Introduction

Board of Directors

Dr. Martin G. Beyer Dr. Peter G. Bourne Dr. Randall Donohue Dr. M. Julie Kim T. A. Kuepper, Executive Director Chris Kunze Amb. John W. McDonald, Chairman of the Board Dr. Jens W. Schulze

Technical Advisory Committee

Dr. Robert Carnahan, Ph.D., P.E. University of South Florida Associate Dean for Research College of Engineering Expertise: All Water Treatment Processes Dr. Charles P. Gerba, Ph.D. University of Arizona Microbiology & Immunology and Soil, Water & Environmental Science Expertise: Microbiology Mr. Mark A. Silbernagel Test Director, Seawater Desalination Test Facility Port Hueneme, California Expertise: Seawater Desalination / Other Water Treatment Processes Dr. Steven T. Ruggiero, Ph.D.University of Notre Dame, Physics Expertise: Condensed-Matter, Water Assaying, and Biological Physics Mr. David J. Paulson Consultant Expertise: Membrane Filtration, Membrane Demineralization and Related Technologies

GLOBAL WATER was founded in 1982 by former U.S. Ambassador John McDonald and Dr. Peter Bourne to help save the lives of people in developing countries that are lost due to unclean water.

In 1977 the United Nations hosted a World Conference on Water. One of the many recommendations made by the Conference was to recommend a Decade focused on drinking water and sanitation. In 1978 Ambassador McDonald lifted that paragraph out of the larger World Conference document and decided to make that recommendation a reality. On November 10, 1980 the United Nations General Assembly adopted McDonald’s resolution unanimously and the Decade was launched (1981-1990). McDonald was named the United States Coordinator for the Decade by the State Department in 1979 and has continued his interest in water issues to this day.

Dr. Peter Bourne, a former White House Special Assistant to President Carter, was named United Nations Coordinator for the Decade in 1982, with the rank of Assistant Secretary General and was based in New York. The Decade was a great success bringing 1.1 billion people safe drinking water for the first time in their lives and 769 million people sanitation facilities.”

During this period, Ambassador McDonald traveled extensively to developing nations and saw first hand the problems that unclean water causes people to endure; as he tells it: "Nothing I had ever seen in my life prepared me for the day I landed in Africa. I saw villages where people trekked miles in the hot sun just to get clean water for the day. But even more tragic were the children I saw suffering from the lack of clean water. Many seemed to be just hours from death, and others had lost their vision to trachoma, an easily preventable disease caused by contaminated water."

Rather than providing short-term supplies like food and bottled water that are quickly consumed, GLOBAL WATER focuses on permanent solutions to a region's water needs. A handout fills a stomach for a few hours. Global Water enables entire villages to have clean, healthy water forever in order to change their lives - forever.

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Statement of Philosophy

Global Water is based upon the belief that the lack of access to safe drinking water is the primary cause of hunger, disease and poverty throughout the developing world. Founded in 1982, Global Water is a volunteer-based, international, non-profit humanitarian organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in the United States. We’re focused on providing safe water supplies, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and related health programs for rural villagers in developing countries.

To achieve this goal, Global Water’s strategy is to provide permanent solutions to a region’s water needs by implementing sustainable and appropriate systems (to include state-of-the-art technology) to:

• Access, purify, and distribute new sources of safe water for rural villages;

• Build sanitation facilities, such as latrines, to create safe waste disposal while providing dignity to rural villagers;

• Build hygiene-related facilities, such as hand washing stations, for rural schools with a complementary educational component;

Our water projects have an immediate life-changing impact, particularly to women and children, who have the responsibility in rural areas of developing countries to gather water for the family every day of their lives. Successful Global Water projects utilize water and sanitation as a tool to create sustainable socioeconomic development in these poor rural communities.
Simply put - our program is designed to enable the rural poor to help themselves.

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Mr. John R. Babson is Executive Director Emeritus of Global Water. Besides a professional career as vice president of an international well drilling equipment manufacturer, Mr. Babson has had a distinguished humanitarian career in the non-profit sector, as well. From 1983 to 1989 he was President and Executive Director of the International Eye Foundation. At his initiation, the Foundation became the lead organization to arrange for the distribution of medicine to control and prevent the spread of River Blindness. Also during 1988 to 1990, Mr. Babson was a special assistant to the dean of Tulane University, School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, for their River Blindness Control Project. It was during this time that Mr. Babson, working closely with contaminated water blindness activities, became focused on water-related health issues. Mr. Babson was Executive Director of Global Water for a period of 10 years ending in 2003.

