Giving Compass' Take:

• A public health organization called Swasti, helped a village in Karnataka, India, to get access to clean water by building a water filtration system in the community and teaching the women how to maintain it. 

• How often does Swasti provide this service for rural villages? What makes these systems sustainable? 

• Read about WASH tools for donors and how to use data for more sustainable WASH funding. 

Until a year ago, the water in Beechaganahalli village in Karnataka, India, was poisoning everyone who lived there. It was naturally full of arsenic and fluoride. However, the women in the village campaigned to change things, first by holding demonstrations and then by visiting every house and school to raise awareness. Eventually, along with the village council, they persuaded a public health organization, Swasti, to help.

Swasti built a water filtration plant that provides clean water. Although the water’s not free, it is much cheaper than the mineral water the women had been buying before. And under the terms of the deal agreed for Swasti to build the plant, the women help run and maintain it.

Read the full article about a campaign for clean water by Mahesh Bacham at News Deeply