“Water and sanitation is the basic necessity of life that gets compromised due to climate change impacts. With this project Sun-Vill WASH we could enable the vulnerable communities of Sundarbans with climate preparedness and as well make them free from water-poverty trap.” — Dr. Dipayan Dey, Design & Innovation Lead, Sun-Vill Solar Water ATM
Globally, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water, and around 1.8 billion people use untreated drinking water, contaminated by human feces and dangerous pollutants.
Unsafe water is a major contributing factor to diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid. According to UNICEF, children under 5 are more likely to die from diarrheal disease linked to unsafe water than from conflict and war. Around the world, 80 percent of waste-water flows back to the environment with no treatment.
Moreover, when water is not available in the home, the burden of collecting it falls mostly on women and children, keeping them from attending school or gaining a decent job. Women and children around the world spend a collective 200 million hours gathering water.