ONE of the bosses of a Kidderminster company is going on a fact-finding mission to a landlocked West African country, where people struggle to find safe drinking water each day.

George Johnston, business development manager at water treatment firm, Purac, will join the charity, WaterAid's, trip to Burkina Faso for two weeks this month.

WaterAid is dedicated to providing safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world's poorest people.

Among aspects of Mr Johnston's visit will be spending a day with a typical family in the Koudougou region, seeing deprived rural villages and viewing the charity's projects in action.

He was selected for the trip because of his fund-raising efforts for the cause, including quiz nights. Since 1998, his efforts have helped generate more than £100,000 for the charity.

He said: "Women and children in Africa often have to walk over 20km a day to collect water, sometimes from rivers and muddy holes, so, often, it is not safe to use. It is back-breaking work and the water often brings disease to their families - a child dies every 15 seconds from water-borne illnesses.

"We are so lucky in the western world to enjoy a reliable, fresh clean water supply and, as an employee of a company working in the UK water industry, I feel compelled to help WaterAid to establish the safe water and sanitation that we take for granted to populations that are not so fortunate.

"It will be a real eye-opener to spend time in a village without clean water supplies but, hopefully, it will prove a worthwhile trip. I'm looking forward to meeting local leaders while I'm in Burkina Faso to discuss the effects of living without safe water and sanitation and when I return to the UK, I'm planning to raise awareness of these issues and their solutions.

"We can all do something to help. It costs less than £15 to provide someone with a lasting supply of safe water and sanitation and I hope my trip will help highlight the problem and encourage people to support this worthwhile cause," he added.