Our Water Systems Initiative:

Because of its remote location and limited infrastructure, La Calle Real faces serious challenges around water access and quality. While some households have wells or electric pumps, frequent power outages make these systems unreliable, leaving families to rely on untreated water and increasing the risk of waterborne illness. Unreliable water access also affects daily life, from cooking and hygiene to farming and education.

We're researching and designing household-level water solutions that don't depend on electricity, including biosand and terracotta filtration, rainwater catchment, and rope pumps. Every design is chosen for one key reason: it can be built, used, and maintained with local materials and skills, with no dependence on outside funding or fragile infrastructure.

This fall, we're working directly with community partners to validate needs, finalize designs, and prepare cost estimates and implementation guides. This December, our team will travel to La Calle Real to deliver our findings, demonstrate the systems in person, and work alongside community members and local leaders to put them into practice.

Your donation funds the materials and resources needed to bring these systems to life; helping families access clean water, supporting their gardens through the dry season, and building a more water-secure La Calle Real.

Project Nicaragua: Water System Initiative

A donation of helps fund materials for a household water filtration system, bringing safe drinking water to a family in La Calle Real.

Team Members