Safe water for rural Nicaraguans

Waterborne illnesses are a major barrier to development in Nicaragua.

In many rural villages, families drink untreated water derived from rivers and streams polluted with fecal matter and disease-causing pathogens.

Unsafe drinking makes can make children very sick—when it's not fatal. In addition to the serious health risks, communities also face economic repercussions when kids miss school and adults can't work because of waterborne illnesses.

CTI helps villagers in rural Nicaragua treat the polluted water sources in their communities.

We train communities to build and install our Water Chlorinator—an inexpensive system that utilizes chlorine tablets to produce clean water for just pennies per day.

Nicaraguan community water groups monitor the chlorine levels and help villagers pool their resources to pay for replacement chlorine tablets. Involving village groups fosters local ownership of the equipment, an important part of ensuring the program’s sustainability.

Safe water for 150,000 people and counting

More than 150,000 people in rural Nicaragua have gained access to safe drinking water through the installation of CTI’s water chlorinator.

Beyond saving lives, clean drinking water gives communities significant health care savings, more productive work days and increased school attendance.

CTI is teaming up with nonprofit EOS International, and together we are going to double the number of people we are providing with safe drinking water. 

We aim to provide safe water for a quarter of a million Nicaraguans by summer of 2014.