Hindustan Unilever’s Pureit: Making Safe Water Affordable to All

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Excerpts

Unilever’s presence in India dates back to the late 1800s. In 1888, Sunlight soap, manufactured by the Lever Brothers, was imported to India. In 1895, Lifebuoy soap was introduced in the Indian market. This was followed by the launch of other popular global brands like Pears in 1902, Lux in 1905, and Vim in 1913. The Lever Brothers launched several other products like Vinolia soap, Rinso soap powder, and Gibbs dental preparation.

Conserving water had been the focus of HUL for several decades. The company reduced water usage across its value chain, and also encouraged the farmers and suppliers to follow water conservation methods. To reduce water use in the laundry process, the company introduced one rinse products. One of the products was the Magic Water Saver, which the company said would help save three buckets of water for every laundry wash. Magic reduced the amount of water required to rinse the clothes after they were washed with detergent by removing all the detergent in a single rinse. Comfort fabric conditioner was also a one rise product. Similarly, to reduce water use in skin cleansing and hair washing, HUL brought out a foam handwash that needed less water to wash off....

In developing countries like India, the lack of safe drinking water was a major public health issue, where 80% of the diseases were water-borne and water related diseases spread rapidly due to the poor quality of drinking water. Many of the houses in India did not have access to piped water. Water was gathered from common municipal taps in urban areas or from open wells in rural areas. The water was not potable and was the main cause of several water-borne diseases in the country. Though most people were aware of the hazards of using unsafe drinking water, they found the purification systems available in the country unaffordable. And most of the purification systems needed running water and electricity. ...

HUL claimed to provide ‘as safe as boiled’ drinking water through this purifier and that too at the running cost of INR 1 for 4 liters of water. Pureit claimed to provide complete protection from all water-borne diseases. It had a refill component called the Germ-kill kit, which was a battery that powered the water filter. Pureit worked in 4 stages (Refer to Exhibit VIII for different stages of water purification in Pureit) to dispense safe drinking water without the need for electricity or running supply of tap water. It had an indicator which signaled in advance when the Germ-kill kit had to be replaced and also an ‘Auto Shut Off’ mechanism that stopped water supply in case the Germ-kill kit was not replaced. (Refer Exhibit IX for different models of Pureit). ...

In 2012, to increase the reach of Pureit and to provide safe drinking water to rural India, a pilot project was launched in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) under the ‘Waterworks’ program of Unilever Foundation. This program worked in association with PSI and Facebook . ...

HUL joined hands with the Integrated Village Development Program (IVDP) in Tamil Nadu for a program called ‘Unilever Pureit Protecting Lives’. The aim was to spread awareness about the need for safe drinking water. “Every year, 2 million children around the world die of waterborne diseases. 400,000 of these deaths occur in India alone. Providing safe drinking water can save these lives.” said Badri Narayan, GM, Water, Hindustan Unilever. ...

In June 2012, HUL launched water sachets under its Pureit brand. As a part of test-marketing, chlorine-based Pureit sachets were distributed in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh (India). HUL and PSI also sensitized the citizens to the importance of pure drinking water. Volunteers from PSI trained ‘waterworkers’, whose main tasks were to educate people about the importance of clean drinking water and to improve health and wellness. ...

Exhibit I: HUL and the Bottom of the Pyramid
Exhibit II: Unilever History– Highlights
Exhibit III: Unilever Sustainable Living PLAN
Exhibit IV: Unilever’s Partner Organizations
Exhibit V: Purpose and Principles of HUL
Exhibit VI: HUL Policies
Exhibit VII: About Self Help Groups
Exhibit VIII: Four Stages of Water Purification
Exhibit IX: Different Models of Pureit
Exhibit X: Procedure of Getting a Bulk Loan from IVDP

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