Clean Water for Rwamanja Refugee Settlement in Kamwenge District, Uganda

World Centric + SPOUTS of Water

$24,811.00 from profits from fiscal year 2017

Uganda is home to the world's largest refugee settlements, where families are likely to live decades in squalor with poor health, education, and livelihood conditions. Nationwide, the majority of Ugandans (60%) do not have access to clean drinking water, and the situation is more dire for refugees. Disease rates are high, with waterborne illness as the #1 cause of death for children in Uganda.

SPOUTS produces the Purifaaya ceramic water filter as an affordable, effective, sustainable, and easy to use solution for providing safe, pure water to Ugandans. These filters guarantee access to safe drinking water for refugees who cannot easily access water on their own, while reducing reliance on costly and environmentally damaging charcoal burning for boiling. This project provides clean water to Rwamanja Refugee Settlement in southwestern Uganda. It is home to nearly 70,000 refugees, most of whom are Congolese nationals who fled the M23 rebellion and the broader Kivu conflict.

The Impact

• 1000 household filters.
• 25 XL filters.

Indirect Impacts:

• Increase in household savings from money no longer needed to purchase fuel to boil water (saving roughly $680 per household).
• Ecological benefit from shifting from charcoal/wood burning to ceramic filtration. Carbon emission reduction estimated at 2,500 metric tons.
• Increase in health due to access to clean water (85% reduction in cases of diarrhea and typhoid).

The Approach

Purifaaya water filters are produced with clay locally sourced in Uganda. It is mixed with water before being pressed to form a pot that is the filter. It is then placed in a bucket with a spicket. The Purifaaya lasts 2 years and costs 25 USD, making it the most affordable solution to safe water access in Uganda households.

About SPOUTS of Water

A World Centric partner since 2017.

When Kathy Ku spent a summer in Uganda she was struck by the lack of access to safe water. Convinced change was necessary, she teamed up with fellow Harvard student John Kye to form SPOUTS of Water in 2012. SPOUTS aims to provide 5 million Ugandans, or 14% of the population, with access to safe water by 2025, 10 years after their first Purifaaya sale. This would represent a fundamental shift in the way Ugandans approach water purification and would save thousands of lives, primarily of children.

More projects with SPOUTS:

• Clean Water for Schools in Mubende, Uganda
• Clean Water for Nyakabande Refugee Settlement in Kisoro District, Uganda
• Clean Water for Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement in Yumbe District, Uganda