Annual
Report
2021
WATER THAT CARES
Content
Letter from
the Founders of
Nazava Water
Filters
The problem,
our solution, and
Nazava’s business
model
Our
Impact
2021
Highlights
Country
Spotlights
Working with
Women MFIs
Reaching
the Last Mile
with Resellers
Carbon Credits
Vision for
the future
Thanks to
our partners
Contact Us
Letter from the Founders of Nazava Water Filters
Guido van Hofwegen
Co-Founder
Nazava Water Filters
Dear Friends,
Less than a decade remains to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6.1, to provide universal access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030. With at least a quarter of the global population still lacking such access, the need for decentralized solutions to safe drinking water becomes increasingly urgent.
2021 was the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, we saw our staff in Indonesia grow from 17 to 26 people and we quadrupled our online sales. We also partnered with Aqua-Danone to provide water filters to 150 primary schools. Finally, we launched our subsidiary in Kenya and the year ended with the arrival of Nazava’s first container on the African continent!
Lieselotte Heederik
Co-Founder
Nazava Water Filters
Throughout it all, we managed to impact over half a million people with safe drinking water and we continue to be humbled by stories from our customers who now benefit from improved health and increased savings.
However, 2021 was not without its challenges. In Indonesia, as the Covid-19 pandemic continued to take its toll across society, our microfinance partners struggled to cope financially. Meanwhile in Ethiopia, a civil war along with bureaucratic woes prevented us from seeing the growth we expected. The pandemic and conflict aside, we are extremely grateful that all our staff came out of this tumultuous year unwavered.
2022 is sure to be another year of growth and opportunity. In Indonesia, we will continue to expand our school program and will open a new production facility to meet our growing global demand. In Africa, we are ready to grow our businesses in Kenya and expand our presence in Ethiopia. Hereby we would like to thank our investors, partners, mentors and our dedicated team for all the support we got in 2021. We look forward to continued success!
Healthy greetings!
Lieselotte Heederik & Guido van Hofwegen
The problem, our solution, and Nazava’s business model
The Problem
The Solution
Worldwide, an estimated 4.4 billion people lack access to treated water at home.1 Drought and heavy rainfall affect the quality of ground and surface water, making water too contaminated to boil. Annually around 525,000 children die of diarrhea.2 While most of the world’s population has access to at least some form of water, this water is often contaminated with e-coli bacteria and not safe to drink. Households lack affordable solutions to purify their water.
Traditional centralized water infrastructure solutions common in the West are unlikely to provide universal access to safe drinking water by 2030. Therefore, decentralized solutions that empower households, and especially women, to purify their own water are urgently needed.
The Solution
Worldwide, an estimated 4.4 billion people lack access to treated water at home.1 Drought and heavy rainfall affect the quality of ground and surface water, making water too contaminated to boil. Annually around 525,000 children die of diarrhea.2 While most of the world’s population has access to at least some form of water, this water is often contaminated with e-coli bacteria and not safe to drink. Households lack affordable solutions to purify their water.
Traditional centralized water infrastructure solutions common in the West are unlikely to provide universal access to safe drinking water by 2030. Therefore, decentralized solutions that empower households, and especially women, to purify their own water are urgently needed.
1 Dalberg Global Development Advisors. (2017). (issue brief). The Untapped Potential of Decentralized Solutions to Provide Safe, Sustainable Drinking Water at Large Scale. Retrieved 2022, from http://safewater.enterprises/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/20170208-Water-Kiosk-Study-Sector-Report_vSS.pdf.
2 World Health Organization. (2017, May 2). Diarrhoeal disease. World Health Organization. Retrieved August 31, 2022, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diarrhoeal-disease
The Problem
At Nazava we believe that everyone, everywhere should have access to safe and affordable drinking water. We focus on marketing the best available water filters for the lowest possible price, especially targeting the base of the pyramid.
Our products are manufactured in our factory in Indonesia. We also have operations in Kenya and Ethiopia and we work with distributors in Mali, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and India.
Key to our success are our partnerships with micro-finance institutions (MFI), allowing our low income customers to pay in installments. We also sell via a network of both formal and informal resellers, as well as direct to consumers via online retailers.
Our Impact
534,145 people
with access to safe drinking water
463,689 of whom live on less than $8 a day
93%
continued use rate
of filters since 2018
177,000
Ton
in reduced CO2 emissions
This is equivalent to driving a car
around the Earth 177 thousand times!
SDGs
Impacted
1,805 million liters
of safe drinking water provided
= 40 Million litters
= 30,000 People
$2.3 million
increased disposable income
increased disposable income
139 Hours
saved by women per filter per year
Nazava filters save women time since they no longer need to boil their drinking water.
