Sawyer, a leader in technology-forward outdoor solutions, celebrates 15 years of its Clean Water For All initiative in the place it began, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Waterborne diseases are the number one killer in the world today – an estimated 4,100 children under the age of five die each day globally. The 15-year anniversary and celebration in Honduras mark a milestone in the brand’s purpose work which is funded by 90 percent of Sawyer’s profits and highlights the 15-year longevity of the 0.1-micron water filter.
Sawyer’s filters are popular with hikers, backpackers, and hunters and are featured in emergency preparedness kits. They also are used in more than 90 developing countries to provide people with clean drinking water.
In 2008, through a partnership with the non-profit, Water with Blessings, water filters were put into the hands of mothers, and they were trained on how to provide clean water, for their own families and for others in the community. Passionate about health for their children, dedicated, determined, and generous in spirit, these “Water Women” became the solution to reach seemingly unreachable remote villages and still do today.
“In developing countries, collecting water is a task that falls largely to women and girls as part of keeping house,” said Darrel Larson, Sawyer’s International Director. “The time spent on this chore often means girls miss school and women miss out on the chance to earn a decent living. The trickle-down effect of Sister Larraine and the entire Water with Blessings work of bringing clean water is so much more and is breaking the cycle of women in poverty globally.”
Since its inception in 2008, Sawyer’s Clean Water For All initiative has touched nearly 28 million lives in more than 100 countries. In 2021, with the help of Sawyer filters, Liberia became the first developing country with clean water, border to border. Sawyer is on track to complete country-wide in the Marshall Islands in July, in Fiji in 2024, and in Vanuatu, a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of roughly 80 islands, in 2025.
All of Sawyers’ Clean Water For All projects feature its high-performance 0.1-micron absolute hollow fiber membrane filter which removes 99.99999 percent of all bacteria, such as salmonella, cholera, and E. coli, 99.9999 percent of all protozoa, such as giardia and cryptosporidium, and 100 percent of microplastics.
With a lifetime warranty, Sawyer individually tests each filter three times to performance standards before packaging.
