Ferguson Joins IWSH to Help Millions of Americans without Access to Safe Sanitation

Ferguson recently joined the International Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Foundation, governments and NGOs in declaring a bold vision on World Toilet Day: Every person, no matter where they live in the in the United States, should have access to safe sanitation. This commitment is to help the 1.4 million Americans who lack access to safe, reliable sanitation and the hope, dignity and health that it brings.

Ferguson, a U.S. distributor of plumbing supplies, PVF, waterworks and fire and fabrication products, announced an additional $25,000 to IWSH for its efforts in the United States, which include two Community Plumbing Challenge projects within the Navajo Nation in the southwestern United States, a plumbing training program at the Navajo Technical University and the construction of restroom facilities in a Navajo community center. Ferguson contributed supplies for these initiatives as well. The Navajo Nation, where approximately 40% of the population does not have access to water and sanitation, is an area particularly hit by this crisis.

Celebrated Nov. 19 every year, World Toilet Day’s goal is to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, which promises sanitation for all by 2030.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 4.2 billion people worldwide lack access to safely managed sanitation, 673 million still practice open defecation and 3 billion lack basic hand-washing facilities. This lack of access to safe sanitation is blamed for an estimated 432,000 diarrheal deaths every year.

The problem is widespread in the United States as well, where more than 2 million people lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation, according to a new report, produced by DigDeep and the US Water Alliance with advisory assistance from the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, titled “Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States: A National Action Plan.”  IWSH is the charitable arm of IAPMO.

For more info, visit www.iwsh.org.