by Dames Alexander Sinaga

BALI, Indonesia, May 22 (Xinhua) -- With a unique innovation to provide safe drinking water to underserved communities, India's social enterprise JanaJal WOW (Water on Wheels) has been seeking opportunities to expand its market segment overseas when participating in the 10th World Water Forum on the Indonesian island of Bali.

Setting up a stall in an exhibition event in the Nusa Dua area, the company's staff were swamped with visitors curious to know about its main product, which is a three-wheeler for the last-mile delivery of low-cost safe drinking water to disadvantaged neighborhoods.

These communities can easily order safe water via a mobile app in several cities and villages in India, the world's most populous country.

In an interview with Xinhua, Kapil Sharma, JanaJal WOW's head of information and technology, said that to date, his company has dispensed over 200 million liters of safe drinking water. Now, the JanaJal WOW looks forward to expanding its brand overseas as it already has a branch office in Singapore.

During the face-to-face exhibition on the sidelines of the 10th World Water Forum, the company engaged in talks with participants from Senegal, Thailand and Indonesia.

"This forum is a wonderful initiative to have everybody from different countries. These people come here with different problems, views and solutions. All of them are very enthusiastic," he said, adding that the company is expecting at least four partnerships from the event.

For Shana Fatina, an Indonesian social entrepreneur, the global water and sanitation community forum held between May 18 and 25 is the moment to expand her views and pursue partnerships.

Fatina is the chief executive officer of Komodo Water, an enterprise based in the eastern Indonesian fishing town of Labuan Bajo, which produces water products, such as gallon water and ice blocks, particularly for disadvantaged communities using renewable technology, such as solar water pumps, at their water facilities.

Before establishing the enterprise in 2010, Fatina, who grew up in the country's capital Jakarta, witnessed how villagers in Labuan Bajo and its surrounding regions had poor access to clean water. For instance, some villagers had to spend around two hours to get clean water for their sanitation and household needs.

They no longer have to buy gallons of clean water from outside which are much more pricey for them. Fishermen no longer need to use plastic ice bags and more villagers began to farm, she said, adding that villagers also resell their water products for extra income.

Fatina also testified that most forums she had participated in talked about providing clean water on a big scale, which is irrelevant for her business. Meanwhile, the 10th World Water Forum has offered her rare opportunities to find partners focusing on providing clean water on small scales for scattered populations in small islands.

Nazava from the Indonesian town of Bandung is also looking for opportunities in the forum exhibition, showcasing their household water filters to participants. The social enterprise has sold household water filters across Indonesia and several foreign countries, such as Kenya, Burkina Faso, Argentina, Venezuela, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Lieselotte Heederik, co-founder and director of Nazava, said that her company has impacted over 600,000 people in more than 30 different countries that now have daily access to safe affordable drinking water in their houses.

"As a result, women don't have to boil their water anymore. We've also helped reduce carbon emissions, and we've also increased over 11 million U.S. dollars in savings because the water purified by Nazava is much more affordable than buying purified water, boiled water," the Dutch national said, adding that her company is keen to collaborate with Chinese firms or institutions.

Heederik also called on the people attending the forum to acknowledge that the world needs more market-based and decentralized solutions.

"Together we can develop partnerships to ensure that children are healthy and don't suffer from diarrhea and stunting anymore. We can do this together," she said. Enditem

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