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AsiaLIFE: Cambodian Clean Water Innovation Shortlisted For Design Award

Read the article in AsiaLIFE magazine.

WaterSHED’s HappyTap portable sink has been shortlisted in the finals for the World Design Impact Prize, the results of which will be announced on Mar. 18 in Taipei. The Happy Tap is one of only three finalists.

A portable sink that was designed for washing hands, the HappyTap has been sold through the project’s social businesses in Cambodia and Vietnam, and is also being market tested in Bangladesh. It is the only one of its kind in the world. Currently, the only other similar hand-washing technologies offer more makeshift solutions (eg. old buckets).

The innovative portable sink has been chosen as a finalist for the World Design Impact Prize. The biennial award is an initiative of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), an organization that aims to raise awareness of industrial design driven projects that make a positive impact on our social, economic, cultural and/or environmental quality of life.

HappyTap is the world’s first purpose-built, affordable portable sink. The unique device brings soap and water together in an all-in-one, kid-friendly package to make washing hands convenient and enjoyable for families. Washing hands with soap is the most cost-effective and reliable way to prevent potentially deadly illnesses such as parasites, respiratory infections, and diarrheoa. Diarrheoa alone remains one of the leading causes of infant death in the world killing more than 750,000  under fives every year. By getting families to consistently wash their hands with soap we can cut that rate by nearly half.

Many people lack a fixed and convenient place to wash their hands and the only available solutions, such as old buckets or recycled jugs, are not particularly effective nor are they inspiring people to get washing. HappyTap was developed to respond to this problem. This bright, attractive device is a physical reminder for people to wash their hands. Thousands are employing the HappyTap in their homes, schools and clinics across Vietnam and Cambodia. The portable sink is also being market-tested in Bangladesh where sanitation coverage is high but hygiene remains low.

WaterSHED, which stands for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Enterprise Development, aims to bring effective, affordable water and sanitation products to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Providing affordable, desirable and effective water and sanitation products to the some of the poorest members of society.

The device is a two-time recipient of the Development Innovations Ventures award, for supporting breakthrough solutions to the world’s most intractable development challenges, and a top-three finalist of more than 80 projects nominated for the World Design Impact Prize.