In 2004 a cooperation was started with DHAN foundation. DHAN foundation has its headquarters in Madurai, in the south India state Tamil Nadu. DHAN has a huge network amongst the poor population and is originally an organization that fights poverty through microfinance. DHAN has grown to a foundation that now has a much wider scope of activities, such as supplying access to safe drinking water on household level.
After several tests with varying models in the period of 2004 to 2007, the decision was finally taken to continue the project with a stainless steel gravity filter with ceramic filter candles. More can be read about this in the ’technology section’. From the tests it became clear that this concept is, in view of the local habits and preferences, the best and most affordable technology that is accepted best amonsgst most users.
In the period between June 2007 till December 2007, 10000 purifiers have been locally produced and distributed amongst the poorest en most affected inhabitants of the regions in Tamil Nadu that were hit by the Tsunami.
In May 2008 fieldtests were executed which showed that after approximately 4 to 6 months of use, 80% of the people were actually still using the water purifiers on a daily basis. In comparisson to studies of other NGO’s in other countries with comparable filter technology this score is good. The satisfaction score is therefore very high. Mostly people appreciate the visual result of clean water, but also items like better taste and healt improvement are mentioned.
The tests also showed the necessity of good training sessions and an activly inspecting service network for the success of the project.