Improving the health of rural communities with clean water
According to the WHO, more than 2 billion people–that's one in three people– globally, do not have access to safe drinking water. In underserved areas of rural Cambodia, many people have little choice but to drink contaminated water from rivers, ponds and swamps or purchase or if they have the resources, collect firewood to boil and purify it first. The latter is a significant expense for the poorest households in Cambodia, meaning many instead must risk their health. In such cases, decentralised water treatment stations can be a solution.
provided with access to affordable, clean water, lowering the risk of disease
have access to safe water
created in rural communities, boosting local economies
avoided on average annually by removing the need to boil water to purify it
This project provided microfinance to small enterprises and entrepreneurs to set up local, environmentally-focused water treatment stations. Currently, more than 260 enterprises are providing clean, affordable water to over 800,000 Cambodians. So as well as increases access to clean water, the project also fosters economic opportunities by creating jobs and enabling people to earn a living by purifying and distributing sourced water to neighbouring communities.
I remember many years ago when I was young, in the mountain near by village there were lots of trees, these days though there are few left, it's very hard to find firewood.
Community member, Cambodia Clean Water Project
I produce drinking water together with my wife. Thanks to this work I am able to support my family and earn enough to send my older son to college.
Prin Da, Along Tamey village
This project addresses the critical lack of clean water by offering a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and decentralised means to purify water. This greatly improves the health and lifestyle of rural Cambodians, especially children who suffer early on from water-borne diseases, whilst also reducing the need to buy fuel for boiling water. For the planet, the project is cutting emissions by removing the need to boil water and easing pressure on Cambodia’s vibrant forests where firewood was previously sourced.
I used to collect water from the pond, and my kids often had stomach aches and diarrhea.
Community member, Cambodia Clean Water Project
With no prospect, in the foreseeable future, of a piped water system being installed, nor sanitation facilities, the project was set up by a team of local and international NGOs to provide small, isolated villages in the Cambodian countryside with access to clean drinking water. The aim is to install 210 low-carbon water-purifying devices throughout the country.
The project has taken clever choices to ensure the lowest possible production cost for clean water so villagers can afford it, for example using UV disinfection that can be supplied by solar energy. However, above all, the project's success has been to locally produce the devices as this cuts distribution costs to almost nothing. On top of this, the project is offering microfinance so families can set up small income-generating businesses from selling bottled, clean water. This empowers them to escape extreme poverty as well as being able to afford small maintenance costs for the devices.
The project achieves its 5th successful verification by one of the world's leading carbon standards, the Gold Standard. The project impacts are monitored and audited, confirming the project successfully installed 179 water purifying devices, each supplying over 1,600+ people with clean water every month!
The pandemic put public health at the top of the agenda and made the need for clean, safe water more pressing than ever before. The project took swift action by ordering large quantities of spare parts so even in lockdown or a supply chain disruption, the kiosks can be fixed when needed, distributed soap for free and is raising awareness about the importance of good hygiene for disease prevention.
By 2022, the project aims to be supplying clean water to rural, underserved families in 19 of Cambodia's 24 provinces!
