Water and sanitation as a global issue
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 844 million people lack access to even basic drinking water services (WHO, 2018); 2 billion people use water contaminated with fecal residue, resulting in the death of 842,000 people due to diarrheal diseases each year, about 43% of whom are children under the age of five (WHO, 2018). Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are global issues that Antenna is tackling through its activities researching and testing solutions.
Water & hygiene approach
We develop and adapt innovative technologies and solutions that seek to improve the water and hygiene conditions of the most disadvantaged people. This process follows a three-step model :
- R&D and prototyping – Partnering with research institutions and academia
- Field testing through pilot projects
- Scaling up solutions through:
- Social entrepreneurs – by developing business models and partnering with or incubating new local social enterprises
- Local authorities
- Local NGOs – through partnerships
- Schools
Our experiences and success stories help us extract lessons learnt that are vital to improving future projects.
Antenna’s spin-off WATALUX
Over the last decade, the Antenna Foundation has developed the technology WATA, a simple and robust range of devices to autonomously produce active chlorine to treat water and disinfect surfaces and objects.
In 2018, we created the spin-off WATALUX to accelerate the commercialisation of the technology. Find out more about the company and the devices.
PUBLICATIONS
- Locally produced chlorine improves water sanitation & hygiene indicators in Chad. Health Sci. Dis: Vol 22 (11) November 2021 pp 51-56
- Preventing nosocomial infections in resource-limited settings Infection, disease & Health (2020) 25, 186-193
For more information : wash@antenna.ch