Opening Letter From Guido
To reduce diarrhea, waterborne diseases and stunting, decentralized solutions are needed that empower households to purify the water at the point of use. Most rural households don’t have
access to a pipe and depend on contaminated sources. Even piped water is often not safe for consumption.
Dear Friends,
I started working on the “Nazava” idea in 2007 when we arrived in Aceh. Lisa and I bothmstudied at Wageningen University. I studied tropical land use and Lisa rural development studies. Those educational programmes do not teach you to become an entrepreneur,mon the contrary they prepare you for a career in academia, government, the aid sector or consultancy firms.
During my internship and graduation projects abroad I discovered that when you really want to make a change for smallholder farmers and other low income communities you need to provide something that people want to buy and pay for themselves.
After all there will never be enough money to do government funded projects everywhere and those programs are not always that helpful either. I observed that many projects trying to help small holder farmers came up with solutions that could improve their income but only if those farmers put in a lot more time and effort. That is one of the reasons that those projects often fail. Contrary to popular belief, low income households do not have a lot of spare time. Therefore successful interventions to improve livelihoods should be 1) time saving 2) good so that people want to pay for it. The good news – or maybe it is not that new – is that when something is good even poor folks will pay for it.
I extrapolated this idea to the drinking water sector when we were in Aceh. Ultimately it is unlikely that there will not be enough money to provide everybody with piped water access that provides healthy, safe drinking water. Traditional ways of water treatment using boiling, cloths, and chlorination provide low quality water and are cumbersome. Quite a number of water filter projects also failed because the filters were complicated to use. There are a number of outdoor water filters which are great for camping and emergency use but not easy to use in your house. That is why people often do not use those filters even when they are handed out for free.
Another misconception, that we also had, is that a filter should be as cheap as possible. Our first filter model was really cheap, only a few dollars but it also was ugly. People didn’t like it at all. That is why as soon as we could afford it we hired a team of students from Delft to use a human centered design to make us a new filter. That was not an easy process and from start to finish it took 24 months to get the product on the shelf.
In 2023, with help of the award money from the Bayer Foundation we added something to our flagship product that we all want: choice. Besides the fresh looking blue, consumers can now choose a pink and a green filter as well. It has been a great success and we might be adding more colors in the future. What color would you want?
Our filters save users a lot of time but the reason why people decide to buy the product is because they can get healthier water at a fraction of the costs of boiling or buying water. The nice looks of our product and the choice of colors make prospects want to have this product in their house.
We now sold over 260K water filters, most of them were bought by medium to low income households. Our buyers often have to set aside 10%-20% of their monthly income to purchase a water filter. In the Netherlands – where I am from – that would translate to US$600. It makes me proud that we made a product that is considered that valuable.
In 2023 we made some big steps to make Nazava’s solution for safe drinking water more ubiquitous. We kept on spreading the gospel of household water treatment during many conferences and meetings including the World Water Week in Stockholm and the UNC Health and Water Conference to name a few.
In Indonesia we are incrementally becoming more mainstream. We increased our direct sales team from 5 to 9 in 2023 and aim high for the coming years. Another major milestone is that Nazava is now officially a locally produced water filter in Indonesia with local content certification. Because of that Nazava is now featured on the e-catalog for government procurement.
In Kenya, despite the economic crises and sky high inflation we managed to slightly increase our sales and onboarded new MFI partners. The demand for water filters in Kenya is high which was illustrated by the national radio inviting Lisa for an exclusive interview. Of course much more happened in 2023, read all about it here!
With healthy greetings!
Guido
Co-founder and President Director
Nazava Water Filters
Problem and Solution
Problem
Approximately 1 billion households globally encounter difficulties in obtaining safe drinking water. These households are mostly poor and belong within the demographic known as the base of the pyramid (BoP). These households often occupy the lowest rung of the income ladder, they are the world’s lowest earners. Poor people in the global south spend 10 to 20 times more than people in rich countries on water that is of worse quality. These families have very little savings and must use a significant portion of their income to acquire or treat drinking water, or in many cases, drink contaminated untreated water.
The lack of access to safe and affordable drinking water leads to the spread of waterborne diseases, malnutrition, and economic hardships. Globally, there are nearly 1.6 million deaths from diarrheal diseases each year, including more than a half million children. Drinking contaminated water is a leading cause of malnutrition and nearly 150 million children are stunted. Women and girls suffer the most as they often bear the burden of providing safe drinking water to the household. Each day they spend 200 million hours collecting and treating water
As water sources get more polluted due to overpopulation, climate change and industrialization, innovative solutions are needed to achieve universal access to drinkable water. People in low-income countries cannot wait until centralized, expensive water-utilities are built, and it’s unrealistic that these will reach all rural-communities.
