About SDWF

SDWF is a registered charitable organization. Its primary purpose is to find treatment and preventative solutions to make surface and ground water safe for human consumption in rural areas of the world. Most efforts in the drinking water field have been dedicated to large systems serving towns and cities, with few resources placed on small systems, despite the fact that these systems dominate rural areas around the world.

SDWF is independent from municipal, provincial and federal governments and led by a board of international scientists with the following mission:

Promote safe drinking water through supporting innovative research and development;
Increase awareness of health concerns from consumption of poor quality water;
Act as a catalyst to ensure that appropriate action is taken to enable the provision of safe drinking water to rural residents.

SDWF emphasizes sound solutions to poor quality water. There are six voluntary positions on the Board of Directors. The scientific advisors (founding Board of Directors) have published more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific articles in the water quality field.

Agencies, foundations and corporations can donate in-kind support, monetary support or facility support to SDWF.

The Need for Safe Drinking Water Foundation

Most source waters used for drinking water purposes in the world are not safe to drink without treatment. All too frequently, this water is consumed without treatment or with inadequate treatment. This results in human illness, which is a major concern in most rural areas in both developed and developing countries. The World Health Organization estimates that 5 million people die annually from water-borne diseases. The people that are most vulnerable to water-borne disease are the very young, pregnant mothers, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

People may think that unsafe drinking water is a problem only in developing countries and not in developed countries such as Canada. However, one need only venture outside the limits of major urban centres to find water treatment practices and source waters that have more in common with developing countries than with developed countries. Most people also believe that municipal, provincial and federal government agencies will provide safe drinking water. Unfortunately, the problems encountered by individual users and small rural communities in trying to make poor source waters safe for consumption are often too large, resulting in water that is not safe to drink.

Unsafe drinking water is a much greater problem than we think. Some diseases that are attributed to other causes are actually due to the drinking water. The presence of pathogenic microbes in drinking water supplies has prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider regulation of viruses, bacteria and protozoa in addition to several already covered by the Safe Drinking Water Treatment Rule. New microorganisms for regulatory consideration include, for example, the hepatitis A virus. SDWF has targeted the "uniquely poor" source waters of the Canadian Prairie as the major recipient of SDWF activities.