WASH vs. COVID-19 Innovator Fund: a new partnership between Cewas, Toilets for All and Aqua for All
In the midst of the Covid-19 global pandemic, the WASH vs. COVID-19 Innovator Fund aims to support young entrepreneurs in the field of water, sanitation, hygiene and waste resource management across the Middle East. Cewas and its partners, Toilets for All and Aqua for All, offer micro grants to entrepreneurs who provide innovative solutions to address environmental and health crises. Toilets for All is funding a project carried out by SOLVillion in a public school in Amman, Jordan. Here you will find a video about the whole project.
SOLVillion provides engineering solutions in the field of water and wastewater. For this project, SOLVillion installed a Decentralized Wastewater system (DWWS) in the public school Um Tufail, which is not connected to the sanitation system and faces environmental and economic problems. The DWWS is an onsite system which recycles wastewater and reuses it for agricultural purposes. SOLVillion’s project entails the rehabilitation of the handwashing system, the installation of water-saving devices on the school water taps and the distribution of soap for students. The aim of the project is twofold: firstly, to reduce water consumption in order to seize the amount of water provided to the school and secondly, to prepare the school during the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, SOLVillion intends to train teachers on the system and the wastewater treatment and to raise awareness about the scarcity of water resources in the school community.
Through its innovative approach, SOLVillion aspires to have an environmental impact both in the short and the long term. Helping the school to tackle environmental and public health problems caused by the septic tank, reducing the water consumption for agricultural purposes, shedding wastewater discharge costs and educating both the students and the school staff about decentralized wastewater treatment and the DWWS constitute short-term goals for SOLVillion. In the long term, SOLVillion seeks to raise awareness in the community regarding wastewater treatment as an innovative solution to the water crisis and to eliminate public health, environmental and economic problems in areas without access to the sanitation system.
2020 marks the 10th year anniversary since the UN General Assembly recognized the human rights to water and sanitation. Toilets for All mission is to support businesses and entrepreneurs, who offer innovative solutions to address issues in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene. These initiatives advocate for the rights to water and sanitation and help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SOLVillion’s project has a direct impact on SDG6: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” and SDG10: “Reduce inequality within and among countries”.
Text writen by: María Bravo Elvira