We can solve global water crisis by partnering together

Erin McCusker , Senior Vice President and Leader, SATO and LIXIL Public Partners, LIXIL

Increasing water access to all communities is of imminentglobal importance.?At the UN Water Conference in March 2023, it was noted that achieving the global goal of water, sanitation and hygiene for all by 2030 is ambitious. But the stakeholders also agreed that game changing new solutions and innovations developed through collaboration can bring us a lot closer to reaching these goals.

Billions of people are impacted by lack of access to safe water or safe, working toilets at home - ?and?2.2 million of those people live here in the United States. A significant number of low-income households in the US are unable to meet their water needs due to aging water infrastructure, inadequate sanitation solutions and the impact of climate change. Fortunately, there is a ?growing global focus on infrastructure, environmental justice, and resilience, and with ?this focus comes a strong ?demand for the public sector to provide solutions and resources.

Throughout ?my career, I’ve build platforms for the private sector and public partners to deliver on solutions that make a real difference to lives and communities. LIXIL , building on its strong purpose, explores these synergies and is expanding collaboration with the public sector for the delivery of innovative products and business models to solve our water and sanitation crisis in the US.?Here are four things we’ve learned so far about the potential for collaboration between partners in the private and public sectors:

The private sector brings a unique skill set that can help deliver public sector mandates and policy.?We innovate products and services with the consumer in mind, building sustainable business models and reliable supply chains. We understand markets and consumer needs, as well as what it takes to operate at the highest levels of efficiency to maximize the impact of each investment. Most importantly, we have the resources to invest in new strategies that deliver on community challenges, create economic opportunity and build livelihoods.

When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail – expand your tool box.?Our project with Lowndes County, Alabama serves as a blueprint for what is possible if a diverse set of partners are engaged and they all work together. In this rural community, households are responsible for their onsite wastewater systems; however, more than a third of homes in the county have raw sewage on the ground without affordable, viable treatment solutions.

The private sector didn’t have all the solutions for this issue, nor did the public sector. At LIXIL, we had to think beyond our role as a toilet manufacturer providing “a better toilet,” and take on the role of a?solutions provider. We partnered with local government, academic institutions and community organizations to contribute to a whole-house treatment solution, building confidence and trust between our partners throughout this new approach and giving the community options to solve this long term challenge

Public sector funding makes pilot projects scalable and adaptable to help many communities across the country. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to leverage federal funding,?and we must use this limited time window and empower communities to access the financial investment available to them. Last year, we established LIXIL Public Partners specifically to provide a platform to engage the public sector and find the right solutions across multiple types of challenges with the right investment.

Making public-private partnerships work requires patience, willingness to learn and a longer-term project horizon. Many partnerships fail because public sector timelines and private-sector KPIs are simply not aligned. We need to make sure we get the model right – ?that we're partnering closely with the communities, meeting their needs, and implementing sustainable solutions for the long term. We cannot keep thinking of individual projects if we are going to solve the water and sanitation crisis for millions; we have to think at scale and plan for replication.

LIXIL works beyond providing toilets and taps to communities. We are committed to reaching 100 million people with improved sanitation and hygiene and delivering on our ambitious, newly updated water impact strategy.?Access to safe, clean water and sanitation are human rights, and we can only solve these big global problems by partnering together.

#water #waterconservation #sanitationforall #sdg6 #publicprivatepartnerships