Before Manna Energy installed a water treatment system, children at L'Esperance Orphanage in Mugonero, Rwanda had to carry 40+ pound jerry cans over 110 feet up a steep hill every day. Photo: John Michael Maas, Global Water Challenge.
Reducing the number of people around the globe who do not have access to a safe and reliable source of water is a daunting task—the World Health Organization reports more than one billion people, mostly in developing countries, are without. Many humanitarian aid and other groups work hard to reduce the number, but often success is piecemeal given the large number of people affected. A U.S. engineering professor appears to have found a way to supply safe water to large numbers of people in remote areas of the developing world through a financial plan that taps carbon markets and partners large suppliers with engineering expertise.