2021 Highlights
United Nations World Tourism Organization SDGs Global Startup Competition
Nazava selected as a finalist in the United Nations World Tourism Organization SDGs Global Startup Competition for reducing waste!
Partnership with
Safe Water Gardens
Through this partnership households experienced for the first time access to running water in their house. They also received a Nazava filter to purify their water on the spot. As travel was restricted, the project launch was conducted online.
Collaboration with SWIM USA
1,200 employees from PT Sejin in Tangerang, Banten received access to affordable and healthy drinking water through an innovative partnership between SWIM USA, PT Sejin, and Nazava.
Read about the collaboration here!
United Nations World Tourism Organization SDGs Global Startup Competition
Nazava selected as a finalist in the United Nations World Tourism Organization SDGs Global Startup Competition for reducing waste!
Partnership with
Safe Water Gardens
Through this partnership households experienced for the first time access to running water in their house. They also received a Nazava filter to purify their water on the spot. As travel was restricted, the project launch was conducted online.
Collaboration with SWIM USA
1,200 employees from PT Sejin in Tangerang, Banten received access to affordable and healthy drinking water through an innovative partnership between SWIM USA, PT Sejin, and Nazava.
Read about the collaboration here!
Nazava Participates in
World Water Day Run
The Nazava team ran 283 km for the World Water Run! As a result, we were able to provide safe water to 1000 children in two small Indonesian villages with the help of Safe Water Gardens.
Start of Safe Water for Schools in Lebak Pilot Project
Nazava partnered with Aqua Danone to provide 35,000 students at 150 schools in Lebak Regency with access to safe drinking water in their school. The project was a huge success!
Value For Women Report
Our co-founder Lieselotte Heederik was featured in the Value for Women’s report “Pathways for Success: Women’s Entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia”.
Check out the report here!
Filters for Displaced Peoples
With the support of Aqua Danone, Nazava provided water filters to 135 families who were displaced by landslides in Lebak Regency, Banten Province.
Thaketa Project
Together with a consortium led by the Water Agency we finalized the Thaketa project in Myanmar; this Pilot project introduced climate resilient technologies in a low income neighborhood in Yangon.
COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT
Safe Water
For Schools Program
In Indonesia, 79 percent of schools do not provide safe drinking water to their students.3 As a result, students either have to drink dirty water, buy unhealthy, expensive bottled drinks, or go thirsty at school. Nazava has a long track record of providing safe drinking water to schools throughout Indonesia, reaching over 500 schools by the end of 2021.
Solution:
Safe Drinking Water for
$1.99/student
In the second half of 2021, we partnered with Aqua Danone to provide safe drinking water to 150 primary schools in Lebak Regency, Banten province. As a result, nearly 35,000 primary school children were impacted with safe, clean drinking water at school.
Working closely with the local government in Lebak Regency, we provided 1212 filters to the schools. Each filter installation was accompanied by an educational session whereby one of our Safe Water Consultants educated the children on the importance of drinking clean water. Students and teachers were also taught how to use and maintain the filters and were encouraged to decorate their filters, creating a sense of ownership. The best part is that through the sale of carbon credits, we are able to provide free spare parts to the schools FOR LIFE, ensuring the long term sustainability of the project.
3 United Nations Children’s Fund (2020). The State of Children in Indonesia–
Trends, Opportunities and Challenges for Realizing Children’s Rights.
Jakarta: UNICEF Indonesia.
We surveyed students at the schools to monitor how their drinking habits changed before and after the filters. On average we saw an 82 percentage point increase in students who said they drink something at school. Teachers reported better focus and stamina in class. Due to the success of the program, the Lebak Regency local government has since allocated funds to provide filters for an additional 420 schools.
“Since there is Nazava, I drink often because the water is fresh and very tasty”
– Wirdas, 8 years old
We aim to reach
50,000 Schools by 2027
Encouraged by the success of the Lebak pilot project, we are expanding the school program with the goal of reaching 50,000 schools, impacting 7.5 million primary school students with safe drinking water by 2027. This ambitious goal will be achieved through government co-financing, the sale of carbon credits, and through corporate sponsorships.
Click here to learn more and join us in supporting the Safe Water for Schools Program!
COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT
Launch of
Nazava Kenya!
It is not every year that you get to start a new enterprise. We are very proud to announce that our subsidiary Nazava Water Filters Limited was incorporated in Kenya in May 2021. We opened our
office on Parklands Road, Westlands, Nairobi.
