Having access to reliable and clean water are well-known, particularly with regards to preventing illness and disease, but there are other benefits to a clean water supply that may be less obvious at first glance. The same can be said for being able to keep food cool with a cool box or refrigerator.
Of course, being able to refrigerate food allows it to be stored longer, which means a less frequent need to go out and get more, less waste and a lower risk of illness from spoiled foodstuffs.
But, outside of a domestic environment, being able to keep food cool opens up other benefits too, such as the entrepreneurialism it affords. For example, cold food storage opens up the opportunity to prepare larger quantities of food for storage and sale over a longer period of time; reducing the time spent on making produce through batch preparation as well as lowering the pressure to sell items quickly in case they go bad. Another important benefit is that, aside from storing foodstuffs, refrigeration allows items such as medicines to be kept as well.
As mentioned above, access to clean water is vital for improving health and sanitation, but there are other positive benefits too. A reliable clean water supply means no need to fetch and store water, saving hours of time spent collecting water, particularly for women and children. A safe, pumped water supply also helps make household chores easier, which is also a burden still felt most by women in society. Of course, these household chores may include cleaning utensils, which feeds directly back into the health benefits created by the water supply too.
When these benefits are coupled with the reliable electricity that IMPHORAA can supply, the lives of rural and off-grid communities can be totally transformed. As well as running food storage and water pumping systems, the solar-powered solutions can power other electronics, such as lights, televisions, radios, and more.
Aside from the domestic and business benefits of water pumping and cooling, these time-saving facilities offer more leisure time to communities too, which as we know, are good for mental health.
Cheap, reliable and easy-to-install, the IMPHORAA project solutions are not only designed with local communities in mind, but can be readily repaired or replaced if needed, meaning that, once deployed, these solutions can be relied upon to be back up and running quickly following extreme weather events, earthquakes or other destabilising times.
This project is supported by Energy Catalyst and UK aid and was awarded as a “subsidy” under the UK International Obligations for Subsidy Control and delivered under Grant 90935 from Innovate UK.
