11 January 2007

United States Helps Bring Clean Water to Indonesian Families

Partnership for a Better Life

 

Two young Acehnese girls carry water to their family in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Air RahMat will help eliminate contaminated water, which is the second leading cause of death for children under age 5 in the country. (© AP Images)

Two young Acehnese girls carry water to their family in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. (© AP Images)

By Kathryn McConnell
USINFO Staff Writer

More than 100 million people in Indonesia lack access to safe drinking water. Contaminated water is a major cause of such illnesses as diarrhea, the second leading cause of death for children under age 5 in the country. Indonesian women traditionally boil water to make it drinkable, but this requires time and costly fuel. Bottled water is an even more expensive alternative.

Now there is an affordable way to make water safe to drink. Air RahMat is a sodium hypochlorite water treatment solution packaged in an attractive, easy-to-handle bottle. With a few drops of Air RahMat, water becomes safe to drink. One bottle can meet the needs of a family of five for a month.

 

USAID has helped to distribute 20,000 bottles of Air RahMat and has conducted training sessions in Bantul and Klaten. (USAID photo)

The product was developed by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, is supporting Air RahMat’s production, distribution and marketing.

Clinical studies show that water treatment solutions like Air RahMat can reduce the incidence of diarrheal diseases by 85 percent. After consistent use in West Timor, for example, self-reported diarrheal episodes fell by nearly 60 percent. More than 2 million households worldwide are using products similar to Air RahMat.

In faith-based women’s clubs in Sumatra and West Java, USAID and its partners demonstrated how many drops to add to a container of water and how to store the water to keep it safe. A halal certificate from the Indonesian Council of Ulama, a group of Muslim leaders, is official approval that the product complies with Muslim dietary laws.

"At first it has a strange smell," reports one woman, "but I put it in plastic bottles overnight and it doesn’t smell anymore. It is also cheaper than boiling the water."

Now, she and her family will be less likely to suffer from a waterborne illness.