PureFresh
LOCATION
KENYA
SECTOR
ACCESS TO DRINKABLE WATER
YEAR OF INVESTMENT
2014
Need
Kenyans suffer from poor and unreliable access to water, with 42% of people in urban slums and 50% in rural areas lacking guaranteed access to basic drinking water. Even when water is available, Kenyans often suffer from erratic service or seasonal or regional water scarcity. It is estimated that over 70% of local health issues are caused by ingesting or using unclean water. Every year, 23,000 Kenyans die from water-borne diseases. Diarrhoea caused by consuming unclean water is the third most common cause of death for children under the age of five. Most lower income households purify contaminated water by boiling it. However, with charcoal, wood and kerosene the most common sources of fuel used, purifying water directly contributes to indoor pollution and the number one cause of child death, which is respiratory disease.
Solution
PureFresh is a family-owned water company founded in 2011 by Antony Kamotho and Njambi Kibe. The company, launched in Naivasha, aims to make drinking water safe, affordable and easily accessible to all. PureFresh has developed a cost-effective grassroots distribution model and perfected a filtration technology to consistently produce affordable clean water. With these key business foundations in place, the company has brought clean drinking water to thousands of customers who previously could not afford it.
Impact
Thanks to PureFresh, at least 30,000 people per week are enjoying clean water, with 1 million litres of water sold in January 2018 out of the company’s 25 vendor locations. The company has positively impacted the incomes of 57 direct employees and 30 agents. Most importantly, PureFresh is making water more affordable; compared to supermarket prices of bottled water, PureFresh offers consumers over 70% cost savings. Further, the company has saved 2,700 tonnes of CO2 by avoided boiling of water.
