On the International World Water Day, March 22nd 2021, Freudenberg celebrated the availability of clean drinking water by donating an “Aqua Tower” to the school students and people living in the surrounding areas of Parikrma Humanity Foundation located at Sahakarnagar in Bangalore through the Planet Water Project 24 initiative.
Water scarcity in India
In India, less than 50 per cent of the population – more than half a billion people – have access to clean drinking water. Often, local sources of water are chemically contaminated, the transmission of germs and disease are a common occurrence.
e² – Education and Environment
To help provide people with access to clean water, Freudenberg has partnered with a non-profit organization “Planet Water”. The goal: To supply drinking water to the poorest regions of India. As part of Freudenberg Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiative called e² which stands for Education and Environment, the company through Planet Water has deployed the water filtration system called the “Aqua Tower” at Parikrma Humanity Foundation at Sahakarnagar branch in Bangalore, which helps in purification of contaminated water from various sources such as rivers, wells or streams and turns it into potable water. The system installed at the school produces up to 1,000 liters of drinking water per hour and helps provide the daily drinking water needs of 500 students and families in the surrounding areas, thereby saving resources and helping prevent even greater water scarcity in the city. This is the second “Aqua Tower” installation after the first tower that was installed in a local school in Pune in Pimple Khalsa in August 2020. At Pimpale Khalsa and Parikrma Humanity Foundation, it can meet the daily drinking water needs of approximately 2,000 people individually.
Alongside the clean drinking water solution, the project also provides a training program for teachers at the local school. They are responsible for teaching their students about the hygienic and safe use of the Aqua Tower.
“Thanks to the donation, over 500 students in Sahakarnagar branch at Bangalore and their families now have access to clean filtered water. In times of the Corona pandemic, this is particularly important,” says Shukla Bosa, Founder and CEO of Parikrma Humanity Foundation. She also appreciates the training program provided to the teachers for its child-friendly lessons on health and hygiene. The project itself has another enormous benefit for the students in Sahakarnagar. They no longer have to tend to the water supply with their families and can instead regularly take part in school lessons.
“Clean water is a luxury in many Indian households. Now that we can offer students and villagers sustainable access to clean water with the Planet Water team, we’re all the happier to show responsibility for our society,” says Georg Graf, Freudenberg Regional Representative, India who is spearheading this project in the region. “We are keen to add more such projects in our region”, he added.