Our Work

The Global Water Crisis

When you consider the many things Canadians take for granted, safe drinking water is certainly one of them. Few of us are very appreciative when we turn on the tap and crystal-clear water flows – drinkable water is an expectation.

How many of us know or care that in the developing world, more than one billion people – one out of every six on the planet – are trying to survive on contaminated water every day of their lives? They must rely on water from

“ Without the water filter, my children would get diarrhoea. But not even one has been sick since we’ve had our water filter.   ” - Eing Pan, Cambodia

stagnant ditches, ponds, streams and other usually tainted sources, and they must fight a near-constant battle against diarrhoeal diseases like dysentery and cholera.

These diseases kill at least 1.4 million children a year. That’s one child dying every 20 seconds.

“Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and, therefore, a basic human right,” said Kofi Annan, during his tenure as Secretary General of the United Nations. “Contaminated water jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people. It is an affront to human dignity.”

The United Nations has challenged Canada and other developed nations to work together so that by 2015, only eight years from now, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation is half of what it is today.

Responding to the Crisis

Several charitable organizations – including Samaritan’s Purse – are attacking the global water crisis using a made-in-Canada technology called the BioSand Water Filter.

Invented by Dr. David Manz, a former University of Calgary professor, the BioSand Water Filter is an adaptation of the natural process of slow sand filtration. It is an affordable, sustainable household technology that quickly transforms

“ Life has changed because of the water filter . . . we don’t have to walk anymore to find water or to buy it. We have felt the change in the water we now drink.    ” - Margarita Mancia, El Salvador

contaminated water into drinkable water.

Water poured into the top of the concrete filter flows downward through fine sand that traps organic material, parasites, protozoa, and other micro-organisms. The organic material and organisms caught in the sand eventually develop into a biological layer. This layer is an intensely active, complex food chain that digests the organic matter and disease-causing parasites, bacteria and viruses contained in the water poured into it.

Kenyan farmer Bernard Mzololo scoops his water from a foul-looking ditch. Because Mzololo has a BioSand Water Filter in his clay-and-straw home, he is able to pour the coffee-coloured brew into the filter. Within moments, Mzololo’s family has access to clean, clear water.

“My family isn’t sick anymore with stomach problems,” Mzololo said. “Before we had the water filter, they would get diarrhoea and would suffer for a long time.”

When coupled with hygiene and sanitation education programs, BioSand Water Filters improve developing-world families’ health so that members can continue to go to school or work. This enables them to escape a vicious cycle of poverty that hampers economic and social development for individuals, communities and entire nations.

Turn on the Tap

In the 10 years since Dr. Manz made his BioSand Water Filter technology available to non-profit groups to implement it in the developing world, more than 200,000 filters have been built and installed worldwide. Samaritan’s Purse is responsible for 104,000 of those filters.

“ You just add filthy water and it comes out clean, with good taste and no odour – it comes out good to drink.   ” - Transito Diaz, El Salvador

Samaritan’s Purse has focused its BioSand Water Filter efforts on three regions: Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. The filters, which recipients help to build and install to ensure they have “ownership” in the program, have been so successful in improving recipients’ health that we are launching a Canada-wide initiative – called Turn on the Tap – to finance the construction and installation of 65,000 more filters in the next three years.

BioSand Water Filters produce about one litre of safe water per minute – providing a household of 8-10 people with enough water for their drinking, cooking, cleaning and hygiene needs. The average worldwide cost of a filter is only $100. That includes raw materials, construction, transportation, monitoring, plus training for recipients about the filter’s operation and about proper hygiene and sanitation practices. For only $100 per filter, a Canadian family can provide a developing-world family with something that none of us should take for granted – safe, drinkable water.

Essential Facts

• Almost 3,800 children die every day from diarrhoea-related diseases.¹
• Diarrhoea-related diseases can be reduced up to 40 percent by using BioSand Water Filters²
• A baby born in sub-Saharan Africa is 520 times more likely to die from diarrhoea than a child born in North America.¹
• • An average person in the developing world survives on 10 to 20 litres of water a day, while a Canadian uses more than 300 litres a day.³
• The health improvements from a 50 per cent reduction in the number of people without access to safe drinking water would result in an extra 272 million school attendance days and 320 million productive work days each year in the developing world –resulting in major economic and social benefits.¹

BioSand Water Filter Benefits

• Durable and robust – lasts for many years with basic maintenance
• Made from locally available materials
• Require no electricity or fuel
• Simple, no-cost maintenance
• High flow rate – up to 60 litres an hour

BioSand Water Filter Results

• BioSand Water Filters can reduce microbial contaminants by 95 – 99.9 per cent, research shows.⁴
• Of BSF recipient households surveyed in a worldwide evaluation, 98 per cent are using their filters regularly.⁵
• Of these households, 85 per cent said they would be drinking water directly from contaminated sources if they didn’t own a filter.⁵

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¹ WHO Unicef, 2005
² University of North Carolina, 2007
³ Environment Canada, 2006
⁴ Elliott et al, University of North Carolina, 2006
⁵ 2001 BioSand Filter Evaluation Report

Ways You Can Help
Pray Please pray that God will continue to provide direction to Samaritan’s Purse, as we respond to people’s needs, share the love of Christ, and serve the church worldwide.		Give The need is urgent. A child is dying every 20 seconds in the developing world from diarrhoeal diseases caused by polluted water. Donate Here.