Dr. Martin G. Beyer was an Associate Professor of Community and Preventative Medicine for International Health at New York Medical College, and an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Public Health Engineers (London). He was a consultant for international development in the field of water supply, sanitation and hygiene for developing countries. He was also a director of WorldWater International, a company working towards developing new water resources, as well as developing new technologies for the use of solar energy. Mr. Beyer retired in 1990 after 20 years in the service of the United Nations working with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). In particular, from 1973 to 1989 he was a Senior Adviser to UNICEF, responsible for coordinating the organization’s water supply and sanitation effort worldwide. Dr. Beyer was also a Chairman for the UN Intersecretariat Group on Water Resources and Chairman of the Advisory Panel to the UNDP Global Project for the development and test & evaluation of water well hand-pumps.

Dr. Peter Bourne is a former Assistant Secretary General to the United Nations where he was appointed coordinator of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. He was an advisor and consultant for numerous governmental and private organizations, including Special Assistant to the President of the United States for health issues. He has taught and chaired medical-related departments at several Universities in the U. S. and has published an extensive array of books, articles, and book chapters over the past 35 years. Dr. Bourne is an advisor on health issues to the Carter Presidential Center, and is Chairman of the American Association for World Health.

Dr. Randall Donohue is Professor of Global Business and MBA program director at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon. As an educator and consultant, he has a special interest in social entrepreneurship and market-based strategies for sustainable development. In the 1970s, Dr. Donohue and his wife served as U.S. Peace Corps Volunteers in India, where they worked as village extension agents in horticulture and nutrition. They quickly learned how water would be the key to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease in the village. In 1979, Dr. Donohue was appointed by the Governor of the State of Washington to manage the State’s first overseas trade office in Singapore. He went on to serve as Asia Regional Director in the U.S. Agricultural Trade Office, supervising programs and personnel in 14 countries. Dr. Donohue has extensive contacts and experience in the Asia-Pacific region, and is an active member of the National Peace Corps Association.

Dr. M. Julie Kim is a civil engineer with 25 years of experience in infrastructure development and implementation projects in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific region, with a special focus on transport and large-scale property development projects. Dr. Kim’s experience extends to all phases of project development process—from the initial planning phase through design, construction, and operations phases. In Asia-Pacific region, Dr. Kim has hands-on work experience in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Laos, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In addition to her project management and business development capabilities, her technical expertise includes: econometric modeling, linear programming and optimization, master planning, facility programming, as well as operations and infrastructure security.

Mr. T. A. Kuepper, REM is the current Executive Director of Global Water, an environmental engineer and a Registered Environmental Manager. His technical experience has included developing water supply equipment ranging from freshwater treatment to seawater desalination, as well as mobile hygienic systems. In a 30 year career as an Environmental Engineer, he has directed and participated in numerous water treatment and seawater desalination projects with a focus on designs that require minimal maintenance for long-term operation. Particular applications for his water treatment designs have included remote locations for the U.S. military, as well as rural areas of developing countries.

Chris Kunze has a degree from the University of Southern California, an MBA from the University of California – Los Angeles, and a Certificate in Air Transportation Management from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. His work experience includes resource, business enterprise and project management as a commercial airport manager for the past 34 years, and prior to that as a management consultant and management systems engineer in the aerospace industry. Mr. Kunze supports Global Water in the execution of strategic planning and project management, as well as development of special projects.

U. S. Ambassador John McDonald is a lawyer, diplomat, development expert, and peacemaker, concerned with the World’s social, economic, and ethnic problems. He spent 20 years of his career working for the U. S. State Department in Western Europe and the Middle East in a wide variety of assignments in the area of multi-lateral diplomacy. In addition, he worked another 16 years representing the U. S. in various capacities on United Nations affairs, including coordinator of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. He has taught at several colleges and universities during his career and has been president of the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, which focuses on ethnic conflicts around the world. In 1992, he was named a Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. He was twice appointed Ambassador by President Carter and was appointed by President Reagan to represent the U. S. at various United Nation World Conferences. Ambassador McDonald is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Global Water.

Dr. Jens W. Schulze is a Professor of Marketing at the Fachhochschule Gelsenkirchen, a University in Germany. He holds degrees in both Chemistry (Ph.D.) and economics (MBA). Before beginning his University teaching career, Dr. Schulze’s business endeavors included working on numerous international projects that incorporated mobile water purification systems. These projects also included sanitation and hygiene equipment for developing countries. His focus at the University is to explore the relationship between what is technically possible compared to what is economically feasible.

Introduction| The Problem |The Solution | Appropriate Technology

Global Water is an international, non-profit humanitarian organization specifically committed to the development of safe water supplies in rural areas of developing countries. In addition, our water supply projects often include complementary programs that include effective sanitation and hygiene facilities in association with related health education.

