Water for the Americas

About Our Work - What We Do

Water for the Americas helps communities obtain, improve and protect drinking water supplies. We do this by working directly with community groups and with other nonprofit, non-governmental organizations in areas where needs are greatest. Our projects include:

• Water supply systems for small, rural communities
• Sanitation facilities for small, rural communities
• Watershed protection and rehabilitation
• Microbusiness development
• Education on water system management, sanitation and water supply protection

The projects are initiated by the communities where the project beneficiaries live. Because local needs and interest drive the projects and because we work closely and cooperatively with our local partners and project sponsors to develop solutions, we are able to provide culturally-appropriate solutions that are technically appropriate and that can be implemented and maintained by the communities with locally-available resources. To help assess project effectiveness, we routinely conduct health surveys before and after implementation to measure the impact of clean water on the community.

Who We Serve

Our focus is on helping small communities in impoverished rural and semi-rural areas of the Americas. We are currently working in villages in El Salvador and Guatemala, but our mission includes people throughout the Americas.

Who We Partner With

Our main partners are the people in the communities we serve. We also partner with and work through organizations in the United States and the countries in which our projects are located. Some of these include Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, the U.S. Peace Corps, Engineers Without Borders, International Rural Water Association, Alliance for International Reforestation, Agua Viva, and Asociación Salvadoreña de Sistemas de Agua. In addition, we have partnered with local governmental departments involved in implementing the projects.