We are thankful to have received a loan from VoX Impuls and business acceleration support in the GreenBiz Program from the Kenya Climate Innovation Center and the WAKE-UP program from CEWAS, funded by Aqua for All.
In Kenya we partner with Fargo Courier Ltd, a leading supply-chain service provider in Kenya, giving us access across Kenya through their
unparalleled network. This partnership offers us widespread stock points across all countries in Kenya. In December 2021 our first 40 foot container arrived in Kenya, and we made our first sales.
COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT
We Faced Numerous Challenges in 2021 but Are Optimistic About the Future
Nazava joined the Ethiopian market in 2018 in a joint venture with Ethiopian partner Shayashone with the aim to to serve the over 100 million Ethiopians who lack access to safe drinking water.
In 2021 we successfully completed a trial to produce at our factory in Ethiopia and were ready to begin local production. However, we were faced with several challenges which prevented this from
occurring. Namely, our application for a business license was denied by the Ethiopian Investment Commission which meant we could not conduct any sales in 2021.
Furthermore, armed conflict in the northern part of Ethiopia and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic had devastating impacts on the country.
Despite the challenges we faced in 2021, we have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future:
- Even though we were unable to get our product on the market, we continue to see strong demand for our filters. We have established good relationships with numerous resellers and several MFIs which are eager to do business with us once our license is secured.
- Nazava is working with a local software development company on a smartphone application for Nazava vendors. The smartphone application will make it quick and easy for vendors to place orders, make payments, and collect the water filters once sales commence.
- Existing Nazava users are extremely satisfied with the product (see insert) and our market research indicates that there is willingness to purchase our product.
Despite the challenges we faced in 2021, we have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future:
– Shetaye Chekol, 37 years old, lives with her husband and two children in Northern Ethiopia.
Before Nazava, Shetaye used to get water from the river or from a shallow well. This was time consuming, and often made her sick.
When Shetaye learned about Nazava from local health workers, everything changed for her. Surprised by how well the filters cleaned the water, Shetaye and her husband decided to buy the filter with credit from a local MFI.
Since using the filter, her family has saved money they previously used for health expenses. Shetaye is very confident and happy about the filter. Her neighbors appreciate her and sometimes they take filtered water from her. As Shetaye often says, “water is life.”
Working with Women MFIs
At an average cost of just $40 per unit, Nazava Water Filters are very affordable. However for some, the upfront costs are still too much. That’s why we have developed innovative partnerships with microfinance institutions (MFIs) who sell our products to their (majority women!) members, allowing them to pay in installments.
In Indonesia we partner with several grameen style MFIs who target women’s groups in rural and peri-urban areas. Nazava staff keep in regular contact with our MFI partners, ensuring that the filters are functioning properly and end users are happy. The women who use Nazava filters are very satisfied with our products with many reporting that they save time and money (see insert).
In Kenya, we started pilots with solar lamp distributors SunKing (previously Green-Light-Planet) and Deevabits piggy-backing on their PAYGO and mobile-payment systems in rural areas in Kenya. We have identified four MFIs we hope to partner with in 2022 with the potential of reaching 20 million low income clients.
Impact of the Pandemic on MFIs
As the most dramatic effects of the pandemic were felt by the poor, it’s no surprise that MFIs were hit particularly hard. Many MFI clients saw their monthly income drop or disappear entirely and thus struggled to pay back their loans.
The MFIs we work with have very tight margins and unfortunately we temporarily stopped receiving orders from several institutions during the pandemic. On the other hand we are thankful that Koperasi Syariah BMI started working again with us in 2021 providing safe drinking water to their members.
In Indonesia we partner with several grameen style MFIs who target women’s groups in rural and peri-urban areas. Nazava staff keep in regular contact with our MFI partners, ensuring that the filters are functioning properly and end users are happy. The women who use Nazava filters are very satisfied with our products with many reporting that they save time and money (see insert).
In Kenya, we started pilots with solar lamp distributors SunKing (previously Green-Light-Planet) and Deevabits piggy-backing on their PAYGO and mobile-payment systems in rural areas in Kenya. We have identified four MFIs we hope to partner with in 2022 with the potential of reaching 20 million low income clients.
“After getting Nazava,
I immediately felt the benefits. Thank you Koperasi Baik for offering Nazava”
– Sakhiroh, member of Koperasi Baytul Ikhtiar (Baik)
Sakhiroh is a member of Koperasi Baytul Ikhtiar (Baik), an MFI that works with women’s groups in West Java, Indonesia. She is a housewife and has a small shop to help support her five children and six grandchildren. She purchased a Nazava filter from Korperasi Baik, which she paid for in installments. Now that she has Nazava, Skhiroh saves time and money since she no longer needs to boil water. Her neighbors also became interested and decided to buy a filter as well.
