World Water Week: Hydrachem warns emergency water systems are being asked to last decades, not months

BILLINGSHURST, England, Aug. 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven in 10 refugees worldwide are now living in long-term displacement, according to UNHCR[1], yet much of the water and sanitation infrastructure serving them was designed to last months.

Speaking at the opening of World Water Week in Stockholm (23 to 27 August), Stockholm International water Institute (SIWI) Executive Director Helena Thybell told delegates that "the challenge is no longer knowing what to do. It is about doing it together." For communities living through protracted displacement, Hydrachem argues that doing it together means treating long-term water resilience as infrastructure to be built, not aid to be extended.

The company is urging governments, NGOs, donors and water experts to fund water provision built for the full duration of a crisis, not just its first phase.

In Syria, the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024 brought an end to almost fourteen years of civil war. However, violence and insecurity have continued and around 15.6 million people – roughly six in 10 Syrians – still require humanitarian assistance in 2026[2]. Many of those now returning home are going back to water infrastructure that was destroyed years ago.

Yemen's conflict has continued for more than a decade. South Sudan has faced recurring conflict and instability since independence in 2011. For millions of people, displacement and disruption are not a temporary emergency; they are how life is lived.

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

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 double the toll recorded in each of the two preceding years. The proportion of cases ending in death rose from roughly 16 per 1,000 cholera cases to 23 – a deterioration the Center for Global Development linked in part to reductions in water, sanitation and hygiene funding[3].

Hydrachem, which has spent more than 50 years developing water purification and disinfection technologies now used in over 60 countries, 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.

Nicholas Barbieri, Chief Commercial Officer at Hydrachem, commented:

"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."

Hydrachem says the growing number of protracted emergencies requires a shift from short-term response to long-term water resilience. This includes investment in durable treatment solutions, local operating and maintenance capability, and supply chains that can be relied upon for the length of a crisis rather than the length of a funding cycle.

Nicholas Barbieri 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."

[1] UNHCR Global Trends
[2] OCHA Syria Humanitarian Fund
[3] Center for Global Development

Notes to Editor:

Hydrachem, established in 1973, is a UK-based world leader in effervescent chlorine (NaDCC) tablets with expertise in water purification, surface disinfection and sterilisation. Operating in over 60 countries, the company partners with NGOs, governments and leading healthcare institutions, including the NHS, to combat waterborne diseases, maintain hygienic environments and produce over 10 billion litres of safe drinking water each year.

The company was founded on philanthropic principles to improve access to clean water and help create a cleaner, safer world.

Hydrachem supplies sectors including healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, food preparation and agriculture.

Alongside its own brands, which include Oasis Water Purification Tablets, Oasis Sterilising Tablets and Cert Multi Surface Spray, Hydrachem contract manufactures for some of the world's most prominent companies, with products renowned for quality, reliability and technical excellence.

More information about Hydrachem can be found by visiting https://hydrachem.com/ 

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