Project Tsifota: 20.000 liters of drinking water per day

The village of Tsifota with a population of 3700 people, including small communities in surrounding areas lack access to clean and safe drinking water. The villagers have so far never had full access to water to meet their daily needs. They depend on wells and a borehole fitted with human-powered pumps. These wells are made rudimentary and provide poor quality, turbid and non-potable water, often insufficiently. However, with the availability of seawater, we are able to apply desalination in order to produce clean drinking water. Moreover, the sunny weather in this region is favorable for utilizing solar energy to power the desalination process, which requires a significant amount of pressure and thus energy. This upcoming project will help solve the urgent water scarcity problem by providing a sustainable water supply that produces 20.000 liters of high-quality fresh water per day. The fresh water will be produced by desalination using only solar energy, and distributed to the inhabitants of Tsifota and surrounding areas through a piped water supply network and water kiosk. In addition to increasing access to drinking water, our solution provides opportunities for local economic development. In the water kiosk, clean drinking water is sold by and for the local community. In this manner, our efforts can have a wider impact. In addition to improving the living conditions of the population, socio-economic progress is stimulated. In particular, by providing opportunities for the acceleration of local economic development of the community – the lives of marginalized groups such as women and children can be improved. The time previously used up to secure water can be spent on education and entrepreneurship. By complementing Transmad’s 20 years of working experience in Madagascar with Elemental Water Makers innovative desalination solutions and a skilled local civil works company, this project will move Tsifota from water scarcity into water abundance.

Previous situation

The village of Tsifota is located on the South-West coast of Madagascar. The 2240 inhabitants of Tsifota and its surroundings (circa. 1419 people) mainly live from agriculture, rearing animals and fishing. The income level of the villagers is relatively modest, 75% of households survive on less than 2 euro per day. Moreover, the South-West of Madagascar experiences an arid climate with very low annual rainfall. The region of Tsifota in particular, receives an average annual precipitation of 300mm, with a fairly long dry period of 6 to 8 months per year or more, caused by climate change. These long droughts increasingly challenge subsistence farming and the people’s way of life. The dependence on brackish water, tested as bad bacteriological quality and below WHO-standards present an urgent health problem. The population is frequently exposed to and risk contracting water-borne diseases from drinking unsafe water, especially children. Furthermore, distant situated water sources and waiting a long time to collect water, two or three times a day, makes the supply of water a daily challenge for the people. The water challenges disproportionately affect women and children as they are given the responsibility of securing household water, thus negatively affecting their ability to enjoy their right to health, education and self-development.

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Partners

Trans-Mad’Développement

Trans-Mad’Développement is an NGO with the goal of increasing access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The organization has been actively engaging communities and regional – and central governments in Madagascar since 1997. In 2014, Trans-Mad’Développement undertook a feasibility study and implementation that lead a cocoa farmer collective in the Sambirano region (North-West Madagascar) to enjoy access to drinking water. Apart from the direct impact that resulted from the increase in access to safe water, it also led the collective to receive a Rainforest Alliance certification. Receiving this certification meant that farmers are now paid a fairer price for their produce and has increased their connectivity to the international market, thereby stimulating their economic development. Trans-Mad’Développement also launched its ‘Plein Nord’ program, which saw the installation of 9 independent drinking water systems which were organized under a newly formed regional board.

Feedback Company

Feedback Company is a Dutch company that specializes in professional online feedback systems that collect customer reviews of businesses and their products and services. By enhancing business with a transparent, independent review system, customers become inclined and grateful to share and read online reviews. Reviews also provide interesting insights for the company, thus allowing companies to improve and better adapt to customer expectations. As part of their corporate social responsibility program, Feedback Company has coupled their feedback systems to the Elemental Water Foundation. After leaving their review, customers are forwarded and stimulated to donate to Elemental Water Foundation projects, while Feedback Company generously donates to a small amount of money for every customer review left on their feedback systems. The partnership between Feedback Company and Elemental Water Foundation thus contributes directly to our projects through their donations but also helps Elemental Water Foundation to increase its online visibility.

Global Shapers Amsterdam

The Global Shapers Community is a network of young people driving dialogue, action and change. With more than 7, 000 members, the Community spans 378 city-based hubs in 160 countries. The mission of the Amsterdam Hub of the Global Shapers community, is to help each other realize our dreams for a better society. We empower and strengthen initiatives that improve our local and global communities by providing them energy, ideas and access. “Each other” are now Amsterdam Shapers, and we want to extend this to Shapers worldwide and anyone in Amsterdam with a great initiative. Our key focus areas are sustainability, social empowerment and applied science.

Elemental Water Makers

Elemental Water Makers is a Netherlands-based technology company that provides desalination solutions powered by renewable energy. The mission of the organization is to solve fresh water scarcity, using only the sea, sun, earth and wind. The company was founded in 2012 by two engineers, Sid Vollebregt and Reinoud Feenstra, from the Technical University of Technology Delft and is located on The Hague Beach. Since its foundation, the company has executed numerous solar-powered desalination projects in the British Virgin Islands, Belize, Mozambique, The Philippines, Spain & Cape Verde. The company offers flexible desalination solutions that can integrate diverse sources of renewable energy in order to guarantee sustainable off-grid use. Wind, wave, sun and gravitational energy can be integrated to power a reverse osmosis (RO) systems that use a patented energy recovery system. Together, these unique elements ensure sustainable, low-cost desalination in remote locations. The company contributes to the Elemental Water Foundation by providing all activities required to design, transport and construct desalination solutions, after which they provide training to a local team of prospective water operators. All the activities and materials required to implement EWF projects are either provided in-kind or provided at discounted rates equal to the standard of NGO wages and rates.