Ceramic Water Purifier Factory

Arrived in the office and finally met the elusive Mike, Country Director and big boss for IDE Cambodia. We discussed my work, my housing, and other such stuff for about a half an hour, before I left with Sunday to visit our Ceramic Water Purifier (CWP) factory in Kampong Chhnum province for the day. From what I’ve seen so far, the CWP project is like a textbook entry for the current International Development ideals. The factory is owned by IDE but operated by a cooperative consisting of ten women (promoting gender equity), whose husbands sometimes help a little with the work but do not direct the finances. IDE supplies and owns but does not direct the plant. The women are paid a commission (about sixty US cents) for each filter. The filters themselves are affordable, though occasionally partially subsidized, capable of turning dirty water from the Mekong or even a puddle, into drinkable water meeting WHO standards. Distribution is handled by several independent distributors (promoting entrepreneurship for sustainability). There are of course problems. Not everyone can afford the cost of the filters. Another NGO does supply them free of charge to the poorer provinces, but I would imagine this solution is hardly sustainable in the long term. The filters are fragile and those who have not paid for them seem more likely to misuse and/or break them, thereby rendering them useless. Free filters also undercut local suppliers who cannot compete. For the development minded out there, it’s a textbook project right down to the end of chapter questions: How do you ensure everyone has clean water without making your project unsustainable and/or creating a permanent dependency…?

I took some photos during the trip so that I could create a bit of a guide for myself as to how the whole process works. It reads something like a children’s storybook meets technical guide, but for those of you who are interested, you can have a look here.