Every day that Sumari Devi has lived in Dalipur has been a relentless struggle to find and secure one of the most basic necessities - clean drinking water.
Dalipur is located in India’s infamous ‘arsenic belt’, where much of the ground water is contaminated with poisonous levels of the deadly chemical.
Sumari is the grandmother of a large, busy family, whose lives have been blighted by health issues linked to long-term exposure to arsenic, from unsightly skin lesions to heart disease and cancer.
She describes the impact it has had on her family: “My older son trained for the Army entrance exam and got selected. Then, in the medical test he was disqualified because of the skin disease on his hands. He became very sad and was not able to train for some time.”
Two years ago, Halma partnered with the international charity WaterAid to help address this life-threatening problem, through a campaign called Water for Life. Focusing on the Buxar and Bhagalpur districts, the campaign donated vital technology and raised funds to help test and clean the drinking water in the region.
Now, two years later, the impact on people’s lives in the region has been dramatic. None more so than on Sumari Devi and her family.
“My son has passed the medical test and has been selected. His life is back on track. That’s why we want enough filters so that everyone’s need for safe water is met.”
Sumari Devi can now make plans for the future that weren’t possible before. Her dream is for the food they eat to be grown on their small farm with filtered water, free of arsenic and other pollutants.
About our Water for Life campaign
In 2020, Halma launched Water for Life in partnership with WaterAid to help raise awareness of the daily challenges that millions of people like Sumari face in accessing clean, safe water.
Through the campaign we focused on a network of villages in northern India, where the groundwater is contaminated with arsenic, which is slowly poisoning the local population. Halma has six water companies in the group: HWM, Palintest, Sensorex, Minicam, Hydreka and UV Group. They are all focused on solving different parts of the global water challenge. One of them, Palintest, makes specialist water testing technology that can detect contaminants in water, including arsenic.
Over the next two years, Palintest donated its portable testing kits and over 18,000 arsenic tests to the campaign. Halma raised over £400,000 to support the building of new water infrastructure and training for local volunteers.
Through our partnership with WaterAid, we have transformed the lives of over 10,000 people like Sumari. In addition to giving them access to safe, clean water, our campaign trained 1,800 community volunteers in water quality management, so they can continue to keep their water supply safe for generations to come.
Together with WaterAid:
18,000+
water quality tests supplied, using technology donated by Palintest
10,000+
villagers provided with access to safe, clean water
1800+
local volunteers trained to become community water testers
70
schools and healthcare facilities installed with clean water systems
7000+
people provided with safe water during floods
“We see a marked difference on people’s livelihoods now they have clean water. By equipping members of local communities with skills, technology and expertise, they can focus on taking care of their families and making a living,” says Shaurya Sheoran, Product Manager at Palintest.
Water for Life has made a real difference to people’s lives, and is an example of Halma living its purpose of growing a safer, cleaner, healthier, future for everyone, every day.
Watch this video to see for yourself the impact that Water for Life has had on the ground in India.
