Improving the health of rural communities with clean water
In rural Cambodia, a third of the population does not have access to safe drinking water and has no choice but to drink contaminated water from rivers, ponds, and swamps. Inadequate access to microbiologically safe drinking water continuously threatens the health and well-being of more than a billion people. Yet in such cases, decentralised water treatment can be used.
now have access to safe drinking water
in rural communities, boosting local economies
on average annually, by providing an alternative to the burning of fossil fuels
This project seeks to further access clean and safe drinking water for households and communities, by using low greenhouse gas emitting water purification technologies at water treatment stations in rural areas. The project enables locals to earn a living by purifying and distributing sourced water locally. There are currently more than 150 enterprises providing clean, affordable water to over 220,000 people.
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, 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, Along Tamey village
Purchasing or collecting firewood or fossil fuels to boil and purify water constitutes a significant expense for the poorest households and communities in Cambodia. This project addresses this issue twofold: offering scope for micro-entrepreneurs, creating jobs, and supporting families; whilst also reducing fuel costs needed for water boiling. The project greatly improves health outcomes for local people, especially children, and significantly reduces deforestation caused by the need for firewood to boil water.
I used to collect water from the pond, and my kids often had stomach aches and diarrhea.
Community member, Cambodia Clean Water Project, 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!