Solution
Our mission is to provide everyone, everywhere, with safe, affordable drinking water, and leave nobody behind.
Affordable, high quality household water purifiers can leapfrog piped water connections the way mobile phones leapfrogged landlines. This decentralized model has already been pioneered with solar lamps and clean cookstoves providing essential services to rural communities in developing countries without all the expensive infrastructure. The same can be done with a water filter, empowering households to take control of their drinking water needs without relying on piped potable water.
Not only is our product affordable, but it is also functional, durable and stylish. The Nazava Water Filter utilizes a simple two gravity based ceramic filtration system. Users simply pour dirty rain, well, river, or tap water in the top bucket which contains the Nazava PROT3CT ceramic filter element.
The Nazava PROT3CT has three layers (1) ceramic with pores 0.4 micron in diameter to block dirt and bacteria, (2) nano silver to prevent bacteria growth, and (3) activated carbon to reduce chemical content, remove odor, and improve taste. The Nazava PROT3CT is certified by the WHO and the Kenyan Bureau of Standards for bacterial removal. More lab results are available on our website. The flow rate is 2-3 liters per hour depending on the water quality. So if you fill the top container in the evening, the bottom container will be filled with 16L of safely stored, purified water, which is plenty for the daily needs of a household or classroom. Our flagship product is available in three colors and is the perfect addition to any home!
Our Impact
Methodology
At Nazava, we use a meticulous methodology to avoid double-counting and maintain transparency. If we cannot confirm a filter is actively in use, we exclude it from our impact calculations. This is particularly relevant for filters distributed through third parties or exported, such as the 50,000 filters sent to Ukraine.
Our commitment to precision led to our carbon credit project in Indonesia achieving the highest rated water project on BeZero, an independent agency assessing the credibility of carbon credit initiatives. We currently hold a BBB rating, and we are striving for an A rating for our projects in Kenya and Indonesia, showcasing the real impact of our water filters on carbon reduction.
However, a drawback to our rigorous, conservative approach is that despite increasing sales certain impact metrics, like the number of current water filter users, may decline. This is partly attributed to our extensive humanitarian efforts in 2018, distributing filters in Palu after a devastating earthquake and tsunami. Challenges in tracking these users have led us to conservatively assume non-usage. While our direct sales team presently operates solely on Java island, limiting our reach to Palu, we anticipate future expansions to reconnect with these users and provide ongoing support. We remain steadfast in our commitment to transparency and continuous improvement.
2023 Impact Numbers
Providing a household with a water filter does not just provide a family with safe drinking water. Users also benefit from better health, time savings, increased disposable income, less waste and reduced indoor air pollution. In total, Nazava Water Filters are certified by the Gold Standard for the Global Goals to directly impact 7 Sustainable Development Goals!
SDGs Impacted:
SDG 1 : No Poverty
Drinking water represents a major expense to many low income households in the Global South. Thus by providing safe drinking water at lower costs, households that use Nazava benefit from increased disposable income.
Nazava purified water is 3-4 times cheaper than boiling on LPG and up to 25 times cheaper than buying bottled water.
Users save on average $US 21.62 per filter per year, amounting to $18 million in cumulative increased disposable income!
SDG 3 : Good Health and Well-being
In low-income countries piped, well and river water have high chances of contamination.
With Nazava, households get water that is WHO-certified for bacterial removal. Surveyed users experience 59% less diarrhea after using Nazava.
At schools, children have the option to drink water instead of buying sugary drinks.
SDG 5 : Gender Equity
In much of the Global South, the burden of providing drinking water is carried by women. Hence, most of our beneficiaries are women who no longer need to waste time collecting firewood or boiling water. Surveyed women in Indonesia save on average 2.5 working weeks per year using Nazava.
In Kenya, the time savings are likely much higher due the higher prevalence of boiling. Time savings for Kenya will be calculated during our carbon credit verification process in 2024.
Additionally, 51% of our employees are women and 50% of management positions are held by women.
SDG 6 : Clean Water and Sanitation
Nazava Water Filters has provided 2346 million liters of safe and affordable drinking water. That’s enough water to fill 938 olympic sized swimming pools!
At least 470,079 People to date benefit from Nazava Purified Water.
SDG 8 : Decent Work and Economic Growth
Nazava provides full time employment to 56 people in Indonesia and Kenya and has a total of 24 people that work as commissioned sales agents. In Indonesia, over 50 independent resellers increase their monthly income by 14% by selling Nazava Water Filters.
SDG 13 : Climate Action
Since water filters replace the need to boil water using wood, charcoal or LPG, we reduce carbon emissions. Each filter reduces 0.27 CO2 equivalent per year as certified by the Gold Standard. Nazava Water Filters have reduced 266,000 tCO2 equivalent to date. That’s the same amount of carbon from the atmosphere as 13.3 million trees growing for one year!
