Drinkwell Chief Executive Officer Minhaj Chowdhury has been recognised with the 2026 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for the company’s work in expanding access to safe drinking water across South Asia.
Accepting the award in Davos, Chowdhury highlighted what he described as a largely overlooked public health emergency, noting that arsenic and fluoride contamination affects more than 200 million people across South Asia, including tens of millions in Bangladesh. He said prolonged exposure to the toxins causes cancer, bone deformities and developmental damage in children, and argued that addressing contamination at the source is critical.
Drinkwell has developed patented HIX-Nano™ technology designed to remove arsenic and fluoride from drinking water at roughly 30 per cent of the cost of conventional treatment systems. The company has deployed more than 700 water treatment plants and reports a 99 per cent water recovery rate, supplying safe drinking water to over 3 million people every day.
In Bangladesh, Drinkwell works with Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Khulna Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Rajshahi City Corporation and Narayanganj City Corporation. Through these partnerships, the company provides treated water through municipal and community-based systems.
Beyond technology, Drinkwell is seeking to address what it describes as the long-standing “build, neglect, rebuild” cycle that has undermined many water infrastructure projects in the region. By aligning incentives among government agencies, development finance institutions and private partners, the company aims to ensure long-term operation and maintenance of water systems.
Chowdhury said the approach is intended to reposition water from an under-managed public utility to a protected and professionally run service, with the goal of improving public health outcomes and safeguarding access to safe drinking water for millions of people in Bangladesh and across South Asia.
