The SURG-Water team led by Professor Kevin McGuigan and Dr Jakub Gajewski of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and Professor Christabel Yollandah Kambala of Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences has won the Science Foundation Ireland-Irish Aid Sustainable Development Goals Challenge focused on SDG 13: Climate Action, with their innovative and low-cost solution to providing clean water to healthcare facilities in Malawi.

The SDG Challenge seeks to support diverse, transdisciplinary teams to develop transformative, sustainable solutions that will contribute to addressing development challenges under the UN SDGs in countries where Irish Aid works. Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick O’Donovan TD, and Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora Sean Fleming TD, announced the winning projects today.

Access to safe, clean water is critical to health and the provision of essential health services. The impacts of climate change are exacerbating both water scarcity and water quality. In 2022, 27% of the world’s population had no access to safely managed water. 

To address the health impacts of the climate crisis, the SURG-Water team worked collaboratively with a range of local partners in Malawi to develop a fit-for-purpose solution 
addressing the shortage of clean water in maternal health facilities in rural areas. The team developed a prototype solar disinfector technology to treat harvested rainwater using renewable solar UV. This is a regionally reproducible nature-based solution, utilising freely available natural resources. The team will receive over €1.1 million in additional funding for the next two years, which they will use to continue testing and ultimately, develop a scale-up plan for Malawi and surrounding countries.

Minister O’Donovan said: “I congratulate the SURG-Water team on winning the Science Foundation Ireland-Irish Aid Sustainable Development Goals Challenge. Their work over the last 18 months demonstrates the power of collaboration and how, by working together, we can make a real difference on a global scale, contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. I look forward to watching the team progress their innovative solution over the next two years.”

Real-world impact

Minister Fleming said: “The winning project is an exciting collaboration between experts in Ireland and Malawi that will have a real-world impact. Every year, over 17 million women in low-to-medium-income countries give birth in healthcare facilities without safe water. The SURG-Water project has the potential to address this problem, helping to prevent potential life-threatening infections for women and their babies.”

Professor Fergal O’Brien, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at RCSI said: “The SURG-Water project exemplifies RCSI’s commitment to driving improvements in human health through innovation and collaboration. I extend my congratulations to this multi-disciplinary team and I wish them every success with the next phase of their project.”

The SURG-Water technology is a 250-litre harvested rainwater solar disinfection (HRWSODIS) reactor treating rainwater collected from maternity ward roofs. In Malawi, the rainy season lasts three to four months, and sunlight is available for most of the year. This is a context-specific adaptation of an existing technology to the particular needs of healthcare facilities in rural Malawi. This innovation is a regionally reproducible solution, using freely available natural resources.

The RCSI and Malawi teams were supported by Dr Chiara Pittalis and Antonio Jaén Osuna. It was also supported by Martin Wesian, an entrepreneur and consultant in the WASH sector, as its Societal Impact Champion.