Water for Life Program - Guatemala

The Water for Life Program is a rural sustainable program of Guatemalan-based social business, Ecofiltro, whose mission is to reach one million rural families with clean water by the year 2020.

Fast facts:

The Ecofiltro filtering unit is guaranteed for two years;
Each Ecofiltro eliminates the use of four tonnes of wood burned to purify water per year;
So far, this activity has reached 86,000 urban users and 160,000 rural users.

The problem

In Guatemala, available drinking water can have high contamination levels. People often use firewood to boil the water in order to purify it, leading to deforestation in the country. They are also inhaling smoke emissions, which is contributing to climate change.

The solution

Water for Life in rural Guatemala identifies communities who would benefit from Ecofiltro filters. Local community entrepreneurs are selected and fully trained, so they can initiate and coordinate the project. The entrepreneurs promote the filters and provide Ecofiltro with a list of interested households. The filters are delivered and monthly payments are made to the entrepreneur by participating households for the initial or replacement filter. In order to make the purchase for the initial filter or replacement filter accessible for everyone, Ecofiltro provides a financing option for families at zero interest. The filter unit has to be replaced every two years and the majority of water sources can be poured through the Ecofiltro and cleaned.

Helping the planet

The climate change impact of an Ecofiltro is less than one percent of the impact of consuming the same amount of bottled water, and 35% of the impact of boiled water.

Helping people

The urban poor benefit from this activity with savings on clean water and improved health. They usually have to buy bottled water in the city where they live and work. Their children often get sick because they drink water from a municipal source which is often contaminated and their weak immune systems cannot fight a bacterial infection, which 80% of the time is water related. With the subsidized price of an Ecofiltro, the urban poor save 90% of what they were paying before on water and they drink more water and obtain better health.

Scaling Up

In order to assure post delivery service and long-term sustainability, Ecofiltro has a team of field representatives that maintain a strong connection with the local community leader through regular phone calls and community visits. Their goal is to reach one million families before 2020 with potable water.