Clean Water and Sanitation

Tetra Tech has been a longtime supporter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), helping communities around the world meet their basic human needs. Tetra Tech partnered with the EWB Boston Professional Chapter to help bring clean, reliable water to the 4,000 residents of Mapinduzi, Tanzania. Tetra Tech supported the project through its 2016 Charity of the Year employee giving campaign, which raised funds for system installation in 2017.

With the world on the precipice of a water crisis, what do we need to do to better manage this precious natural resource? And what role can business play? To discuss this, I’m joined by Henk Ovink, the Netherland’s Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Diane Holdorf, Chief Sustainability Officer and VP at Kellogg’s, and Tatiana Fedotova, The World Business Council’s Water Director.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week celebrated the completion of the first phase of the McCook Reservoir project, a key component of MWRD’s plan to reduce flood damage and sewer overflow pollution in the Chicago area.

Tetra Tech created its 50th Anniversary Global Clean Water Fund to honor its history of leadership in the water sector and commitment to Engineers Without Borders’ life-changing work. These Tetra Tech-provided grants helped bring clean, safe water to communities in poor and underserved communities in remote areas around the world.

Dell, General Motors, Trek Bicycle, Interface, Van de Sant, Humanscale, Bureo and Herman Miller are partnering to form NextWave, an initiative to develop a commercial-scale ocean-bound plastics supply chain. The industry groups are supported by The Lonely Whale and U.N. Environment.

Dell Inc. and Lonely Whale will form of a collaborative and open-source initiative called NextWave, convening General Motors, Trek Bicycle, Interface, Van de Sant, Humanscale, Bureo and Herman Miller. NextWave convenes leading technology and consumer-focused companies to develop the first-ever commercial-scale ocean-bound plastics supply chain. Additional supporting members of the group include UN Environment, 5Gyres Institute, Zoological Society of London and New Materials Institute.

All pulp and paper mills in North America use and treat water in accordance with comprehensive environmental permits. Overall, Sappi North America’s 2016 water use, total suspended solids and biological oxygen demand intensity metrics were in line with our 2015 performance.

Atlas Copco, a leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions, has partnered with the CAN’d Aid Foundation to support the non-profit’s TOWNS program, which helps rebuild cities after disasters and provides families with clean drinking water. With Atlas Copco’s donation of $50,000 dollars, CAN’d Aid has been able to supply 96,000 cans of water to victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA), Antea Group, and the local community bring an end to the water hauling days of the people of Oloo, Uganda