Rather than providing short-term supplies of food and bottled water that are quickly consumed, Global Water’s strategy is to provide permanent solutions to a region’s water needs by providing appropriate equipment (to include state-of-the-art technology) to:

• Secure, purify, store and distribute new sources of water for domestic uses (such as: drinking, cooking, and hygiene) and agricultural purposes;

• Drill new water wells to allow access to groundwater;

Global Water believes the lack of access to safe water is the root cause of disease, hunger and poverty in the developing world today. Right now, countless communities in over 50 nations are suffering because local water supplies are either scarce, contaminated, or non-existent. Our program is designed to provide safe water supplies in rural villages to enable the rural poor to help themselves.

In 2001, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) asked Global Water to perform an investigation of groundwater availability in water-short regions of the world. That investigation was documented in a report entitled: Groundwater Availability Study for Water-Short Developing Countries, where it was shown there are significant groundwater assets available even in some of the most drought-prone areas of the world. Although available, these groundwater assets are not being used today because often the leaders of drought-prone countries do not possess the political will to drill water wells for their own people.

Global Water has learned through experience that temporary handouts during emergency crises, unfortunately, cannot solve long-term regional health and other famine-related problems. Permanent sources of clean, fresh water are needed in order to stop the drought/famine cycles that plague many regions of the world. Right now, countless communities in over 50 nations are suffering needlessly because water is either scarce, contaminated, or non-existent. The sad irony is this: Often there is enough water to save thousands of lives just 100 to 300 feet away. Where? Underground. Even during the most intensive droughts in arid, desert-like areas there is often groundwater available only 100 - 300 feet deep. However, we fully appreciate the fact that to a villager with hand tools, digging a water well 100 feet deep is unimaginable. But Global Water can and does bring state-of-the-art water well drilling equipment to rural areas in order to provide life-giving sources of water.

Since 1982, Global Water has worked with water supply projects all over the world in a variety of roles in order to accommodate local conditions. These include technical assistance (either consulting or on-site supervision), water supply equipment, on-site volunteers, and often direct financial aid to local, community-based organizations.

Now Global Water wants to do more. They want to go into rural areas that have unsafe water supplies or are susceptible to water shortages, such as drought (but might not be experiencing an emergency today). In these regions, Global Water wants to drill a series of wells that can be used to supply safe drinking water supplies to tens of thousands of people during all conditions, but especially during periods of drought. In addition, Global Water wants to provide water for agricultural purposes to end the drought/famine cycle in many rural areas once and for all. In concert with this goal is to also provide state-of-the-art water treatment equipment to purify water, especially for the many existing water supplies that have been contaminated with various forms of pollution for many years. In addition, specially designed water storage containers will be distributed to villagers to provide storage and distribution of water to ensure safety throughout a newly created water supply system.

That in a nutshell are the goals of the new Rural Outreach Water Supply Program. Global Water has done a lot since its inception in 1982, but it now wants to go beyond the conventional, short-term humanitarian project to make a genuine, lasting impact in rural regions.

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The Problem

Simply put - the lack of safe drinking water is the primary cause of disease in the world today. Everyday, tens of thousands of  people die from causes directly related to contaminated water. And for those who survive, without good health, there is little chance for a normal and productive life. A surprising statistic to many is that contaminated water causes 80% of the health problems throughout the world. Much of the reason is because in rural areas of developing countries, the only water source for people to wash with and drink from is often a badly polluted shallow well (less than 10 feet deep) or mud-hole used by both animals and humans. In those areas where there’s actually a stream or river, they’re often polluted as well, because animal and human wastes are emptied directly into it without proper treatment.

Throughout the world, water supplies in developing countries are contaminated with a wide variety of microorganisms that cause typhoid, diarrheal diseases, amoebic dysentery, cholera, and other notoriously virulent diseases. Diarrheal diseases alone are directly linked to the deaths of more than 6 million children per year. Unfortunately there has been a dramatic increase in the past 10 years of the number of deaths from the consumption of contaminated drinking water around the world. A particularly sobering thought is that this unnecessary misery and death is occurring in areas where there is no major drought or "official" emergency or disaster to cite as a specific cause. By the time a recognized emergency does occur, the numbers of people injured or killed due to drinking contaminated water quickly becomes much more dramatic since water supplies become very polluted in localized areas as people congregate during periods of drought, famine, and natural disasters.

It’s an especially sad irony that these conditions persist at the very time when water treatment equipment has experienced new and exciting technological developments that can remove virtually all pollutants from water in a single stage.

During a drought, water supplies dwindle causing agricultural-based villagers to travel the countryside searching for water and food (rural areas in developing countries often contain over 70% of a population). If a drought continues, the rural population must travel hundreds of miles to resettle in relief villages as agricultural production in a region decreases to near zero. In this manner, a large number of people can become solely dependent on a country’s government to supply food and water to its population. If the country’s government is dysfunctional, as has been the case in numerous instances in the past two decades (Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, to name a few) whole scale starvation results.

