Solar Safe Water For All

Saturday, March 27
11:00 a.m.
Watch on Facebook and YouTube 

In honor of Women’s History Month and World Water Day, join us for an exciting talk from the founder of Solvatten, Petra Wadstrom. She will talk about her company’s solar safe water system, that provides people living in developing countries with safe and hot water in a portable, environmentally friendly way. 

Solvatten (Swedish for “Sun Water”) Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Sweden, Solvatten AB is a social enterprise that develops the Solvatten Solar Safe Water System, a cost-effective solution for use at the household level for millions of people living off-grid in the developing world. Two charitable organizations support these efforts: Solvatten Charitable Foundation Sweden and Solvatten Charitable Foundation USA. Solvatten’s mission is to provide people living in developing countries with safe and hot water in a portable, environmentally friendly way.  

The Problem: Lack of safe water, poor hygiene and poor health are daily challenges for millions of people living in poverty. Worldwide, one out of eight people live without access to safe water at home. Those same people are dependent on firewood and charcoal for boiling and treating their water. Our Approach: Solvatten reaches people in need through partnerships and support from individuals, businesses and organizations that value the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Since our start, we have provided safe and hot water to over 400,000 people in more than 20 countries.  

Solvatten was designed specifically for portable use in hard-to-reach parts of the world where access to clean water is scarce. While there are larger-scale solutions which require complicated infrastructure and maintenance, Solvatten’s solution is a simple, easy-to-use jerrycan designed for families in remote villages with limited resources. Benefits of Solvatten: ✓ reduces the risk of waterborne diseases ✓ reduces the risk of lung-related diseases, greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation by decreasing the need to rely on charcoal and firewood for boiling water ✓ strengthens the household economy by providing more time for men and women to work ✓ improves school attendance by keeping children healthy and reducing their need to walk for miles to gather firewood ✓ improves the safety of women and children who often travel to isolated areas to collect firewood and water ✓ helps empower women by giving girls more time to go to school and women more time to work outside the home.  

About Petra

Petra Wadström Founder & CEO, Solvatten Making a difference by combining a passion for art and science… Born and raised in Sweden, Petra Wadström is the founder and CEO of Solvatten, a social enterprise with the mission of providing people in developing countries with access to safe and hot water in a portable, environmentally friendly way. Petra began her career in the field of biochemical medical research. After her studies in biochemisty, and molecular biology at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, she moved to Switzerland for an opportunity to work as a biochemical medical research technician at the University of Basel. After 6 years in Switzerland, Petra returned to Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and began to work at Statens Bacteriological Institute( SBL) While Petra’s days were focused on furthering scientific research, her evenings were spent honing another passion – art. She spent time taking art classes, drawing, painting, and designing unique products, something that would soon become the foundation for her first business, PetrArt Invent. In time, she shifted her focus from science to art while also starting a family and working as an art teacher and advisor for art education. In the early 90s, Petra moved to Australia with her husband and four children. While teaching art to local Aboriginal women, she was struck by their struggle to keep themselves and their children healthy. Petra also noticed the abundance of sunshine in the country and began to wonder what more could be done with its solar energy. After leaving Australia, Petra travelled to Indonesia where she continued to see the health problems facing women and children. She began to realize that the lack of access to safe and hot water was a major issue keeping people from living a healthy lifestyle. Instead of waiting for someone to do something about the lack of access to safe and hot water, Petra took it upon herself to turn her thoughts into action and this is where the idea of Solvatten was born. Combining her passion for art with her education and career in science, Petra quickly got to work and designed the Solvatten portable solar safe water system. Since the founding of Solvatten in 2006, Petra and her team have successfully deployed over 70,000 Solvatten units reaching nearly 400,000 people in over 20 developing countries throughout the world. Today, Petra focuses the majority of her time on Solvatten and its mission to provide everyone with the right to safe and hot water.