If you invest $ 1 in drinking water, you save $ 38 to cure diseases

"I read that the World Health Organization had stated that if a dollar invested in disease prevention saved $ 38 in everything I did as a doctor, ambulance and hospitalization, and that 50% of the world's hospital beds were occupied by sick people because of water, sanitation and hygiene problems. But I also read that in Argentina 17% of the population did not have access to safe water and almost 50% did not have sewers. There, I asked myself: what if I left the hospital and went to work to prevent it? "

Four years later, after many studies on WHO's recommendations and new technologies related to the environmental sustainability, Wertheimer has become a successful social entrepreneur with a very clear goal: arrive with drinking water in every corner of the country and a little more.

JOURNALIST: What is the main concern of the water today?

Nicolás Wertheimer:Those without access to safe water drill and drink water from napas. In informal urban agglomerations, they draw their water at the same place where the effluents are discharged and drink totally contaminated water. This generates many diseases, which are then seen in the hospital. In more scattered areas of Argentina, where there are other sources of water, such as springs, collect rainwater or catch streams or rivers, it This often involves cloudy water or rot in the containers where it accumulates. Unsafe water is the second leading cause of child deaths in Latin America. We must end this situation simply by washing our hands.

Q: How were you able to give drinking water to more than 100,000 Argentines?

N.W .:What I decided to do is to structure the clean water initiative into the concept of a social enterprise that has a strong social and environmental pillar and is capable of generating positive change. Like any business, it has investments, a work team and very strong alliances with the private sector. These are B-certified companies, which are born with sustainability values, seek to preserve the environment better than when they started and want to have a positive impact on society, while seeking economic profitability. From there, we found solutions with innovative water treatment systems, with filters approved by the WHO, extremely practical, with minimal maintenance, without the use of chemicals and with nanotechnology. This allowed us to reach nearly 1,000 schools across the country and get a follow-up.

Q .: Are the filters at the heart of the project?

N.W .: The services we provide have been designed with a focus on water quality and innovation, with filters to provide clean water on a large scale. But we soon realized that the educational phase and the community exchanges were essential and many workshops were developed to learn about water consumption habits. At the same time, we realized that if there was no water, the filter would be useless and that many people, especially women, walked for four hours to fetch the water and we we started doing small infrastructure work so we would not have to walk miles. .

Q: What is the economic model behind all this?

N.W .: A user, who would be communities, schools, principals and teachers, would make the commitment, attendance at workshops, technology maintenance, participation in progress reports. Another pillar is the financier, with large and medium-sized companies in the mbad market. And then there is the governmental sector, which sometimes also brings its economic contribution, information, logistics or its personnel on the territory. Today, INTA, with its 700 centers across the country, is an essential ally for monitoring more than 1,000 projects we are conducting in 21 provinces.

Q: How much money is saved if contaminated water is not consumed?

N.W .:The impact of investing in primary prevention, which essentially prevents people from drinking contaminated water, spares you, as a country, business and NGO, the consequences for education, health and work. If a boy falls ill, he may be admitted to a hospital for a high cost, such as transfers and medication. This can be avoided with a dollar investment in a water filter or sanitation workshop.

Q: Why did you choose to approach the project with a social enterprise?

N.W .: It is very important for the country to be able to see how the new figure of socio-environmental enterprises is a place to invest, earn income and contribute to society. More and more of these companies. This structure combines the values ​​of the company with the creation of jobs in decent conditions. Last year, in Agua Segura, we realized a turnover of 24 million dollars with very good profitability and the work team has already tripled. Businessmen must not direct their capital towards badets such as bonds, which will keep it in the same conditions as today, which would lead to misuse of resources and social inequalities. As a social entrepreneur, I believe things can be done to change the world.

P .: And especially in Argentina …

N.W .: In our country, one fifth of the population does not have access to water. We Argentines consume the most water in the world, with nearly 500 liters per person per day, while in other countries they do not reach 150 or 200 liters. That's why every drop counts. Turn off the tap, use the minimum amount to wash the car, do not clean the sidewalks, remember that we have clean water in the toilet and that we do not throw plastic in the oceans are ways to raise public awareness of the water problem. If we continue to use it this way, we will turn it into a non-renewable resource. Let's take care of the water as it's a resource that not everyone has the luxury of getting and it's a right we do not have any access to.

Sebastián D. Penelli Interview