SPRING HEALH: a subsidiary of Windhorse International

THE CHALLENGE
Of the 325 million people living in rural Eastern India, an estimated 80% have no
access to safe drinking water.
While there is a growing movement in India to provide clean water through
community water systems, most companies require high capital costs ($10,000$50,000) to build plants with larger delivery capacity (12,000-65,000 liters/day).
As a result, these kiosks must be located in villages and towns with a larger
population to make the businesses viable. However, the majority of people in
Eastern India live in small 200-300 household villages that are currently outside
the reach of solutions like these.

THE INNOVATION
Spring Health has designed a low-cost model to operate a chain of safe water
kiosks in Orissa, a largely rural state in northeastern India.
Spring Health uses liquid chlorine to disinfect water at the point of distribution
sell to rural consumers at affordable prices. The company uses a motorcyclebased distribution system to deliver liquid chlorine doses into cement water
tanks constructed outside of existing retail shops in rural communities. Local
shop owners pump water into the tank from shallow wells, sell the water in 10
liter branded containers, and share the revenue with Spring Health.
Spring Health is a subsidiary of Windhorse International, a US-based holding
corporation founded by Paul Polak, a renowned social entrepreneur who has
developed a number of innovative products for customers at the bottom of the
pyramid.

THE IMPACT
Acumen Funds investment will help Spring Health scale up the pilot phase of its
project, and prepare for market entry on a larger scale throughout India.
The company plans to provide safe drinking water to five million people through
10,000 village shops within three years, and to provide safe drinking water to
more than 100 million people through shops in 400,000 villages around the
world within ten years.
This investment will enable Acumen Fund to bring safe drinking water to poorer
and more remote communities than it has reached before.

WATERHEALTH
INTERNATIONAL
THE CHALLENGE
Approximately 170 million people in India lack access to safe, clean drinking
water. Families, especially women and girls, spend long hours collecting water
from local sources, and end up with water that is unsafe for consumption. Waterborne diseases cost an annual $600 million in lost production and medical
treatment.

THE INNOVATION
WHIs mission is to provide scalable, safe and affordable water solutions to the
underserved through innovative business models. Its technology for purifying
bacterial contamination in collected surface water was developed after a waterborne cholera epidemic in 1993 killed 10,000 people in just one month. WHIs
model incorporates the cost-effective technology designed for the poor with an
effective approach to social marketing and distribution.
Each WHI system has the capacity to serve up to 5,000 people a day, though its
modular design can be configured to serve communities of up to 10,000 people.
Clean water is sold to customers for less than $.01 USD per liter. At some sites
delivery is available.

THE IMPACT
Acumens initial investment in 2004 helped the company launch its first
community water system in India. Now, WHI has 500 water systems, with over
500,000 low-income individuals who purchase safe water on a recurring basis.
WHI is educating rural communities on the importance of safe drinking water
through its Dr. Water brand and marketing. The company is also expanding
operations in Asia and Africa.
In addition, WHI has helped catalyze an entire sector of enterprises that are
delivering clean water in India. Community water providers have established
approximately 700 systems serving another 500,000 people. And, outside of
India, WHIs innovative technology is being used in countries in West Africa,
South East Asia, and Latin America.

THE GAURDIAN- MICROFINANCING FOR WATER ISSUES:

THE CHALLENGE
Over 2.5 billion people suffer from a lack of access to improved sanitation
globally.
According to a 2008 report released by the World Health Organization, seventyfive percent of Indias surface water is contaminated by human and agricultural

waste and industrial effluent. This contaminated water supply results in lifethreatening illness.
Lost productivity and other consequences of unsanitary water and inadequate
sewage treatment have significant negative effects on GDP.

THE INNOVATION
Gramalaya Urban And Rural Development Initiatives And Network (GUARDIAN) is
the worlds first microfinance institution (MFI) engaged in microlending to
households to purchase individual water and sanitation assets. These include
connections to municipal water supply, toilet construction, rainwater harvesting
equipment, and household water purifiers.
The company lends to members of existing womens self-help groups, each with
up to fifteen members, and to five-member joint-liability groups that they help
form.
Because of grant support from Water.org, GUARDIAN was founded as a spin-off
of Indian NGO, Gramalaya.

THE IMPACT
GUARDIAN has made more than 30,000 loans with a 99.99% repayment rate.
Acumen Funds patient capital is playing a critical role in helping GUARDIAN
build its portfolio and transition from a partially grant-funded NGO to a fully selfsustaining MFI capable of accessing larger loans from Indian banks for further
scale-up.