Max TapWater builds and operates small-scale water grids in rural areas in Bangladesh. Each grid covers around 75 households, who pay a monthly fee for the upkeep and maintenance of the water supply service
05 June, 2022, 09:30 am
Last modified: 05 June, 2022, 09:57 am
Safe water is one of the most effective ways to improve children’s health and save lives. photo: Courtesy
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Safe water is one of the most effective ways to improve children’s health and save lives. photo: Courtesy
Dibapur village in Patuakhali is home to around 60 families, including that of Umme Kulsum. Since time immemorial, they had been using canal water for daily tasks such as bathing, washing, etc. While they used tube well water for drinking, not all of them had tube wells of their own.
Umme Kulsum used to fetch drinking water from a nearby school. But the tube well water failed to meet the needs of the villagers. Often, in the dry season, the villagers would not get enough water.
On top of that, in recent years, the canal water had become filthy and foul-smelling. There had been some instances of skin diseases in Kulsum’s family. In other families that used the river water even for drinking, diarrhoea among small children was prevalent.
Last year, Kulsum’s family came to know about a water project through their local authority. They heard that an NGO would establish a water supply grid in their village and provide clean water to the village households. And all the families in her village got on board.
The project was undertaken by Max TapWater, a social enterprise that works to ensure safe water. They build and operate small-scale water grids in rural areas in Bangladesh. Each grid covers around 75 households, who pay a monthly fee for the upkeep and maintenance of the water supply service.
“Max TapWater connects households to easy, safe and affordable water through piped water grids,” said Saiful Islam, CEO of the enterprise, in an interview with The Business Standard.
“We are a social safe water enterprise: all our profits go towards maintenance and management of the piped water grids and towards building new grids in new communities so that we can serve more people with safe water,” he added.
Max TapWater connects households to easy, safe and affordable water through piped water grids. Photo: Courtesy
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Max TapWater connects households to easy, safe and affordable water through piped water grids. Photo: Courtesy
The beginning
Max TapWater is working in partnership with an NGO named Max Foundation.
“We wanted to ensure safe water to all through a business approach, not through a charity approach,” said Riad Imam Mahmud, co-founder and managing director, “to serve as an example to the private sector that social water business is possible.”
The journey of Max TapWater began with a personal tragedy. In 2005, eight-month-old Max Le Poole died of a rare viral infectious disease in the Netherlands. His parents, Steven and Joke Le Poole, heartbroken, had decided to do something out of their grief.
“What I felt was that no parents should have to go through this. We wanted to save as many children’s lives as possible,” said Joke Le Poole, “Safe water is one of the most effective ways to improve children’s health and save lives.”
That is why Joke, together with Riad Imam Mahmud, decided to start a social water enterprise and name it after her son Max.
Photo: Courtesy
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Photo: Courtesy
Umme Kulsum said that the introduction of Max Tapwater has significantly improved their lifestyle.
Even people who had a tube well in their homes had to pump a lot for only a little bit of water. “The tubewell water is not enough to meet the daily requirements. Sometimes, in the dry season, as the water level falls, it is difficult to get water.
After a few minutes of pumping, you would not get water. You would have to wait for a while. Moreover, there is iron in the water and some level of contamination,” said another beneficiary named Abdul Selim.
Selim further added that water-related problems have been solved in their entire locality thanks to Max TapWater. He said that each family has to pay a small amount of monthly fee. The amount ranges from Tk200 to Tk300, depending on the household size.
Max TapWater serves communities mainly in the rural and peri-urban areas, where municipal water services are unavailable. As a result, people in these areas either have to use tube wells or canal water.
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Originally Appeared Here