Access to low-cost drinking water in the developing world
Water Ecuador provides access to low-cost clean drinking water in the devloping world in order to prevent disease and improve health and quality of life.
About You
About You
First Name
Alex
Last Name
Harding
Twitter URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Water Ecuador (Agua Muisne)
Organization Website
Organization Country
United States, MD, Baltimore, Baltimore City
Country where this project is creating social impact
Ecuador, E, Muisne
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
1‐5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each
David Majure - A physician who practices cardiology in San Francisco and is Assistant Professor at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine. He volunteered with Water Ecuador in January 2012. dmajure@gmail.com, (443) 621-5696.
Eduardo Rebolledo - Director of Research at the Catholic University of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Eduardo helped found Water Ecuador and has been involved in its administration in the past. In his current role in the local university, he continues to collaborate with our organization. dircid@pucese.net, +593 6 2726613 ext 111.
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Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Established (past the previous stages and has demonstrated success)
How long have you been in operation?
Operating for 1‐5 years
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
Purified drinking water in the developing world is scarce and expensive. As a result, many communities consume contaminated water from rivers and wells that makes many people dehydrated or sick. It is usually difficult and costly to provide drinking water because the supplies to build the appropriate facilities are expensive and many components (such as activated carbon) must be imported. In addition, there is low awareness of the health reasons for clean water. Governments have failed at overcoming these obstacles due to insufficient funds and poor management. A solution to this problem would improve health and reduce disease. This is critical since healthcare is limited and many people with fairly minor illnesses deteriorate even though the cause for their illness was preventable.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
1) We build water purification facilities using the most readily available water source in town. Usually this is well water. This cuts out transportation costs. The systems cost $3000 to build
2) Facilities are constructed from local materials because they are cheaper and more readily available.
3) We use the most cost-effective purification machinery. We can also create the necessary ingredients for water purification using local materials. For example, instead of importing activated carbon, we can produce it from the thousands of discarded coconut shells available in the region.
4) We hire local citizens to help in building the facilities, maintaining them, and providing the water. This produces jobs in the community.
5) Sell the drinking water to the community at a low cost and use these funds to pay for the process. This makes the model self-sufficient.
6) Promote awareness of the reasons for drinking clean water so that people buy our water and benefit from our work.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
Water Ecuador identifies local communities in need of clean drinking water at an affordable price. Water Ecuador then identifies the most readily available water source in the community and installs a water treatment facility. We use low-cost filtration equipment and build the facilities from local materials. From the day we arrive to the day the facility is up and running, we collaborate with several other parties in order to educate the community on the necessities of drinking clean water. We also let them know that our water is the most affordable option they have. Within a short amount of time, the community begins purchasing our drinking water. People save money buying our water and fewer people are dehydrated. Fewer people--especially children--develop gastrointestinal illnesses. The health of the community as a whole is dramatically improved. We have shown that our purified drinking water has reduced waterborne diseases by 52%. In addition, the facilities themselves provide work for many people who would otherwise be unemployed in these communities. Furthermore, local workers have used the purified water for other reasons. For example, fishermen use the water to grow shrimp larvae in clean water. These other benefits help bolster the local economy. Because the water sales generate income, the water systems become completely self-sufficient and autonomous.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
We began with just volunteers and now Water Ecuador employs several individuals. Our biggest competitors are big beverage companies that provide bottled drinking water. Our advantage over them is that our water is cheaper and more accessible because it is produced and sold locally. The challenge they pose is that they are more established, people are more aware of them, and their bottled water is sometimes considered more prestigious. Nevertheless, in most communities we overcome these competitors over time.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.
I first visited Ecuador in 2006. I had spent six weeks working in hospitals, seeing dozens of children every day with severe gastrointestinal illnesses. I suspected that drinking water might have been the culprit in many of these cases and completed a study to test available water sources in the area. I found that none of the local water sources was safe to drink and in fact, most had thousands of E. coli in just 100mL. Making the link between the hundreds of sick children I had seen while working in the hospital and the bacteria I could see growing on petri dishes motivated me to do something to improve access to clean water throughout the developing world. When I came back to the USA, I founded Water Ecuador officially and raised money so I could return and build drinking water treatment systems.
Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve
Our goal is for the world to become a place where clean drinking water is abundant and children do not become sick from the water they drink. We believe that everyone should have access to clean water at all times. We have begun our mission in Ecuador, in the town of Muisne, and have since opened facilities in four other towns in Ecuador, all of which are self-sufficient. We have expanded at a pace far exceeding our expectations and are now looking to expand further. Over the short term, we would like to continue our work in Ecuador by building additional water systems. Over the long term we would like to spread our self-sustainable model for water accessibility throughout the world. We want to educate other individuals and organizations in our model so that it can be applied universally.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
We successfully applied our model for the first time in in the town of Muisne, Ecuador over four years ago. Today, we have water treatment systems in 5 different towns purifying water using sediment filters, activated carbon and UV sterilization. Each system provides water for 400 people daily, so in total we provide water to 2,000 people every day. The water is sold for only about one cent per liter, enough money to pay for the salary of a manager at each system and for operating costs. Water Ecuador has eliminated 52% of the diarrheal disease among people consuming its drinking water, amounting to thousands of cases of gastroenteritis prevented each year. Furthermore, with an initial investment of about $,3000 to build one water system, Water Ecuador creates a continuous source of income to a local person for many years. Finally, Water Ecuador saves families $30 per month on drinking water sources by providing them an affordable alternative to bottled water.
What is your projected impact over the next five years?
We want to expand our self-sustainable model throughout Ecuador and into the rest of the developing world. We hope to do so both by building new water systems ourselves and by promoting our model to other groups around the globe. By networking with other organizations, we believe we can have the largest and fastest impact on health in the developing world. We project that within five years, we will have fifty more water systems in Latin America, providing another 20,000 people with a safe and affordable source of drinking water. This will produce jobs, prevent the suffering and costs of treating many cases of gastroenteritis, and provide fifty communities with a stimulus to promote further economic development. We hope to one day be a premier water aid model in the developing world.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Construct and operate two new water systems in coastal Ecuador
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Perform a needs assessment to identify two communities in need of a clean water source. This task is already begun.
Task 2
Organize community members to assist in the construction of the new water systems, using all locally-available materials.
Task 3
Hire water system managers and initiate publicity campaigns to promote use of the new water systems.
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Harness social networks to spread Water Ecuador's aid model and work with overseas groups to bring the model to other nations
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Redesign WaterEcuador.org to include instructional apps showing the construction of the 2 new water systems from the ground up.
Task 2
Network using WaterEcuador.org and major social networking sites to find partner organizations around the world.
Task 3
Identify two overseas groups and work in collaboration to bring the Water Ecuador aid model to two new countries.
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
Water Ecuador has collaborated with Fundacion Yanapuma in funding and constructing water treatment systems in Estero de Platano. We have worked with the Rotary Club in Esmeraldas to build household biosand filters. We have collaborated with the Catholic University of Esmeraldas and the Women's Forum of Muisne on health education and promoting our water. We have a partnership with the Ministry of Public Health and the Hospital of Muisne to provide emergency clean water during the flood season. We have worked with the municipality to design a new water treatment plant in Cabo San Francisco.
Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?
Water Ecuador is currently targeting more remote indigenous Chachi communities in coastal Ecuador for smaller scale water treatment equipment. These communities have no access to safe water and are very removed from regional commercial networks. We plan to create household water filters that can be used to produce clean drinking water for these small communities. Finally, we are using online networking tools to find individuals and organizations with whom to partner to promote our self-sustainable model for water accessibility so that we can reach more communities throughout the world.
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
First and foremost, all individuals involved in our project have a passion for improving the quality of water in the developing world. This includes the local employees we hire to run our facilities. In addition, we make all individuals involved, as much as possible, with our decision-making process and plans for future. Each person brings his or her experience to the table, whether it is in purifying water, engineering/architecture, fundraising, finance, local politics, local customs, construction, etc. In the end our board of directors hears everyone and evaluates all options before deciding in which direction to move the company. Last but not least, our model for providing access to affordable water really works in the long term.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
We are looking for more funds to create more water treatment facilities and to develop our own factory to manufacture activated carbon from coconut shells that will be used for water purification. We are looking for partners to help build a network of water treatment facilities throughout South America. We are happy to share our knowledge of providing access to affordable drinking water.
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| Our water facilities.jpg | 1.25 MB |
| Our water.jpg | 1.13 MB |
| Opening a new facility.jpg | 918.26 KB |
 | 14 weeks agoAlex Harding updated this Competition Entry. |
| 14 weeks agoAlex Harding updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoAlex Harding updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoAlex Harding updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoAlex Harding updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoAlex Harding updated this Competition Entry. |
| 19 weeks agoAlex Harding updated this Competition Entry. |
| 19 weeks agoAlex Harding submitted this idea. |
