Mas Verde Mas Humano

Through Safe Water -our project-, we have been able to positively impact hundreds of families and therefore realized how vital it is to have a safe and reliable drinking water source. We are committed to expand and scale-up our solution as long as there are people who are exposed to waterborne life-threatening diseases that could be benefited from our model.

As a group of young engineers we are passionate about putting our skills and knowledge to serve those most in need. Science and engineering are usually restricted to laboratories and academic facilities, but bringing change about as a result of science and making it tangible in vulnerable communities is an awe-inspiring privilege. If we are selected as winners we will use the funding to take our Safe Water community model to more vulnerable communities, thus improving their quality of life and empowering social organizations with the strength of science of technology.

I graduated from university in December 2018 as a chemical engineer. As the economic situation in Venezuela got worse I had to look for job in sectors that I previously did not imagine, such as water treatment. I started working in a multinational firm that developed water treatment solutions to Central American countries. It was moving for me that no developments on water treatment were being performed for Venezuela, where up to 80% of the population lack access to safe drinking water.

With that in mind I developed an idea: a community model to install, operate and maintain state-of-the-art water purification plants to supply safe drinking water to vulnerable communities in a sustainable way. I gathered a team of engineers and with financial support we began working with four communities. Now, we are passionate about bringing change about through water and we are committed to take our Safe Water model to as many communities in need as possible.

In Venezuela, over 80% of the population lacks access to safe water. This has caused a surge in waterborne diseases that is putting at risk the lives of the most vulnerable. Globally, 10,000 people die from water and sanitation related diseases.

Our solution aims to offer a safe drinking water source to vulnerable populations in Venezuela. To do so, we partner with charitable organizations, such as public dinning rooms and schools. It is in their facilities that we install water purification plants that will serve the community. Each of our standard plants can directly benefit over 350 people with enough drinking water for their daily needs and also cover the requirements of third parties.

Our solution is sustainable because, while vulnerable people receive water for free, third parties pay a lower-than-the-market price that helps sustain the operation of the plant.

In a nutshell, through a community franchise's water purification plant, Safe Water reduces the incidence of waterborne diseases, improve the quality of life of vulnerable population, increases the productivity of the communities (measured in saved money and time, as well as created jobs), and empowers social charitable organizations.

Our innovation is our community franchise model:

Water purification systems where previously found only in high- and middle-income communities, while vulnerable communities -who suffer the most from the scarcity of quality water- had virtually no means to guarantee the quality of the water they were drinking.

With our model, cutting-edge water purification plants are installed in the facilities of charitable organizations located in vulnerable communities. Not only do these plants supply safe drinking water, but also bring change about in the community: improves the health situation of the population, reducing life-threatening waterborne diseases; improves the productivity of vulnerable population, measured both in saved money and time, and jobs created to operate the plant; and empowers charitable organization that will offer and additional service and receive an additional flow of income to sustain their activities.

Through Safe Water we are having an impact on vulnerable communities that have been neglected from their right to access to safe drinking water. As water is a cornerstone for human development, this situation has repercussions in other aspects of life, such as health, schooling, employment, and productivity.

Providing vulnerable communities access to safe, affordable, physically accessible and reliable drinking water has a huge impact in the community that we have been able to measure through household surveys and medical evaluations: After three months, the waterborne diseases cases has reduced in over 20% and more than 80% of the beneficiaries have been able to save time and money previously used to find water.

To achieve this impact, beside the installation of the plant, pieces of training and sensitization are delivered, as well as health follow-up. This has allowed us to change the way the communities relate with water.