“Those who aren’t currently living through a water crisis would be shocked to see the water people drink here and the amount of turbidity in the water. If you had it in a 1 liter bottle, you wouldn’t be able to see through it, it would look like chocolate milk.” –Daniel Meisel

Daniel Miesel, one of Business Connect’s East Africa Distributors, is the founder of Element Access International located in Kenya. Element Access is a social impact water development company focused on all aspects of rural water infrastructure development. Daniel and I spoke about Business Connect’s role in East Africa and the impact our organizations have on the current water crisis. 

The Water Crisis in East Africa

Currently, there are two sides to the water crisis in East Africa: accessibility and water safety. Some areas have quite a bit of water, but the water quality is very unsafe on a bacterial level.

The other side is accessibility. Drought in East Africa causes some areas to stay dry for up to two years. The communities will dig 10-15 feet holes beside the river and find water that way. The issue with this is that the livestock and wildlife are also dependent on these water holes, leading to cross contamination.

In other areas, water access is even less accessible, meaning people are walking 2-3 miles one way to access a water source. Each country in East Africa has its own particular landscape, making water challenges unique per region.

Product Impact: The MajiPoa

One product that combats these issues is the MajiPoa, a two-tier bucket water filtration system created by Element Access International to provide communities with clean water. This is a simple product that uses a VF100 filter cartridge to eliminate bacteria, parasites, and protozoan cysts. This product can last five years or longer with proper maintenance. 

A large market bearer for some of the water filtration products was that they were not ‘ready to go’ products. Organizations or individuals would have to buy the bucket first and then drill a hole for the filtration device.

With the MajiPoa, you get an all-in-one product that is ready to go right out of the box. This system also provides consumers with an instant view of the water transformation, where tablets or treatment powder may not have the same effect. 

“When you’re dealing with rural communities who may not understand the full extent of bacterial contamination, they can physically see this dirty water become clean water and be convinced that a change has happened.”

Element Access International’s Areas of Focus

Daniel started Element Access International with his wife in 2017 where they have a really “boots on the ground” type of approach. Within this business, they provide hydrogeological surveys, boreholes, installation of solar  pumping systems, automatic ATM water kiosks,  pipelines, water storage, and sell a large range of household and industrial WASH products. Daniel broke it down into three main areas:

1. The first main area of this organization is custom service. This includes working in partnerships and long term collaborations with development partners whether that be a nonprofit organization or local led community initiatives. Element Access International helps to map the way through comprehensive community surveys, advises on the best approaches or technologies, and installs end to end turnkey systems to create a substantial impact on the water crisis. 
2. The second area is a large in-house project they are currently working on called AquaBot. This is a grant funded program where they are looking to create access in the most rural and hard to access places. To accomplish this, Element Access integrates  the communities, provides stakeholder engagements, and installs fully automated kiosks  that do not require any operator to be present for people to access clean water. The community members are able to go to the AquaBot and dispense water with a key fob.  “We came up with this project in order to act as a long term partner/service provider for these communities. We pledge long term maintenance on the kiosks, let the communities set the prices, and help to streamline a lot of sustainability issues and lack of skilled trade/maintenance issues,” Daniel said about the Aquabot.
3. The final area would be Business Connect and WASH product sales. Most of Element Access International’s WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) products are through Business Connect. The main products they provide are the VF100, Aquatabs Inline, Aquatabs 67mg tablets, VF600, and VF1000. Daniel is trying to produce these products more on the online sector, but online presence is currently very small in Kenya. One of his goals is to be at the forefront of that space with the distribution of Business Connect’s water filtration products. 

What’s Next?

One of the most exciting things that Element Access International is currently working on would be their app. In line with Business Connect’s mission of creating hope through business, Daniel is trying to achieve that exact sentiment with this app by leveraging network marketing. He not only wishes to provide clean water products with this, but to empower local people to sell these products and enhance their livelihoods. 

“One of the things I’m most excited about with [the app] is that it has an automated social marketing commission system to help people make money while helping others get access to clean and safe water,” Daniel said.

“The system rewards anyone who recommends a product to a friend by a significant percentage. We handle all the packaging and shipping, so this provides them with the same margins as if they were managing a micro business. I am very excited for how that both brings together creating hope through business and access to clean water.”

In the next five years, Daniel hopes that the organization’s emphasis and focus remains on self-sufficient technology like the AquaBot and app. Through the expansion of their services and continuing to work with different developmental players, he hopes to create even more long- term sustainable projects.

How Can You Help?

Element Access International is looking for impact investors to help them make the app even bigger once it launches. This helps to continue to provide clean water access in an affordable way for those in Kenya and the surrounding areas, as well as provide jobs for local people  to provide for their families. If you are interested in learning more about this incredible organization, please check out their website. 

If you are currently in East Africa and are interested in becoming a distributor of water filtration products or just interested in learning more about our products in general, please visit Business Connect’s website to find out more.