Sail for Water : promoting universal access to clean drinking water

A project managed by Sail for Water

Founded in 2014, the NGO Sail for Water is an inclusive and collaborative human adventure run by three cousins. Its goal is to combine the protection of a fundamental human right – the universal access to clean drinking water – with an extraordinary sporting challenge: to sail around the world.

In partnership with Arkema

A major player in the chemical industry, the French group Arkema has a presence in almost 50 countries and is a world leader in speciality chemicals and performance materials. Arkema is the main sponsor of the Sail for Water project and worked with the NGO to design the water filter distributed to communities.

In October 2015, the first round-the-world sailing trip to promote universal access to clean drinking water was launched by Sail for Water, with the goal of distributing water filters in areas where access to clean drinking water is particularly difficult. More than 1,000 filters were distributed in Africa, Latin America and Oceania. The project was supported by some 20 partners, including the Arkema group and Waves for Water.

Context

The project stems from an alarming and shocking revelation from 2012: water, the source of all life, is the leading cause of death around the world. The number of deaths increases by 3.6 million victims every year, most of them children under the age of 14.

Regional disparities remain high between the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 40% of people are without access to clean drinking water, and the countries of Latin America and Asia. Rural areas in poor countries have an appalling track record : 97% of their inhabitants have no access to piped water, and 14% drink water from rivers, ponds and lakes.

In 2014, three young Frenchmen, who were inspired by a common spirit of entrepreneurship and solidarity, created Sail for Water. At each port of call, the crew met disadvantaged people affected daily by a lack of access to clean drinking water and sanitary facilities. It was a true seafaring and humanitarian adventure. Every filter they distributed can purify more than 3.5 million litres of water, which represents 100 people’s daily consumption for five years.

roadmap-sail-for-water

Goals

Complete the first round-the-world sailing trip aimed at promoting universal access to clean drinking water
Distribute drinking water filters in partnership with local associations
Raise public awareness of hygiene rules and principles in order to reduce the risks of contamination and disease

Activities

Designing the filtration system in coordination with the Arkema group (cartridges with a membrane filtration system)
Travelling 3 oceans, 5 continents, 22 countries and 35,000 nautical miles in a 20-month-long adventure
Eight African countries have benefited from the programme: Cabo Verde, Madagascar, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa.

Find out what happened during the stop in Cabo Verde (50 filters distributed in Maio) (video in French)