[Photo courtesy of Lifewater International]

It’s interesting to note that the lack of water is the primary reason why villagers must leave an area in search of food and water during a famine. Water is just too heavy to transport long distances. Food, on the other hand, can be readily transported by air and delivered to remote famine-susceptible locations. Therefore, if water is more available in rural areas, supplemental food can be air delivered to villagers experiencing famine. This would dramatically reduce the need for tens of thousands of people in weakened health conditions to travel long distances to resettlement villages. In addition, another serious problem that we’ve witnessed during recent emergency relief activities is the political threat to rural villagers that often exacerbates relief operations. As mentioned, because water can’t be realistically distributed to tens of thousands of people in rural areas, villagers must travel to remaining water supplies. This often means traveling long distances through regions that may be controlled by opposing political forces. During this past decade we’ve seen starving villagers become pawns in deadly political warfare with tragic consequences, all because they must travel to find water.

If you’ve ever seen an image of the glazed stare of a child sitting in a resettlement village during a drought/famine cycle and said "there must be a better way" you’re absolutely correct and Global Water’s Rural Outreach Water Supply program is that way.

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The Solution

The solution to change these desperate conditions that exist in many regions of the world must be multi-faceted to accommodate a variety of conditions. Where no water supply exists or only polluted water is accessible in an area, the answer may be to dig water wells below surface pollution to access uncontaminated water supplies. Although the solution to this incredulous situation that exists can be stated in one sentence, it is a difficult task, at best, that few relief organizations are equipped to tackle. Generally speaking, the major emphasis for governmental and private relief agencies around the world today is to provide food for starving people once a desperate situation, usually caused by drought, develops into a widespread disaster. We in no way wish to minimize the importance of these life-saving emergency efforts by many humanitarian organizations. These activities save tens of thousands of lives and the compassion demonstrated by these efforts truly show the best of human nature.

However, Global Water ’s concept of providing new and clean water supplies to withstand drought and alleviate the necessity to use polluted surface waters is a decidedly different focus from the normal relief effort today. Global Water wants to prevent the next famine, not react to it. It’s the only way to actually prevent the drought/famine cycle from occurring when regional weather patterns change periodically. And it has been suggested by many scientists that as global warming evolves, drought/famine cycles will become more common and for longer durations in many regions of the world that are currently in a water-stressed condition.

It is a sad irony that the overwhelming opinion of most relief agencies is that bringing state-of-the-art equipment and capability to rural areas of developing countries is not possible today when today’s state-of-the-art water treatment equipment now uses technologies that match perfectly with the water treatment requirements of polluted waters around the world. Relatively new water purification capabilities, especially from the use of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, match the technical requirements of purifying polluted water by desalinating water and providing a physical barrier to microorganisms and a wide array of chemical contaminants, all in one stage. Where microorganisms are the only contaminant to an otherwise safe water source, new disinfection technologies and new distribution techniques can create a simple and safe water supply system for thousands of villagers.

Global Water realizes that creating a safe regional water source is really only half the job necessary to ensure a safe water supply system in rural areas. The water must be distributed in such a way that re-contamination does not happen. Global Water agrees with the excellent work that has been initiated and accomplished by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in coordination with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the University of North Carolina (UNC) in the area of water disinfection and distribution for centralized rural water supplies. The equipment and methodologies developed by CDC/PAHO/UNC and endorsed by Global Water are listed in the section describing details of the new Rural Outreach Water Supply Program.

The problem with creating new water supplies in rural areas is not that we lack the technology to treat unsafe water or to drill water wells in remote locations. No, the real problem is the organization and funding have been lacking to implement and sustain true state-of-the-art water supply equipment in remote locations.

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Appropriate Technology

For many years and continuing today, the level of technology that is
thought usable by developing countries is technology readily understood by the local population. That generally means using equipment made from locally available materials that can be repaired by local craftsmen. This is called appropriate technology and it works very well since it is fine-tuned to a local area, its people and its craftsmen’s capabilities. In the area of water supply and purification, appropriate technology can dig shallow wells, provide filtration of turbidity and reduce levels of microorganisms (through slow sand filtration and may be able to store water from existing freshwater sources.

What it can’t do is effectively treat a polluted source to drinking water quality, or drill water wells beyond modest depths, or store water under sanitary conditions. However, the technology to do these tasks does exist outside of the appropriate technology arena. State-of-the-art technology can be harnessed to develop drinking water supplies that far exceeds appropriate technology capabilities and expectations. But this equipment must be supported by a continuous system of communication, training and logistical re-supply.

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