Apple awarded global clean water organization Gravity Water a grant to bring safe, clean water to 131 schools in Hoa Binh Province, northern Vietnam in 2023, the U.S. tech giant said on Wednesday.

In particular, Apple sponsored Gravity Water’s installation of an innovative rainwater harvesting system to provide teachers and students at these schools with a climate-resilient clean water source.

By connecting a large weatherproof water tank to a series of smart meters to monitor levels of groundwater use and what is collected from rainfall, Gravity Water is ensuring schools will have a reliable water source year-round.

The system is fully automated, relying on water level sensors to determine when to provide water — and from which source — to the school’s kitchens, bathrooms, and dormitories where students shower and wash their clothes.

Gravity Water is also training school administrations on how to monitor the school’s monthly water consumption.

Teachers can then take that monitoring a step further into their classrooms, modeling good water stewardship and hygiene practices in students’ daily lessons and nonacademic activities.

Phan Viet Dung, Gravity Water’s project manager in Hoa Binh Province, said his organization had been installing five such systems per week and was excited to continue its work.

Transportation, the distance between the schools, and infrastructure were all different. Some schools faced a shortage of tools while the water supply was unstable in some others.

The team had to make sure that all schools involved in the project had access to water, regardless of the stability of their water supply.

According to Danny Wright, the founder and executive director of Gravity Water, the organization's philosophy is that rainwater has the ability to really shift the needle in water access for the people who need it most.

“Rainwater harvesting is not new to Vietnam; it’s one of the world’s oldest technologies. I’ve gone to schools that have bamboo pieces cut in half collecting water off of roofs into different tanks. We have a huge opportunity to scale our technology and impact in these rural communities.”

According to Apple, the cooperation with Gravity Water is part of its strategy to deal with the lack of available water resources, and ensure water quality and the ability to access water in its supply chains.

Like us on Facebook or  follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!