Since 2016, Warm Blankets has installed water filters in more than 70 locations in Cambodia, Myanmar, Kenya and Rwanda. As a result, thousands of children now have access to clean drinking water.
Filter installation
Hygiene training
Water testing
Kids have clean drinking water
Water Project
Currently there are over 800 million people worldwide without direct access to clean drinking water. 1.8 million die each year from waterborne illnesses, and 90% are children under five years.
Clean drinking water is also a huge problem in Cambodia. WB Switzerland has been testing the water in Cambodian children’s homes for over ten years, checking for dangerous bacterias and poisonous metals such as arsenic. Nearly all of the homes have dangerous levels of bacteria in the water. Through a generous donation from the firm Pall we are installing filters in children’s homes and low income communities all over Cambodia. In summer 2017 we began testing water and installing filters in Myanmar as well. In 2023, Lukas and Jenny Graf moved to Cambodia to work full time on clean water projects in S.E. Asia. They partner with multiple local organizations and ministries to install water filters in schools, children’s homes, churches and other community locations.
Here is an example where well water in a Cambodian children’s home was tested before and after filtration, and also a test from a river in Switzerland. This provides a visual demonstrates of how contaminated the ground water in much of S.E. Asia has become.
well water stored in clay pots, Cambodia
the same water after passing through the filter
water from the Aare near Bern, Switzerland
The top set of pictures show the total bacteria in the water, the bottom set shows only the dangerous bacteria which should not be consumed by humans, such as E-coli and Salmonella.
Nearly all of the wells where WB has tested water in Cambodia have had dangerous levels of contamination, like in the sample.
Water Filtration
Contaminated water can be purified by filtration and thus made drinkable. Warm Blankets received a very generous donation of filters from the company Pall. These filters remove all bacteria and parasites.
Over the years, WB has further developed the drinking water project and additional filters can now be installed to remove inorganic and organic impurities in addition to bacteria.
The following animation shows the different filters and what they can remove.
Click on the boxes on the left of the page to read about the different filters and how they are constructed.