Reed Elsevier has announced the winners of the Reed Elsevier Environmental Challenge which awards innovative solutions to improve sustainable access to safe water and sanitation.

First prize was awarded to the Iron-amended Biosand Water Filter in Nepal, developed by Tommy Ngai, Director, Research Learning at the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST). Ngai’s project modifies conventional Biosand Filters with iron particles to remove all three classes of water contaminants, including viruses, and will bring safe drinking water to two impoverished rural villages in Nepal.  The project will target over 1,000 people in the two villages and over a period of two years, 150 filters will be installed. The project has the potential to be scaled, thus helping millions of people over the next 10 years.

Mr Ngai said: “CAWST is very pleased that Reed Elsevier recognizes the treatment of water in the home as one of the proven options to provide safe drinking water for Nepal, especially in rural villages. The Biosand filter has great potential to become widely and sustainably used for improving water quality to reduce waterborne disease and death.”

Second prize was awarded to Sustainable Sanitation in Urban Slums of Africa, developed by Lindsay Stradley of Sanergy. The project will expand a pilot project in Nairobi to ensure that hygienic sanitation becomes accessible and affordable through a network of small-scale, high-quality sanitation centres close to homes. In Kenya, 8.5m people live in slums with 80% of the communities lacking access to adequate sanitation. Sanergy toilets are franchised to local entrepreneurs and stimulate the local economy by turning waste into products – organic fertilizer sold to farms and electricity which is sold to the national grid.

“We are thrilled to be recognized by the Reed Elsevier Environmental Challenge. The Reed Elsevier brand and expertise in science and technology lends credibility to our work in building out sustainable sanitation in urban slums,” said Lindsay.

Chosen from a shortlist of five candidates and 140 original applicants, the winning projects were considered replicable, scalable, sustainable and innovative; emphasizing solutions with practical applicability. Youngsuk (“YS”) Chi, Director, Corporate Affairs, Reed Elsevier, remarked: “The two winning projects embody the innovative but practical and scalable solutions prioritized by the Reed Elsevier Environmental Challenge. Our Challenge is a tangible demonstration that the dissemination of research, knowledge and ideas can be a powerful force for improving health and quality of life.”

The Reed Elsevier Environmental Challenge contributes to the Water for Life Decade, established by the UN General Assembly, running between 2005 and 2015, in support of the Millennium Development Goal to reduce by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water and to stop unsustainable exploitation of water resources.

For more infomation on the award, please click here.