Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program provides one billionth litre of clean water

The Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program celebrated the creation of its one billionth litre of clean drinking water at a rural clinic near Lagos, Nigeria.  Using a packet of water clarification and disinfectant developed by Procter & Gamble, former P&G Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman, John Pepper, helped transform cloudy contaminated water into clear, clean drinking water in a matter of minutes before a crowd of local residents and Nigerian officials.

“This milestone event marks both a humanitarian triumph and a technological achievement,” said Pepper. “But what really matters is that we are helping to save lives. The Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program has provided 1 billion litres of clean drinking water through a variety of strong partnerships and emergency relief efforts in Africa and around the world. P&G is committed to work with our partners to provide billions more litres of clean drinking water and help address the crisis of children dying needlessly from cholera, typhoid fever, and dysentery.”

The Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program is a not-for-profit program founded by P&G as part of its global cause - Live, Learn and ThriveTM - aimed at improving life for children in need. This Live, Learn and Thrive program provides clean drinking water in the developing world. P&G works with more than 30 partners and has committed to provide 2 billion litres of clean drinking water using the PUR water purification packets within the next five years.

P&G’s lifesaving technology uses small packets or sachets to disinfect water. Each sachet works like a mini-water treatment plant removing dirt, cysts and pollutants while killing bacteria and viruses in contaminated water in less than 30 minutes, ten litres at a time.

“While we’re pausing to celebrate this milestone, we know that it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the need. We can’t rest while more children are dying from waterborne illness than die from HIV/AIDS and malaria,” said Greg Allgood, Ph.D., Director, Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program at P&G. 

The World Health Organization estimates that more than one billion people around the world do not have access to clean, safe water. Every day, more than 4,000 children die from diseases caused by drinking unsafe water. These deaths are preventable, and there are proven, scalable, and cost-effective solutions such as the PUR packets that can dramatically improve water quality and potentially save a huge number of lives.  

P&G has recently created a way for people to contribute directly to the program via GIVEPURWATER.org. One-hundred percent of the proceeds will go to P&G partners providing clean drinking water in the developing world.

P&G started commercial operations in sub-Saharan Africa 15 years ago and does more than $500 million in sales of products including Always, Vicks, and Pampers.  By the end of the decade, P&G expects sub-Saharan Africa sales to surpass $1 billion and serve more than 500 million people.