Sanitation and hygiene solution company SATO has introduced its new hand-washing solution, the ‘SATO Tap’.
The social business, which aims to solve water, sanitation and hygiene problems by providing affordable and easy-to-install sanitation systems to local communities around the world, introduced the product on Tuesday.
“The COVID-19 situation underscores the vast inequities in access to water, sanitation and hygiene for households in Africa and globally. We know that washing your hands with soap is one of the effective interventions against disease transmission. By bringing SATO’s design and engineering expertise, combined with global LIXIL support, we aim to accelerate this new hand-washing innovation to market, making it available to households to reinforce hand-washing behaviour change and to refine it for long-term offering in the SATO product portfolio,” said Vice President & Head of SATO Erin McCusker.
SATO has worked with partners during the design process, receiving valuable technical inputs and helping to validate the efficacy of the SATO Tap design which consists of a plastic base with a nozzle that can be fitted with widely available plastic bottles. It is compact and can be used both within the home and as a hand-washing station at public facilities. The unique design ensures minimal contact between the user and the tap, thereby reducing the spread of disease, while the trickle action minimizes water use, meaning fewer refills, while maintaining a solid flow of water.
In addition to providing an affordable hand-washing facility to disadvantaged households through the SATO Tap, LIXIL’s existing partnership with UNICEF will also expand activities in hand-washing and sanitation in response to COVID-19. These activities range from collection of commercial and behavioural insights to strengthen behaviour change, joint advocacy to promote hygiene programming and maximizing existing public and private sector networks and supply chains to expand access to hand-washing.
“We know that one of the most effective ways to reduce the spread of diseases is to wash your hands. But for the poorest and most vulnerable children and families, the immediate risk of COVID-19 is compounded by a lack of basic hand-washing facilities,” said Associate Director, WASH, UNICEF, Kelly Ann Naylor. “This global pandemic has made it more essential than ever to work closely with governments and private sector partners, like LIXIL, to ensure hand-washing is possible for all.”
According to UNICEF, 40% of the world’s population still do not have access to basic hand-washing facilities at home. In Nigeria, 73.5% of the population use contaminated water and live with poor sanitation facilities. To address this immense challenge, LIXIL has committed USD 1 million in line with its promise to support the commitments of development partners and others, which could impact 5 million people with improved hand-washing.
Speaking on the need for innovative hygiene solutions, Chief Technology and Marketing Officer SATO, Daigo Ishiyama, said: “We believe the SATO Tap will help advocate life-changing behaviour. It will promote hygiene and reinforce hand-wash behaviour change by mitigating risks while conserving water. Our vision is well-aligned with the Government of Nigeria’s vision and priorities for its people in promoting hygiene and advancing SDG 6 by 2030.”
The first SATO Taps will be manufactured in India, and will be made available for partners in September 2020, with ramp up of production and retail availability through early 2021. LIXIL is also working to establish other licensing partners to expand to other markets in Africa.
