Two points on one river

A river is a shared pipe with no wall around it. What one household puts in arrives at another, and the water still looks clean.

Scope of work

A child fills a cup from the river. Upstream, a village uses the same water as a toilet.

An isometric river running from a small village at the back to a child with a cup at the front. A green current line flows forward from the village to the cup. — The current runs one way, so the village upstream never drinks what it puts in. AI-generated illustration

Rivers connect people who never meet. A household upstream has no plant and no truck, so the bank of the river is the disposal point. The same water arrives below, where another household collects it for drinking.

In 2022, at least 1.7 billion people used drinking water contaminated with faeces. The contamination does not change the look of the water or the taste, so nothing at the bank warns the person collecting.

Work items

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Carry forward

Nobody upstream of that cup meant harm. Station 07 finds a city that learned the same lesson from the smell of its own river.

An isometric table with a glass, a jug, and bread. A magnifying glass over the glass shows green germs suspended in the water. — The table looks ordinary because it is ordinary. The germs travel in water that tastes of nothing. AI-generated illustration

An isometric river with green coins swimming upstream like fish, from a water utility at the front to a village with a new toilet at the back. — The payment runs against the current, from the utility downstream to the village upstream. AI-generated illustration

Method statement · illustrative

Upstream Fund

A payment from downstream water users can fund toilets and emptying upstream.

Households and businesses that draw from the river pay a small levy.
The levy pays for toilets, emptying, and treatment further upstream.
Both ends test the water at the same points and publish what they find.

Illustrative concept, not an existing service. No such product is being announced here.

End of order 06 · station 06 of 10

The plates are AI-generated illustrations, not photographs. Figures come from the companion briefing; depth is illustrative of scale.

Open order 07