LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) – Clean drinking water is something often taken for granted, but many people around the globe do not have access to drinkable water.
This is where Lexington’s tech company, Square1 Technology, has the opportunity to restore a basic, human right, starting with the country of Kenya.
Square1 Technology designs filtration systems that can take contaminated water and purify it within a matter of minutes. Recently, Square1 Technology sent one of its filtration units to Whitesburg to help out eastern Kentucky flood victims.
On Thursday, the tech company welcomed diplomats from Kenya to show them how the same technology is capable of helping some of the most impoverished areas in Africa gain access to clean drinking water.
The humanitarian organization Transform Africa, has ordered between 500-600 units to deploy as soon as funding is secured, which is what brought the Kenyan diplomats to Lexington for due diligence.
The man behind the technology is Dr. Timm Finfrock. Finfrock gave a tour Thursday and explained how his water purification system works to two Kenyan finance ministers, seeking clean water solutions for Africa.
Alfred Lagat is one Kenyan finance minister and said he and his associate, Matthew Buya, were impressed.
“Our coastal region is along the Indian River, and immediately past the ocean is an arid,” Lagat said. “The communities around that place are predominantly pastoral, so they realize the need is for the animals but also water for domestic use and consumption by human beings.”
The Kenyans said their land is arid meaning it’s suffering from drought, which is why in 2010, Buya said Kenya declared water as a basic, human right.
“Water is a right to all the citizens, and since this is a devout function, then we have scouted for a technology for our Governor to deliver that social contract to the people,” Buya said.
Transform Africa founder, Dr. Rollan Roberts, is behind the partnership between Lexington and Kenya, and said he has never seen a purification system like the one in Kentucky.
“I believe it is a global opportunity to leapfrog the technologies in America … there’s a whole lot of people who do not have access to the minimum standard of water like we do,” Roberts said.
Because it was Lagat and Buya’s first time visiting the United States, Gov. Andy Beshear’s senior advisor, Rocky Adkins, attended the tour Thursday and shared about how the recent devastation by the floods connects Kentucky to Kenya in a powerful and collaborative way.
“The message from the governor is, ‘We’re here to help,’” Adkins said. “This development of those relationships with other countries, and this type of relationship has always been valuable.”
Buya added that bringing the water filtration units to Kenya will also help create jobs.
“It is a solution that in the process can create social entrepreneurs, that we are not only providing this water as a right, but through our water companies, women groups, youth groups, can use this idea, and make money out of it.”
Lagat said they will be heading back to Kenya to inform their governor of their due diligence and help further secure funding to deploy as many units as possible to their country.
“So this trip to the United States has opened my eyes to the global village we are, and how interdependent we are, so I’m most grateful for that,” Lagat said.
Transform Africa is already looking to help more African countries, as well as India.
In addition to cross-border aid, Square1 Technology co-founder Joe Montgomery said the company is also in the process of helping out Jackson, Mississippi with its current water crisis.
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