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New factory up and running, filters are being produced, it is all good!

Check out the blog posts from our student researchers!

Jonathan

Josh

Zac D

ChiPhi

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This November the Chi Phi Fraternity will be hosting the Back Bay 5K, a charity road race on Boston’s Esplanade. All proceeds will be used to help Chi Phi brothers and Pure Home Water provide access to clean water for villagers in Northern Ghana.

Race Information:

• Registraton Due: November 10, 2010
• Race: November 13, 2010 at 3:00 PM
• Check-In: November 13, 2010 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM
• Where to Check-In: At Stoneham Playground, near Fairfield Street dock by the Mass. Ave Bridge

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Participants will receive Back Bay 5K T-shirt, and top placers will receive prizes from our sponsors

The Bucheles love their PHW Kosim Filter

It has been a busy summer at Pure Home Water Ghana.  We are in the midst of construction of our filter factory.  But at the same time, we continue to host students from MIT, and other visitors to Tamale.

One of Pure Home Water’s friends and advocates, Steve Buchele, visited the PHW Ghana office and construction site a couple of weeks ago.  Follow this link to read what he had to say about the goings on at PHW Ghana.  He’s also got some terrific photos of the busy activities on our site!

Come enjoy music, dance, African  drumming and a delicious bowl of soup! – all while making a contribution towards the building of a ceramic  water filter factory in Ghana.

Saturday, May 1^st 11 am – 2 pm

Kresge Oval and the Student Center Steps,   84 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

Bowls: $15 (non-MIT Community), $13 (MIT Community)

Soup: FREE (with purchase of a bowl)

Pure Home Water, an MIT-affiliated NGO in Taha, Ghana, is hoping to complete construction of a ceramic water filter factory during Summer 2010. To do so, we  need to raise $25,000+. Please help by buying a     handmade ceramic bowl.

Contact ckopp@mit.edu with questions!

PHW is a social enterprise and legally registered non-profit organization in Ghana founded in 2005. Pure Home Water markets, trains, services and monitors Kosim filters, the local brand name for the ceramic pot filter, which is currently produced and sold in 18 countries.

PHW’s two goals are to:

1. Provide safe drinking water to people in Ghana through dissemination of ceramic pot filters, locally branded the “Kosim” filter with a special focus on low-income households in Northern Ghana where at least 50% of people drink unsafe water
2. Become locally and financially self-sustaining.

Future Plans Build a ceramic water filter factory in 2010 to improve the quality, reduce costs and better serve the people of northern Ghana.

Why a Local Ceramic Water Filter Factory?

For the past 5 years, PHW has been buying filters from a factory that is 14 hours south of our headquarters in Tamale, Ghana.  Until now, we have been distributors, trainers, monitors and service providers of this filter. The filters we have purchased from a manufacturer in the south have suffered from an inattention to quality control, delays, high cost and breakage.  We are confident that we can improve on these filters if we make them ourselves.

To that end, in June 2009, we purchased 2+ acres for a factory on the outskirts of Tamale and began Phase 1 construction in January 2010. Our effort has the support of the local tribal elders, local clay resources and a strong tradition of indigenous ceramic production. Moreover, many people not only need safe drinking water in this region, they also need jobs.

The factory will be a center of excellence in the production of ceramic pot filters and a production center for other clay-based construction materials, such as bricks and tiles, to supply greater Tamale, which is the fastest growing city in West Africa. We hope that profit from the construction materials can help to underwrite the cost of filters for those most in need in Northern Ghana.  Phase 2 construction in summer 2010 will entail the completion of the filter and brick factory. During Phase 3 construction, we hope to add a residential facility for our Program Manager and a guest house for visitors, including MIT and other students.

Our estimated cost for Phase 1 & 2 construction is $120,000. So far, we have raised and spent $43K. We are hoping to raise $50K+ in 2010 in order to bring Phase 2 construction to the point where the factory is fully operational, in terms of the filter and brick manufacturing.