The BID-FEMSA Water and Sanitation Prize for Latin America and the Caribbean encourages scientists and entrepreneurs to put their ideas on water sustainability into action. Established by the Inter-American Development Bank and FEMSA Foundation in 2009, the prize brings together the most creative minds in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and women entrepreneurs in STEM to share solutions to the challenges faced by the sector.
The eighth BID-FEMSA Water and Sanitation awards took place in November 2016 in Buenos Aires. Startups from countries including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico all took part in the event.
Participants pitched their solutions in less than two minutes before a panel of expert judges evaluated them and chose the winners. The WASH category placed an emphasis on access, technologies, data collection, and behaviour change, among other things.
The jury was made up of experts including Mariano Montero, director of FEMSA Foundation, Vladimiro Mujica, chemistry professor of Arizona State University, Sergio Campos, chief of the water and sanitation division of the Inter-American Development Bank and Aldo Aguirre, startup programmes director for Latin America, US and Canada at Techstars.
The prize honoured three organisations who identified a specific problem in the WASH sector and achieved measurable progress in the quality and accessibility of these services. The winning projects took home the “silver drop”, a piece by artist Gerardo Azcúnaga, a monetary prize to foster their growth, and scholarships for training courses at the Water Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean.
C-Plantae was awarded the prize for second runner-up for their eco-sustainable technology and sanitation system project that uses plants, earthworms, and microorganisms to clean wastewater. C-Plantae recognises social and environmental problems and alienates them with market opportunities. The project uses hi-tech models of artificial wetlands with vermifilters to treat municipal, domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater. The aim of the Mexican WASH startup’s project is to clean water in an economically efficient way by using aquatic gardens for filtration. The project stimulates the restoration of ecological balance and sustainable development, by mitigating and adapting to climate change through research, innovation and the application of multidisciplinary knowledge.
Smart Wells was named first runner-up for its remote monitoring platform. The Uruguayan startup’s creation enables early detection of failures in water extraction facilities that can lead to the interruption of water supply. It offers periodic reports and expert counselling for sustainable use of water and infrastructure.
Sin Zika, a Brazilian WASH startup, won first place with their app, which allows citizens to report potential reproduction areas of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Users of the app can send information and notifications to government agencies as well as report fever symptoms. The app also features a virtual map that helps citizens find specialised health centres. Sin Zika has impacted 21 million citizens in Brazilian communities, and is used by approximately 12 people an hour.
These projects all have the potential to improve the lives of the people affected by the problems of poor sanitation. Step-by-step these ideas will provide new opportunities for the communities in which they are implemented, preventing setbacks caused by diseases or environmental conditions, and facilitating better futures for the people they serve.
Content on this page is paid for and provided by FEMSA Foundation, a sponsor of the Guardian Global Development Professionals Network.