SDG 15 :Life On Land
Since Nazava replaces the need for firewood, we have saved 85.17 hectares of forest. That’s equal to 104 football pitches!
Additionally, since Nazava reduces single use plastic bottles, we reduce plastic waste
Additionally our filters have a continued use rate of over 90% for the last 5 years, demonstrating that our filters are a sustainable solution.
For more information about our impact and methodology, please see our impact page and Gold Standard Registry profile.
Leave Nobody Behind
Piped drinking water that is common in developed countries is either unreliable or non-existent in most of the global south. Centralized utilities are too expensive, difficult to maintain, and too slow moving to achieve SDG target 6.1 of universal drinking water access by 2030. As a result, self-supply is the primary form of water supply for more than a billion people globally, especially for those who are marginalized from mainstream public services.
The question remains however, how can we ensure that water from self-supply is safe to drink? At Nazava we believe that decentralized, affordable, market-based solutions are the most cost effective and sustainable way to provide everyone, everywhere with safe, affordable drinking water, and leave nobody behind. Decentralized solutions, like Nazava, empower rural low income households to purify their own drinking water so that it is safe to drink without depending on a centralized utility, or expensive bottled water.
At Nazava, we have long championed decentralized, self-supply solutions. In 2023 we joined forces with other safe water enterprises (SWE) and industry thought leaders to develop the 2 with 8 initiative.
2 with 8 Initiative
An initiative by the SMART Centre and the MetaMeta Research Group, the 2 with 8 initiative aims to provide safe drinking water to 2 billion people for an average investment of $4 per person, totaling $8 billion (for reference, the World Bank estimates governments around the world currently spend US$320 billion a year on WASH subsidies that fail to reach the poor!). This will be achieved through the dissemination of cost-effective Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (HWTS) solutions. HWTS offer “point-of-use” treatment, which allows people to treat their water where it is consumed, reducing the likelihood of getting sick from contaminated water. Household water filters, like Nazava, are recognized as one of the most effective HWTS options due to their affordability and simplicity.
The 2 with 8 initiative emphasizes the challenges of water contamination for over two billion people and the limitations of traditional centralized solutions, which are often expensive and difficult to maintain. 2 with 8 underscores the market-based approach, allowing people to choose the HWTS option that suits them and empowering households to purify their own rain, well, river or tap water.
2 with 8 involves creating awareness, building commercial supply chains, and subsidizing the BoP through voucher systems, and it proposes a three-fold investment breakdown: 30% for awareness, 10% for building supply chains, and payment systems, and 60% for vouchers. The success of the initiative relies on collaboration among governments, the private sector, NGOs, and the finance sector to achieve the goal of ensuring safe drinking water for all. Read more about the 2 with 8 initiative here!
To help spread the 2 with 8 initiative, Nazava Water Filters hit the global stage in 2023 participating in events around the world to share our innovative, market based model to reach low income households with safe and affordable drinking water. Our co-founder Lieselotte Heederik spoke about the 2 with 8 initiative at the UN Water Conference and at the UNC Water and Health Conference. At both events Lieselotte was joined by speakers from the World Health Organization, Danone Communities, the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation (CAWST), and more.
Watch the recorded sessions below!
Pink & Mint Colors
We listen to our customers
At Nazava Water Filters, we pride ourselves for offering a product which is not only functional, but also attractive and aspirational, acknowledging the importance of seamlessly integrating into the daily lives and homes of our customers. Developed by TU Delft in the Netherlands, our flagship Nazava Water Filter features a two bucket system, recognized for innovative design and fresh aesthetic appeal. Its curved shape resembles that of broad shoulders, symbolizing strength and protection.
Responding to customer feedback asking for more choices, we conducted a comprehensive customer survey in 2022 to pick the new colors of the Nazava Water Filter. The colors pink and mint were carefully chosen to complement the diverse range of home environments, ensuring that the Nazava Water Filter is not just a utilitarian device but an elegant addition to living spaces.
The new color offering ensures that Nazava remains at the forefront of innovation and customer satisfaction. Our water filters are not just tools for safe drinking water; they are elements that contribute to the aesthetics of homes, enhancing the overall experience of our users. As we continue to evolve and meet the demands of our dynamic customer base, we are excited about the positive impact these new color options will bring to our product line and the homes they serve! Click here to find out how to get yours today!
