Contaminated drinking water contributes to the deaths of some 750,000 children under the age of five every year due to diarrheal disease. As a result, there is a pressing need in the developing world for ways to make water safe to drink that are affordable and widely used.
A RAND project, with USAID funding, is using mobile phones to increase the sales and use of safe-water filters in Kenya. The ceramic filters are microbiologically effective and often preferred by users over chemical disinfection (e.g., adding chlorine to water).
The filters, however, are not affordable for all who need them. Costing about $10 each, the filters are still a middle-class technology for the poorest of the poor. Many potential users also do not know if they will like the filter or how it works, which can further drive down their purchases.
See full Article: http://www.rand.org/commentary/2013/05/21/RAND.html
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