Clean water is a right that everyone should have, but it will take hard work and cooperation to accomplish that goal, panelists said at the WaTER Symposium at the University of Oklahoma Friday morning.

"As a businessman, I understand that there are many competing needs that leaders are faced with, all of our leaders at any level, however, if no provision is made first for clean water I predict that no country will ever rise out of its poverty and will always remain a burden on the international community," said Malcolm Morris, founder and chairman of the Millennium Water Alliance of American nonprofit organizations with a common goal to bring clean water to 500 million people by the year 2015.

Morris was one of the five panelists who spoke Friday at the symposium on bringing clean water to the developing world.

The symposium is the first one ever put on by the Water Technologies for Emerging Regions (WaTER) Center at OU. The research center at OU is dedicated to helping solve drinking water challenges in impoverished areas.

The World Health Organization estimates that 1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion have inadequate sanitation. A child dies an average of every 15 seconds because of lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation, said Laura Brunson, graduate student in environmental science.

She set the stage for the panel by outlining the shortage of clean water and the potential good that could be accomplished if the world's population had access to clean drinking water. Healthy children can go to school, healthy workers can contribute to a developing economy and women who don't have to carry water all day can use their time to improve their quality of life, Brunson said.

"So not only is this important to solve the actual health issues from water and sanitation problems, but it's also an important issue to solve because it can contribute to achieving the rest of the (United Nations') millennium development goals," she said.

Clean drinking water should be a focus for this and many other reasons. For one, purifying water can prevent a slew of diseases, Morris said.

He said Living Water International was once turned down for a grant in favor of spending money on development of a vaccine for certain disease. Morris looked up the disease and found that it was carried in unsanitary water.

He said he kindly wrote the foundation back and pointed out that there already was a vaccine for the disease: clean water.

Michael Campana, a hydrologist who is the director of the Institute for Water and Watersheds at Oregon State University, said he is optimistic that clean water can be provided for needy communities, because he's seen a lot of people practicing "hydro-philanthropy." And these workers aren't just coming in to a community and providing quick fixes, they are working to solve problems in every aspect of clean water and sanitation, Campana said.

"We need all people working on this problem, and that's why I'm optimistic," he said.

Daniele Lantagne, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, explained the difficulties of getting clean water and sanitation to developing countries.

In order to provide sustainable and successful solutions, a product must be technically verified to clean water, be cost effective to implement and have a consumer demand, she said.

Many organizations focus on only one aspect of the system, such as providing a product that cleans water. But if it doesn't meet consumer demand, no one will use the product and it will be ineffective, Lantagne said.

Greg Allgood, director of Children's Safe Drinking Water at Procter and Gamble, spoke about one product that is using all the aspects of the system to try to provide clean water to needy people.

P--G developed PUR, a packet of powder that can be stirred into water and clean and disinfect it in 20 minutes. Allgood demonstrated the product Friday morning and turned a jar of brown water into clear while he spoke about P--G's attempts to distribute PUR locally around the world.

The model uses social marketing, works in schools, distributes through local people and shows commercials in the U.S. to increase awareness.

P--G has focused on PUR as its worldwide philanthropy, so it provides the product at cost for emergency relief and sustained social efforts, Allgood said.

Henock Gezehegn, marketing and technical services director for Population Services International in Ethiopia, said it's important to think about all the aspects of providing safe drinking water.

In order to do so in a sustainable way, it must be acceptable, affordable and available, Gezehegn said. The best way to do so is to use the commercial market because it is doesn't rely on foreigners to keep it going.

"It's all about enabling the market to work for the poor," Gezehegn said.

Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com