This sector review report, the fourth issued by Safe Water Network, brings up to date the need for Safe Water Enterprises, popularly called Water ATMs across India.
This report shares the unique success of the SEWAH program, where women's traditional roles of carrying water on their heads is supplanted by owning and operating local water stations.
Decentralized Safe Water Enterprises (SWEs), popularly called Water ATMs, are low-cost, affordable, 24x7 safe drinking water access solutions for communities and consumers on the go. SWEs have proven their resilience to climate change and pandemics and prevent plastic scourge due to single-use plastic bottled water. The report aims to apprise the governments, development partners, funding institutions, donors, and philanthropes of the sustainability challenges and initiate a policy dialogue on subsidy support for SWEs similar to the piped water utility.