If there were an antidote to the general climate of volatility that weighs on our current epoch, Wateroam‘s success story might fit the bill.
Established in 2014 by Mr David Pong, 30, Mr Lim Chong Tee, 28, and Mr Vincent Loka, 26, the company has, through its portable water filtration system, supplied clean drinking water to more than 88,000 people in rural villages and disaster-struck zones across Southeast Asia.
Its client list includes the Singapore Red Cross, World Vision International Singapore and Mercy Relief.
The impetus behind Wateroam was sparked by a life-changing encounter. “In one remote village, we witnessed someone almost drink from a cup with a tapeworm inside,” said Mr Pong. “I realised how the lack of clean drinking water is a critical issue Singaporeans don’t see on a daily basis.”
He joined HydroPreneur, a Public Utilities Board initiative that nurtures water technology start-ups to improve global access to clean drinking water. There, he met Mr Lim and Mr Loka, two environmental engineering students with similar passions.
Through the programme, which connected them to venture capitalists and industry experts, they presented their idea for a portable filtration system. More than 10 iterations later, they arrived at their current masterpiece – a 4.2kg pump that can provide 100 people with clean water for up to two years.
Wateroam attained its first pilot partner, World Vision International Singapore, in 2014. Since then, they have worked with more than 50 organisations, most of them are NGOs and government agencies. Among its beneficiaries are Rohingya refugees and victims of the 2018 Lombok earthquake.
Their efforts have earned plaudits from the United Nations, which, in 2016, named Mr Loka a Young Leader for Sustainable Development Goals.
While the company broke even the same year and has managed to turn a profit, social impact is still an intrinsic part of its DNA. “There’s an unspeakable joy that can be derived from seeing communities collecting buckets of clean water together,” said Mr Lim.
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Source: Channel NewsAsia, 23 April 2020