NBI NewsFlash, 07 September 2020
Safe access to clean water can save lives. Providing viable handwashing solutions at scale is essential for public health. It is for these reasons that leading pump manufacturing company Grundfos – through its Foundation, the Poul due Jensen Foundation (PDJF) – has teamed up with the National Business Initiative (NBI), to roll-out durable, foot-operated handwash facilities on a national scale.
Foot-operated handwash facilities offer a simple yet effective solution to enable safe access to water and improved hygiene. Proudly developed by a South African water engineer, the NBI’s field-tested technology requires minimal maintenance and provides water and soap at optimum flow, providing a safe hygiene solution for decades to come.
With the generous support of the Grundfos Foundation, hundreds of additional foot-operated public handwashing facilities will be installed across densely populated communities in Gauteng, the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, with these areas demonstrating the highest COVID-19 infection rates. Each unit can serve over a hundred people a day, allowing the project to reach thousands of beneficiaries.
The handwash facility is fully foot-operated and has a limited surface area to prevent contamination, making it an ideal solution during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The unit’s longevity makes it suitable for hygiene access at schools, clinics, informal settlements and anywhere where safe public handwashing is needed. Municipalities further have the option of installing a foot-operated handwash facility, or a foot-operated communal standpipe, that delivers water at a higher flow.
The NBI is delighted to be working with the Grundfos Foundation, who have generously sponsored this nationwide rollout, to build on the success of NBI’s COVID-19 response with the City of Ekurhuleni. The implementation team draws on both the NBI’s water and technical assistance programmes, and has been working closely with the Department of Cooperative Governance, host municipalities and water experts, showing that collectively, we can implement viable solutions at scale, for now and for the future.
For more information on the handwash facilities or the water-related work of the National Business Initiative, please contact Alex McNamara (Programme Manager: Climate & Water): AlexM@nbi.org.za
This Initiative is proudly sponsored by:
