Hydrachem Calls for Durable Crisis Water Systems

Hydrachem is calling for water systems in long-term displacement settings to be funded for the duration of a crisis rather than its first phase. The company points to seven in 10 refugees living in long-term displacement worldwide, while much of the water and sanitation infrastructure serving them was designed to last months. Hydrachem, which operates in more than 60 countries, wants governments, NGOs, donors and water experts to invest in durable treatment, local operations and maintenance capability, and reliable supply chains. The call was issued during World Water Week in Stockholm, held from August 23 to 27.

Crises Outlast Emergency Systems

Hydrachem says the emergency water tankering, temporary purification units and stopgap sanitation supporting these communities were designed as short-term measures, intended to be replaced within months.

Nicholas Barbieri, Chief Commercial Officer at Hydrachem, said:

“We supply water purification products into places where the emergency phase ended years ago, but the emergency infrastructure never left. Water is still being trucked into settlements that have stood for a decade or more.

“Tankering is the right answer in week one. In year 10, it is expensive, fragile and leaves communities dependent on a supply chain that stops the moment funding moves elsewhere. Long-term displacement is a different problem, and it needs a different answer.”

The company cited Syria, where around 15.6 million people, roughly six in 10 Syrians, still require humanitarian assistance in 2026 following almost 14 years of civil war. Many people returning home face water infrastructure destroyed years earlier. Yemen’s conflict has continued for more than a decade, and South Sudan has faced recurring conflict and instability since independence in 2011.

Disease Risks Remain

As crises stretch on, waterborne disease returns to the same communities again and again. Cholera killed an estimated 7,500 people across Africa in 2025, almost twice the toll recorded in each of the prior two years, according to the Center for Global Development. The proportion of cases ending in death rose from about 16 per 1,000 cases to 23 per 1,000.

Hydrachem is calling for long-term water resilience in protracted crises to be treated as a distinct planning challenge in its own right, rather than an extension of emergency response.

Planning for Long Term Provision

The company is advocating investment in durable water treatment solutions, local operating and maintenance capacity, and supply chains designed to last for the full length of a crisis. Hydrachem develops water purification and disinfection technologies and says its products produce more than 10 billion liters of safe drinking water each year.

Nicholas Barbieri, Chief Commercial Officer at Hydrachem, added:

“World Water Week is an important opportunity to recognise the work being done around the world, but it's also a moment to ask whether we're building solutions that will still be protecting displaced people five, 10 or 20 years from now. Long-term water provision has to be treated as a humanitarian priority in its own right, not as whatever is left when the emergency budget runs out.”