County Spotlight: Indonesia
Tapping into the Base of the Pyramid: Nazava’s new Approach to Safe Drinking Water Access in Indonesia
Indonesia is home to at least 30 million Base of the Pyramid (BoP) households. While the scale of this market presents vast opportunities, a challenge lies in the limited purchasing power of this group. Even though a Nazava Water Filter costs just US$30 and the significant long term savings mean the filter pays for itself in a few months time, the up-front costs present a challenge for low-income households earning less than US$ 8 per day. Even if households do have cash, they often have more urgent priorities like education and healthcare that tend to consume their disposable income, so there is no budget for water and sanitation investments.
MFIs
Direct Sales
New Approach: Area based sales strategy
In 2023 Nazava piloted a new strategy to reach low income communities, employing the strengths of both the MFI and direct sales channels and eliminating inefficiencies. The strategy focuses on optimizing existing networks and partnerships in areas where Nazava already works, employing an area based sales approach. In this strategy, each Nazava sales agent, called Safe Water Consultant (SWC), is responsible for sales through schools, MFIs and community groups in their assigned area. Teams have been deployed in specific regions, including Lebak, Banten; Bogor; Tangerang; and Bandung.
In this way we can spread effectively through word of mouth and meet key opinion leaders in an area. For example in Lebak Regency, Banten province there are already 400 schools using Nazava Water filters and we have an endorsement of the Regent. This also makes it easier to reach other schools in the region and enter village organizations.
Schools are a key part of reaching out to communities. After providing water filters to students in schools, the strategy involves engaging headmasters and teachers in using the filters themselves. Their involvement becomes pivotal as they then take on the role of educating parents about the benefits of having safe water in their homes. This ripple effect extends the reach of the initiative from schools to households.
Another key element of the strategy is the establishment of a robust customer care system. This not only addresses concerns promptly but also encourages word-of-mouth referrals. Nazava SWCs set up meetings together with satisfied customers where they invite their neighbors, spreading the message of safe water access within their communities.
Results and Next Steps
Between June and December 2023, the sales through this strategic approach increased fivefold. The tangible impact in regions like Lebak, Banten; Bogor; Tangerang; and Bandung serves as a testament to the effectiveness of this pilot. In the coming year we will further work on increasing efficiency of our sales people and make new partnerships with MFIs and other organizations in the areas where we work.
Please follow us on our journey to provide safe drinking water to the base of the pyramid in Indonesia!
Nazava Water Filters attended the 21st annual National City Sanitation Summit (CSS) held in Soreang, Bandung Regency from June 14-16, 2023. The event, organized by the National Alliance of City and Regency Governments Concerned about Sanitation (AKKOPSI), brought together regional government leaders to discuss and develop solutions surrounding sanitation across Indonesia. The event was located just down the road from our headquarters and Nazava played an active role in the conference, serving as an official sponsor of the event and providing 30 drinking stations for conference attendees.
The event also served as a platform for Nazava to share our innovative model to empower women with access to safe drinking water. Our Indonesian Accounts Manager Wela Utami participated in a sharing session on gender equality in WASH where she shared about her experiences working with microfinance institutions (MFI) and resellers to reach rural and peri-urban women with safe drinking water.
Since 2013, we’ve worked with partners such as Aqua-Danone, Kopernik, Social ImpaKt, and Project Child to provide safe drinking water to schools in underserved communities throughout Indonesia. Our school program has reached at least 500 schools, impacting over 100,000 students with safe drinking water at school. In May 2023, we hosted a ceremonial event at SDN 1 Primary School in Rangkasbitung, Lebak Regency to celebrate the success of our Safe Water for School’s program and to discuss how to replicate the program in other areas of Indonesia.
Teachers and students from SDN 1 attended the event along with Nazava partners UNICEF Indonesia, DANONE-AQUA, Wahana Visi, Dompet Dhuafa, Water.org and Project Child. Representatives from the national and local governments attended as well with speakers from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, the Lebak Regency Education and Health Departments. The event closed with a panel discussion from the Ministry of Health, Danone, UNICEF, and moderated by water.org.
The benefits of providing a water filter at school are numerous, from improved academic performance, improved health, and less plastic waste (see our presentation from the 2023 Indonesia WASH Symposium for more). At a cost of less than US$2 per student, using a Nazava Water Filter provides the most cost effective and sustainable way to provide safe drinking water to the nearly 80% of schools in Indonesia that do not provide drinking water to students.
Despite the numerous proven benefits and low costs, funding remains a problem. In competition with books, desks, and other school supplies, drinking water often fails to make it into the school budget. To increase affordability, we offer all of our schools filters using a buy-one-get-one free scheme subsidized partially by filter sales to parents and teachers, and partially through CSR donor funding. Maintenance and replacement parts are free for life paid for by our carbon credit sales. To reach more schools we need your help. To learn more about how you can support safe drinking water at Indonesian schools click here!