Which Technologies are Most Effective for Delivering Safe Water in Schools?
This question guides our work every day, as it has since 2014. We focus on technologies that are safe, cost-effective, sustainable, and scalable across tens of thousands of school environments. Our ultimate goal is to ensure all students have dependable access to clean drinking water every day.
Choosing the Right Technology
What we’ve learned is that school and government partners value technologies that are easy to use and maintain and that last year after year. While lower-cost technologies can reach more students for every dollar invested, higher-cost technologies can offer greater protection in some cases, but they are often more complex to use.
At Impact Water, we’re open to all water treatment technologies—provided they can achieve three key criteria at scale:
They must be cost-effective
They must deliver measurable health benefits
They must be sustainable across tens of thousands of schools
How Our Model Has Evolved
Since 2014, we’ve used a blended approach—impact investment, earned revenue, and carbon finance—to deliver subsidized water systems with multiyear credit terms. This helped us reach over a third of Uganda’s private schools, but the need in public schools was even greater.
In 2017, expansion to Kenya led us to explore lower-cost alternatives for public schools. After testing, inline chlorination and chlorine tablets with dedicated drinking water tanks proved effective. By 2019, we’d installed nearly 30,000 chlorine systems across Kenya and Nigeria.
This shift, in partnership with governments, allowed us to scale rapidly—adding another 30,000 schools between 2023–2024. Today, we’re fundraising to sustain and expand safe water access for all schools, everywhere.
Our Proven Solution
We've worked with virtually every water treatment technology—from multistage ultraviolet (UV) and ultrafiltration (UF) systems to ceramic filters, chlorine tablets, and inline chlorination.
The technology we’ve had the greatest success with to date is point-of-use chlorine tablets and inline chlorination. These solutions meet our three key criteria and have sustainable, measurable impact at the cost of less than $0.25 per student per year.
Benefits of Chlorine Treatment
Inactivates most disease-causing bacteria and viruses.
Provides residual protection against decontamination.
Effective against many common pathogens, including E. coli, Salmonella, Vibrio cholera.
Multiple systematic reviews show chlorination reduces diarrhoea disease risk by 25–85%.
3–5-year shelf life, withstands variable temperatures, lightweight, and widely available.
Proven Water Treatment Solutions
for Any School Setting
-
Chlorine Tablets
Strengths:
A simple, electricity-free solution: each tablet treats 100 litres of water. Partner schools get 100 litre tanks with taps for easy access to drinking water.
Best for:
Schools with unreliable or no electricity and no piped water systems. -
Inline Chlorination
Strengths:
Automated solution requiring minimal ongoing maintenance. Integrates directly with existing plumbing for continuous protection.
Best for:
Schools with piped water systems but unreliable water quality. -
Ultraviolet (UV) Purification
Strengths:
Comprehensive purification approach combining filtration with UV light disinfection. Doesn't add chemicals to water and can address multiple contaminants.
Best for:
Schools with reliable electricity, piped water, and relatively developed infrastructure.
Beyond the Technology
All solutions include dedicated drinking water storage tanks with comprehensive installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement services. We've also supported partner schools with educational visits and phone calls each term that promote safe drinking water benefits, explain our partnership, and address questions about the Impact Water system.