A new public-private partnership has produced a high-tech, low-tech solution for women in Kenya’s Mathare slum, who must sometimes walk several kilometers to fetch water, only to find it’s contaminated, VOAnews reports.

Mathare resident Pauline Wanza and others traditionally relied on vendors who charged high prices for water that was sometimes polluted. Wanza told VOA she had to boil her water before using it.

In a new public-private partnership, the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company and Danish company Grundfos recently installed four machines in Mathare that they said dispense clean water.

Customers pay with a smart card, getting 20 liters of water for half a Kenya shilling — about half a U.S. cent. They can add money to the card with smartphones or at kiosks, VOANews reports.

Officials say paying with smart cards at the new water sources ensures water is safe and dispensed in an orderly way.

A version of the set-up has been used in rural Kenya, but this is the first time that it will be used in an urban area, BBC reported.

Residents swipe the smart cards at the dispenser and water starts flowing from a tap.

The rate is much cheaper than the rates being charged by the water vendors, BBC reported. In the suburb of Eastleigh, vendors charge 50 Kenya shillings for 20 liters — 100 times more than the price at the new water dispensing machines.

More than 700 million people worldwide still do not have access to clean water, according to the U.N.