
Clean water project in Malawi wins Sustainable Development Goal Challenge
Prof. Kevin McGuigan, and Dr Jakub Gajewski of RCSI University of Medicine & Health Science, with partner team lead, Prof. Christabel Yollandah Kambala, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences, have won the Sustainable Development Goals Challenge focused on SDG 13: Climate Action, for a low-cost solution to providing clean water to healthcare facilities in Malawi. The team was supported by Martin Wesian, an entrepreneur, and consultant in the Wash sector, as its societal impact champion.
Access to safe clean water is critical to health and the provision of essential health services. The impacts of climate change are exacerbating both water scarcity and water quality. In 2022, 27% of the world’s population had no access to safely managed water.
To address the health impacts of the climate crisis, the Surg-Water team has worked collaboratively with a range of local partners in Malawi to develop a fit-for-purpose solution addressing the shortage of clean water in maternal health facilities in rural areas. The team has developed a prototype solar disinfector technology to treat harvested rainwater using renewable solar UV. The team will receive €1.1 million in additional funding for the next two years, which they will use to continue testing and develop a scale-up plan for Malawi and surrounding countries.
Dr Ruth Freeman, director, science for society, SFI, said: “The SDG 13 Challenge funding programme seeks to enable transdisciplinary research teams in co-developing solutions directly with those most affected by the impacts of climate change. The teams involved in this challenge exemplify that goal, and the progress they have made over the last 18 months is truly inspiring.”
The Surg-Water technology is a 250 litre harvested rainwater solar disinfection reactor treating rainwater collected from maternity ward roofs. In Malawi, the rainy season lasts 3-4 months, and sunlight is available for most of the year. This is a context-specific adaptation of an existing technology to the particular needs of healthcare facilities in rural Malawi. This innovation is a regionally reproducible solution, utilising freely available natural resources.
A runner-up prize was awarded to Prof. Aonghus McNabola and Prof. Padraig Carmody of Trinity College Dublin, and Dr Godfrey Hampwaye, Southern African Institute for Policy and Research (Zambia), for the Reheatz project. In partnership with Ms Mangiza Chirwa Chongo, Hivos Zambia, the team is working to develop the first hybrid wastewater heat recovery technology for application in Zambian food production.
The team will use the additional €650,000 funding over two years to complete the project’s pilot plants.
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