Radolfzell/Winnenden, 09/22/2022: Currently, it is the tenth anniversary of the starting signal for a very special connection: In 2012, Udo Gattenlöhner, Managing Director of the international environmental foundation Global Nature Fund (GNF), and Hartmut Jenner, Chairman of the Board of Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG, signed the cooperation agreement for the "Clean Water for the World" initiative. The goal: to work together to provide people around the globe with safe access to clean water. In projects in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, the construction of 17 green filter and 14 drinking water plants has since directly or indirectly improved the sanitary situation of about 450,000 people and provided them with clean water.
GNF Executive Director Udo Gattenlöhner remembers the beginning of the cooperation:
"The goal of the long-term cooperation with Kärcher was the construction of cost-effective, innovative constructed wetlands in developing and emerging countries. It was a good decision for us to focus on countries in South America in the first phase. The fact that we were then also able to convince the German government to provide additional funding for the construction of constructed wetlands in Latin America through the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) gave the 'Clean Water for the Worldʻ campaign a tremendous boost."
The solutions are in natureKärcher CEO Hartmut Jenner says about the tenth anniversary of "Clean Water for the World" and the cooperation with GNF:
"Our cooperation has been characterized by great mutual trust since the beginning. Together we have managed to preserve the ecological and biological diversity in numerous rivers and lakes around the world and to give many people access to clean drinking water." "Clean Water for the World" has used various strategies over the past ten years to improve the livelihoods of inhabitants of the Global South. Whether with green filters, i.e. constructed wetlands co-developed by GNF, rainwater treatment, well drilling or the installation of pumps, the intention of the joint efforts is always to arrive at sustainable, affordable and efficient solutions for local people so that they can benefit from what is already there - i.e. "Nature-based Solutions".
The "Clean Water for the World" projects at a glance Green Filters in four Latin American Countries, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Nicaragua
Clean Water for the World – Green Filter for Waste Water Treatment, Mexico, Nicaragua, Philippines, South Africa
Green Filter in BurundiDrinking Water Project in Gitaza, Burundi
Drinking water in rural regions in ColombiaWastewater Treatment Plant with Solar Power, Jordan Valley, Jordan
Drinking water in Côte d'IvoireRainwater treatment for a school in the community of Gisozi, Burundi
Drinking water supply in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh
Improved schooling conditions through basic hygiene and better drinking water supply, Burundi