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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development

Marshall Islands Kwajalein Atoll Water Project

SOURCE Global (
Private sector
)
#SDGAction50668
    Description
    Description

    partnering with the Kwajalein Development Authority and with support from the US Ambassador to the Marshall Islands Roxanne Cabral, SOURCE Global will install approximately 1050 Hydropanels in Fields and Arrays across six islands located within the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands providing up to 1,500,000 liters per year (400,000 US Gallons) and provide a long-term solution to the Islands' drinking water crisis. These Fields and Arrays will be located on the islands of Ebadon, Enelabkan (Carlos), Enebouj (Carlson), Ebejedrik, Bikej and Enubirr (Santo) within the Kwajalein Atoll. Water will be sold to the Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority through a Water Purchase Agreement (WPA), providing reliable, clean drinking water to the communities on the island. Each SOURCE Field or SOURCE Hydropanel Array is designed with remote monitoring capabilities to allow for continuous optimization and maximizing of production. SOURCE Fields and Arrays will both have a direct dispensing point where people in the community can fill up water using reusable cans/bottles, eliminating the need to transport bottled water to the islands via boat and the waste and contamination associated with single-use plastic water bottles.

    Expected Impact

    The Marshall Islands Kwajalein Atoll Water Project will serve the 171 households across the six islands that have struggled with water access and security. In addition to providing the human basic need for drinking water, we are addressing the linkages of equitable access, health, and economics. This investment in climate-resilient water services shows a commitment by local and international governments to provide for remote and rural populations. Estimates by Vivid Economics show that universal access to safely managed water supplies could prevent up to 6 billion cases of diarrhea and 12 billion cases of parasites between 2021-2040, and save $36-37 billion per year in global health care costs -- a return of 21 times the initial cost of implementing safe water systems. SOURCE Hydropanels were designed to be scaled to meet the drinking water needs of any location - from a single home to an entire community. The systems can be expanded to larger “farms” of interconnected Hydropanels to generate large volumes of water for community supply and larger-scale resilience and storage, along with consumption models that include ATM-style and circular distribution models to serve larger communities. Similar to power purchase agreements, Hydropanel arrays can also be contracted in an innovative financing vehicle called a “Water Purchase Agreement” or “WPA”. WPAs charge customers a fixed price per liter that is generated over the length of a 5-15 year contract. Hydropanel arrays are sized to meet the volume needed and built, operated, and maintained by Source at no cost to the customer. Importantly, a single WPA can deploy technology across a large area of low-density population - for example, a single WPA can provide household drinking water to 10 islands, 100 villages or 1,000 schools at the point of consumption, which makes it dramatically cheaper than the extension of traditional centralized infrastructure. The potential of this model is access and scale - a regional financing opportunity to rapidly enable long term, resilient access to drinking water to households in the same way that renewable microgrids have done so for electricity access and cell phone towers have done so for information access.

    Partners

    Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority

    Goal 6

    Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

    Goal 6

    6.1

    By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

    6.1.1

    Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services

    6.2

    By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations

    6.2.1

    Proportion of population using (a) safely managed sanitation services and (b) a hand-washing facility with soap and water

    6.3

    By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

    6.3.1

    Proportion of domestic and industrial wastewater flows safely treated

    6.3.2

    Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality

    6.4

    By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
    6.4.1

    Change in water-use efficiency over time

    6.4.2

    Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources

    6.5

    By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

    6.5.1

    Degree of integrated water resources management 

    6.5.2

    Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation

    6.6

    By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
    6.6.1

    Change in the extent of water-related ecosystems over time

    6.a

    By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
    6.a.1

    Amount of water- and sanitation-related official development assistance that is part of a government-coordinated spending plan

    6.b

    Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

    6.b.1

    Proportion of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management

    Name Description

    Installation and implementation of over 1000 SOURCE Hydropanels on 6 Marshall Island Atolls

    Financing (in USD)
    around $224,000 per year
    No progress reports have been submitted. Please sign in and click here to submit one.
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    Timeline
    20 March 2023 (start date)
    15 February 2024 (date of completion)
    Entity
    SOURCE Global
    SDGs
    Region
    1. Asia and Pacific
    Other beneficiaries

    Atoll communities of Ebadon Island, Enelabkan Island, Enebouj Island, Ebejedrik Island, Bikej Island, and Santo Island.

    More information
    Countries
    Marshall Islands
    Marshall Islands
    Contact Information

    Anja, VP, Global Development Partnerships