Photometer to feed children in Africa

How can a photometer, dedicated to pool-water-testing, possibly feed children? Surprisingly enough –it can. From March 2020, Water-i.d. GmbH, the manufacturer of the well-recognised PoolLab1.0®Photometer, have decided to donate 1,-€ for each PoolLab® sold to a charity called “Steps for Children”.

The reason for this decision? 15 years ago, Stephan Hock, the brother of Water-i.d.’s general manager Andreas Hock, moved, together with his wife and children, to Windhoek, capital of Namibia, leaving a well-run newspaper-group behind to buy a lodge with restaurant and to start a new life in Africa. His passion was and still is cooking and so it no surprise that he calls the “Immanuel Wilderness Lodge Restaurant” his playground. Soon his talent got recognised and in 2012, Stephan was officially awarded as Namibia’s best chef. German TV broadcasted several features about him, local newspapers wrote and local as well as international celebrities became regular guests.

Stephan felt and feels blessed whilst feeling a growing desire to be an asset to his new, local community. His passion for cooking and the obvious lack of food for many school-children gave inspiration to the idea of starting an online-cookbook (www.cookwithstephan.com), where Stephan and Stephan’s guests are able to share recipes based on a paid subscription with the aim to use 100% of the money earned to support children in Rehboth/Namibia with one warm meal a day. Stephan visited this area and was extremely saddened to see children in such poor condition. Since that time, he has organized help together with a charity called “Steps for Children”, knowing, that each 1,-€ collected, feeds one child for one day. It still breaks his heart to see that children coming to the “soup kitchen” need to be turned away as the money and food collected is still not sufficient to feed all of these hungry children. It keeps Stephan motivated to search for ways to collect more, to finally reach the goal of giving every child in Rehboth the chance to have at least one warm meal a day.

Andreas Hock, MD of Water-i.d., wants to support his brother. Water-i.d. sees itself blessed by the overwhelming success of the PoolLab1.0®of which they have sold over 35,000 units in less than 3 years. An initial donation of EUR 5,000 was made together with the promise to donate another 1,-€ per each and every PoolLab1.0®sold from March 2020 until at least December 2020. Not everybody will see a direct connection between a photometer for testing pool water quality and the need of children in Africa, to have at least one warm meal a day, so the tale of Andrea’s brother Stephan may shed some light on this idea. You can also support “steps for children” directly. Just visit