Dr. Peter Morgan – Inventor In Sanitation – Receives The 2013 Stockholm Water Prize

Dr Peter Morgan of Zimbabwe recently received the Stockholm Water Prize for his life-long work to protect the health and lives of millions of people through improved water and sanitation technologies. H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden presented the prize to Dr Morgan at a Royal Award Ceremony during the World Water Week held in Stockholm, Sweden.

An estimated 1.8 billion people live without access to safe drinking water, 2.5 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation of which one billion people are forced to defecate in the open. The consequences are disastrous. Diseases caused by unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene kill more than 5,000 people each day, fill half of the hospital beds of Sub-Saharan Africa, and lead to the loss of billions of working days across the globe. Despite these staggering numbers, the area of sanitation rarely receives the attention it so desperately needs.

This year’s laureate, Dr Morgan, has spent the last four decades inventing and advancing low-cost practical solutions to provide access to safe sanitation and clean water that are being used by millions of people worldwide.

“Many currently existing solutions to provide clean water and sanitation are unaffordable, impractical and out of reach for the world’s poorest people,” said the Stockholm Water Prize Committee in its citation. “As a result of Dr Morgan’s pioneering work, countless communities now enjoy safer water, a cleaner environment and quality of life.”

On receiving the award, Dr Morgan said: “It is indeed a great honour and privilege to have been presented this unique award. Those of us who work in this vital area are uniquely privileged because we are well placed and have an important role to play in conserving, and yet delivering the most
precious resource on Earth – fresh water. We are also privileged because we have an opportunity to leave behind us a legacy of good work which benefits Mankind and hopefully Mother Earth too. We must all learn to become true partners with the world we live in.

Several of Dr Morgan’s most prominent innovations, including the “B” type Bush Pump and the Blair Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) Latrine, have been adopted as the national standard by the government of Zimbabwe. Huge numbers of Blair VIP latrines designed for both families and schools have been built and serve millions of people in Zimbabwe alone, and many more have been built worldwide.

Dr Morgan also created the ‘Upgraded Family Well’ which now helps half a million people improve the quality of water obtained from traditional wells.

Dr Morgan has an unwavering commitment to creating solutions that local communities can build and sustain themselves. For each of his technologies he also developed a wide range of training and educational materials that enable local practitioners to install, maintain and improve them. The Blair VIP latrine, for example, has been restyled so that it can be upgraded in a series of steps as the need or opportunity arises. In Zimbabwe today, variants of the Blair VIP, the “B” type ‘Bush Pump’ and the promotion of upgraded wells form the backbone of the rural water and sanitation programme.

Throughout his career, Dr Morgan has shared his designs and innovations freely and ensured that they can be implemented and improved by the local communities where they are used.

About Dr Peter Morgan
Dr Morgan currently serves as Director of Aquamor, a not-for-profit company working in the rural water supply and sanitation sector in Zimbabwe. He has previously served as Chief Research Officer and acting Director of the Blair Research Laboratory and as Advisor to the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe. Born in 1943 in Wellingborough, United Kingdom, Dr Morgan is a naturalized citizen of Zimbabwe. He holds a PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Hull and was awarded Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1991.

About the Stockholm Water Prize
The Stockholm Water Prize is a global award founded in 1991 and presented annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to an individual, organisation or institution for outstanding water-related achievements. The Stockholm Water Prize Laureate receives USD 150,000 and a crystal sculpture specially designed and created by Orrefors. H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is patron of the prize.

Initially founded by the Stockholm Water Foundation to encourage research and development of the world’s water environment, the Stockholm Water Prize is additionally supported by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, International Water Association, Water Environment Federation and the City of Stockholm. The Founders of the Stockholm Water Prize are companies united in their strong conviction to push sustainability in the water sector. They are: Bacardi, Borealis & Borouge, DuPont, ERV, Fujitsu, Grundfos, HP, Kemira, KPMG Sweden, Ragn-Sells, Scandic, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Siemens AG, SJ (Swedish Railways), Snecma/Safran, Uponor, Xylem and Ålandsbanken.

About Stockholm International Water Institute
The Stockholm International Water Institute is a policy institute that generates knowledge and informs decision-makers towards water wise policy and sustainable development. SIWI performs research, builds institutional capacity and provides advisory services in five thematic areas: water governance, transboundary water management, water and climate change, the water-energy-food nexus, and water economics. SIWI organises the World Water Week in Stockholm – the leading annual global meeting place on water and development issues – and hosts the Stockholm Water Prize, the Stockholm Junior Water Prize and the Stockholm Industry Water Award. Information about the World Water Week and the Stockholm International Water Institute; www.worldwaterweek.org and www.siwi.org