With generous start-up support from the Donald A. Strauss Foundation, UVP is incorporating the final link of the safe water chain: improved storage. In the hot climate of Uganda, there is a strong cultural preference for storing water in wide mouth clay pots that cool water through evaporation. However, water stored in these containers are easily contaminated because water is collected by submerging a cup by hand into the large, open top of the pot. Therefore, these traditional pots become a reservoir for the transmission of diarrheal diseases to entire households – even with improvements at the water source and chlorination. Studies assessing water quality in other developing countries as well as direct testing of household water sources by UVP and the local government show evidence for water contamination inside clay pots (Quick et al., 2002).

In recognition of the high household water storage contamination but strong cultural preference for a clay storage container, UVP is promoting improved clay pots – Mod-Pots. The Mod-Pots follow WHO recommended storage specifications with a narrow opening to block hand contamination and a durable plastic spigot as a convenient alternative to direct hand withdrawal of water. UVP Healthy Village communities are offered Mod-Pots at the subsidized price of $2, equivalent to the cost of a traditional clay pot, through subsidies generated through sale of higher-priced Mod-Pots in urban areas of Uganda.

As the Mod-Pot social business matures, it will

• Become a source of income for local potters and their families
• Provide affordable, culturally appealing, and technologically appropriate safe water storage to rural families
• Become largely self sustaining though cost recovery under a two-tiered pricing structure that reduces dependency on external funding

To ensure Mod-Pots indeed have the capability to improve health, UVP is rigorously evaluating the impact of Mod-Pots in a variety of ways. For example, clay samples from local potters have been tested at University of Michigan Material Engineering laboratories to verify there are no dangerous contaminants within the clay. Water from households with mod-pots is being compared with water from control households that use traditional clay pots for differences in number of bacteria. Information about product durability and user satisfaction are also collected to capture and isolate broad effect of safe water storage using Mod-Pots.