Now practically everyone in her neighborhood uses Nazava, which they also purchased from Koperasi Baik. Her neighbors report that they now use half as much gas as they used to and no longer need to spend time gathering wood. They can now use the money they save to buy school supplies for their children. Watch Sakhiroh’s full testimony here!
Reaching
the Last Mile
with Resellers
Informal resellers play an important role for Nazava to reach rural communities that may not normally be served by traditional sales networks.
Our network of 100 (mostly female) resellers purchased around $6000 per month of Nazava contributing to 16% of total sales in 2021
Selling Nazava products also provides these women with an additional source of income, earning on $26 extra per month or 14% increase in monthly earnings.
– Selviana Mantolas, Nazava reseller
in Manokwari, West Papua
Selviana has been a Nazava reseller since 2020. She was inspired to become a reseller by her friend who also sold Nazava filters. Selviana is proud to be a Nazava reseller because she sees the need for clean drinking water in the surrounding community.
“The villagers here used to use kerosene to boil their water which is expensive and hard to get. When they couldn’t get kerosene, they would drink unclean water. Now because of Nazava, they can filter their water without depending on kerosene.”
Reaching
the Last Mile
with Resellers
In 2021, Nazava issued 44,942 carbon credits, with each credit equivalent to 1 ton of CO2 reduction. Nazava’s carbon credits are certified by the Gold Standard methodology which is one of the most rigorous global voluntary standards for carbon offset projects.
What are carbon credits? Read more here!
How do carbon credits
for water filters work?
In low income countries many households resort to boiling their water to make it safe to drink. However, boiling water creates significant carbon emissions since it requires burning nonrenewable fossil fuels or biomass, such as firewood
Using biomass is especially harmful as it creates indoor air pollution and causes deforestation. Thus, using water filters such as Nazava results in reduced carbon emissions, which can then be converted into carbon credits.
The sale of carbon credits provides an important additional avenue of revenue. In 2021 we earned $87,513 from carbon credits. We expect that figure to grow along with our expansion in Kenya, where the use of biomass for boiling is more common. The revenue generated through carbon credits will be used to support last mile distribution and provide free maintenance and spare parts for our school program.
A win-win for all!
Vision for
The Future
By 2030 Nazava aims to be the number one water
filter company for the bottom of the pyramid,
impacting 10 million people with safe,
affordable drinking water.
Additionally with our school program, we aim to
impact 7.5 million Indonesian primary school
children by 2027.
Thanks to our
partners
Creating lasting impact towards safe drinking water access and implementing our innovative model in the field could not have been done without the support of our partners. We’d like to give a special thanks to
Steven White, Pradeep Jotwani and Tony Stayner from the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship for your continued mentorship.
Jeroen van Overbeek from Social Impakt for providing 3751 families with access to save drinking water in Bali, Indonesia
Edwin Halim and Meynar Sihombing of PT Bangun Kompetensi Bangsa for relentlessly supporting Koperasi Baytul Ikhtiar (Baik), in providing safe water to their rural clients.
Reiko Sarah Pradita and Rico Reynaldi, our interns from BINUS University who relentlessly worked on the user instructions in 5 languages.
Romie Johanes & Jack Wang for digital marketing support and Made Dharmadatta for HR support.
Finally, thumbs up to Alan Turner from the Vitali Group for selling our products in Australia, and Maulik Chauhan from Trestle for selling our products in India.
Also a big thanks to our Shareholders for their continuous support, and making it possible that Nazava has reached half a million people with access to safe drinking water.
We thank each and every one of you for the support you have given us in 2021 and we look forward to continue working together in the coming years!
Angels of Impact
Aqua for All
Basic Water Needs
Beneficial Returns
Bopinc
Center for Environmental Health Engineering and Disease Control Health Department of Lebak
CEWAS
Danone Communities
Education Department of Lebak
Global Distributors Collective
Habitat for Humanity
IUWASH programme by USAID
Kenya Climate Innovation Center
KIVA
Kopernik
MercyCorps
Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship
Nexus
PA International
Plan international
RAISE
Resilience
Safe Water Gardens
Social ImpaKt
Solar Impulse
The Water Agency
TitanE
Trustlaw
VOX Impuls
WA-KE UP Kenya
World Vision
Yayasan Anak Bangsa
Yayasan Karya Wiguna
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