Power of knowledge in executing household water treatment programs globally

This paper presents a case study of five organizations from five countries: Haiti, El Salvador, India, the Philippines and Pakistan, demonstrating that knowledge transfer can be a catalyst for locally-driven water programs for the poor. Each organization received training and technical consulting from the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology on Project Implementation for the Biosand Filter. Each then established an independent project resulting in cleaner water for 156,000 people in six years, and widespread biosand filter acceptance among users. Lessons learned are that knowledge transfer can result in effective, sustainable and scaleable technology implementation; transfer takes place one person at a time, making education at all levels crucial; pilots/demonstrations are essential motivators to technology adoption; involvement of mainstream government can result in faster implementation and widespread acceptance; and technology training is not enough. Organizations need to learn how to plan, implement and monitor programs