding community. The production workers will be involved in the distribution of purifiers to the retailers. The Business Development Manager will coordinate the marketing plan in cooperation with a hygiene education plan undertaken by a community outreach worker associated with the Centre. Existing relationships with PCEA-associated schools and hospitals will be utilized. The requested funds will be utilized as starting funds to begin this effort. Water filters will be sold at-cost plus a modest mark-up. The income, under the direction of the Board of Directors, will be used to purchase materials and fuel, compensate workers, and invest in infrastructure to support anticipated growth in demand for the water purifiers. In a perfect possible future, other production facilities will be “spun-off” from this one to produce water purifiers for other localities around Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The combined populations of these countries is 90 million persons, most of whom do not have piped water.

8) Human resources: The team at the pottery includes eight persons, all of whom are being trained by Reid Harvey to produce the water purifiers. Half of this group are experience potters, already familiar with all steps of ceramic production. The other half will go on to do full time production of the purifiers. Also within the Centre is a community outreach worker, who will coordinate the start-up details within Eastleigh, including hygiene education. The overall Director of the Eastleigh Community Centre is Mr. Ehud Mukuha. The Centre also has professionals in accounting and business, as well as a pickup truck, for begin distribution within the market.

9) Key operational partnerships: As mentioned above, the PCEA has a network of partners outside of the Eastleigh Community Centre associated with schools and hospitals. For those areas of expertise where the PCEA does not have the requisite capacity, outside partnerships will be formed. For example, the monitoring of the quality control of the water purifiers must be undertaken with the most reputable laboratories, starting with the Kenya Bureau of Standards. Reid Harvey, who optimized this particular technology, has provided initial training and will be available for periodical on-site advising and also consulting by correspondence. As with any business, solid relationships with material suppliers and product retailers is crucial for success, and there are good links with those supplying materials. Nairobi is a hub for ceramic and other industrial applications. One prospective group of retailers involves those who are selling pottery eco stoves, since this product is also a health intervention, preventing respiratory illness due to inhaling smoke in the kitchens. Another prospective group for retailers is the supermarkets, where bottled mineral water is available, along with the expensive, imported ceramic filters. Retailers will initially be given a consignment, upto the point that the product gains acceptability in the market. Thereafter the retailers will compete, taking a percentage of sales as profit and as able.

10) Financial Sustainability

          • Fees charged to clients?: Yes

          • How do you assure affordability?: • Fees charged to clients? Yes • How do you assure affordability? The pottery purifiers will be sold through retailers to families. The highly-effective water filters are retailed at affordable prices because they are manufactured at low-cost using local labor and inexpensive, locally-available materials. Prices to retailers will be sufficient to cover costs plus a small mark-up to generate revenue for growth in production capability, as needed, and to support marketing efforts in parallel with hygiene education programs in cooperation with the PCEA. The fee to the beneficiaries will be 10%.

          • Earned incomes as a percentage of operating costs: 110

          • Other funding sources: • Earned incomes as a percentage of operating costs: 110% • Self sustainability is assured by the availability of resources, related to both the personnel and the ceramic processes. While the market potential is very good, because the need is great and the price is affordable, funding would be needed to create the market links, manufacturer to retailer to user. In addition to hygiene education there will be a need for awareness building. This should include radio dramas, posters and others.

          • Strategy for long-term sustainability: • Strategy for long-term sustainability: Produce a high quality product at a price that is fair and affordable. Maintain strong relationships through fair-dealing and mutual respect. It is anticipated that a higher-end product will be developed using the same filter technology but with more aesthetic surface decoration. This is the candle purifier system under current development. These systems will be marketed to higher-income consumers at higher profits, and allow for training and employment of local artists. If all of these efforts are as successful as we hope, potential donors will naturally be attracted to help replicate this effort in other areas of the world where it would be beneficial.

11) Current and Future Impact

          • Total number of clients: ~500

          • Clients in the past year: ~500

          • Percentage of low-income clients: 70%

          • Impact: A recent, landmark UNICEF study in Nepal has indicated that the pottery purifier of this application is the most popular household treatment technology, within the low income user group of the study. Aside from ceramic filters the technologies included in the study were those others of the International Network to Promote Household Water Treatment, sodium hypochlorite (chlorine), solar distillation and bio sand filtration.

          • Overall "market": The demand for pottery purifiers is most clear in the nations of the South where piped water is not available. This involves many millions of potential users. It is also quite feasible to produce an upscale purifier system which appeals to higher end users. Thus, systems in the range of $15.00 to $30.00 will compete very favorably with the more expensive imports. There should also be a vast market for emergency management, since the inventorying of the purifiers would make these available for rapid deployment, in the event of natural disasters.

12) Scaling up strategy

          • Stage of the initiative: Scaling Up stage.

          • Expansion plan: Scaling up will be undertaken, in large measure, as per the strategy devised by the International Network to Promote Household Water Treatment. As mentioned above the pottery purifier is one of two ceramic systems which is only dependent on the common earthenware clays, and as such this is undergoing the Network verification process. Verification will be followed by dissemination of information on the technologies, which will give a significant boost in the process of scaling up.

13) Policy change: The Successful completion of this effort should help attract the attention of policy-makers away from unsustainable corporate-profit-driven piped water systems.

14) Origin of the initiative: The origin of the use of silver in a ceramic filtration medium was the patent of the Swiss firm Katadyn in the 1930s, however it is only within the last three years that an understanding has developed, that the silver kills the pathogens. The origin of an appropriate technology filter is the development of the filter pot, currently being promoted by PFP, by the Guatemalan chemist, Fernando Mazerigos. The pottery purifier of this application was developed by Reid Harvey, a ceramic designer, who is our consultant and partner. Mr. Harvey developed the pottery purifier, working independently in Cote d’Ivoire, in 1999.

Contact Information:
Ehud  Mukuha
Director
The Eastleigh Community Centre
(Church-based NGO)
Kenya
Website: N/A