ABSTRACT
In 1995, Procter & Gamble (P&G) scientists began researching methods of water treatment for use in communities facing water crises. P&G, one of the world’s largest consumer products companies, was interested in bringing industrial-quality water treatment to remote areas worldwide, because the lack of clean water, primarily in developing countries, was alarming. 1 In the latter half of the 1990s, approximately 1.1 billion (out of a worldwide population of around 5.6 billion) 2 people lacked access to clean drinking water or sanitation facilities. An estimated 6 million children died annually from diseases, including diarrhea, hookworm, and trachoma, brought about by contaminated water. 3 One report estimated that “about 400 children below age five die per hour in the developing world from waterborne diarrheal diseases” 4 and that, “at any given time, about half the population in the developing world is suffering from one or more of the six main diseases associated with water supply and sanitation.” 5
