P&G Launches Water Treatment Kits In U.S.

Trying a second time to make a commercial success out of its PR water clarifier and disinfectant, consumer products maker Procter & Gamble and its partner, plastic container maker Reliance Products, are now selling outdoor recreation and emergency preparedness kits containing PR water treatment packets in U.S. retail stores. Profits will help provide safe drinking water in poor countries.

First launched in several countries in 2003, the PR packets were a commercial flop. But P&G turned the packets into a humanitarian coup when it instead provided them at cost to philanthropic agencies for distribution in countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Haiti, and Kenya, where they have since provided 900 million L of clean drinking water.

Containing the disinfectant calcium hypochlorite and the flocculant iron sulfate, a PR packet can purify 10 L of water. Emptied into muddy, contaminated water, the packets help produce water free of dirt, pollutants, bacteria, and viruses within 30 minutes. U.S. consumers will be able to buy the packets in a box of six for about $15 or in a $29 mini-water-treatment kit that includes collapsible mixing and storage containers, cotton filter cloths, and three PR packets.

P&G says any profits it earns from sales of PR in the U.S. will be used to provide the packets in developing countries. "The U.S. effort will help fund our philanthropic efforts by providing 2 L of water in the developing world for every package purchased in the U.S.," says Gregory S. Allgood, director of the P&G-sponsored Children's Safe Drinking Water Program.