Nobonita Chowdhury
WaterAid is an international organization that works to provide people living in poverty with access to clean water, proper sanitation and good hygiene. Founded in the UK in 1981, the organization began its operations with clean water projects in Sri Lanka and Zambia. These projects then became the first of many sanitation and hygiene projects that WaterAid had organized over the past thirty years. The organization has now spread to 37 countries, impacting the lives of millions everyday.
In Dhaka, WaterAid has introduced a unique solution to an age old problem: access to clean water. Dhaka city is crowded with over 600,000 cycle rickshaws each day, and the rickshaw pullers who do the strenuous task of pedaling these rickshaws struggle to obtain clean water for themselves and their families. As a result many rickshawpullers often resort to drinking unsanitary water to quench their thirst. WaterAid has created a pedal powered water filter to help out these rickshawpullers. Known as PedalPure, the filter can be fitted to rickshaws and takes about 15 minutes to install. The pedal powered pump in the filter then pulls in impure water from the water container connected it, filtering out the impurities and leaving behind pure drinking water. What makes the PedalPure particularly convenient is that the rickshaw pullers are producing clean drinking water while working all day, therefore not having to do anything extra to purify the water. A PedalPure filter costs less than 1500 BDT, and rickshawpullers receive them free of cost, thanks to WaterAid’s generosity.
Rickshaws that have PedalPure installed to them filter 600mL of water with each kilometer they travel. PedalPure has already transformed the lives of many in Dhaka city. It is a shining example of how a small initiative taken can become a significant step towards solving a much larger problem. PedalPure is not as widespread yet, but it shows promises of a not so distant future where everyone would have access to clean drinking water.