The Time Has Come – Double Your Impact
Your Gift Will Do Twice As Much Good – Literally
Chip and Lucy Swab are important, long-term supporters of Caminos de Agua. They, along with another family that chooses to remain anonymous, are matching all donations up to USD $10,000 through the end of October. That means the donation you make during this period will go twice as far and will double our ability to help people avoid the serious health threats and economic burdens they currently face due to contaminated and dwindling water supplies.
To better understand what the generosity of supporters just like you creates, we’d like you to meet some of the families and communities who have been collaborating with Caminos de Agua, up close and personal. So, let’s travel less than 20 minutes from the center of San Miguel to Los Ricos, a small community that has been struggling with the debilitating impacts of arsenic and fluoride contamination in their well water for years. Due to the overexploitation of our aquifer – namely from the agricultural-export industry – wells must be drilled deeper and deeper where the water is naturally contaminated with excessive levels of arsenic and fluoride. This has left Los Ricos, and many of the other 2,800 rural and urban communities throughout our watershed region, to cope with severe health threats.
Please spend the next couple of minutes with us to learn about how the families of Los Ricos have collaborated with Caminos de Agua to take their water issues into their own hands through the implementation of our innovative Groundwater Treatment System (GTS)– the first of its kind in the world. And don’t forget, if you give now, your contribution will automatically be matched by our generous sponsors – allowing you to make twice as much impact in communities just like Los Ricos.
Meet María del Rosario, the Woman Who is Managing a Groundbreaking Water Solution in Los Ricos
Photo: María del Rosario, a local mother from the community of Los Ricos, who has become the manager of an innovative new water solution serving her community.
While Los Ricos is located right on the banks of the Laja River – the main river in northern Guanajuato – dozens of families in the upper part of the community lack access to affordable, clean, and safe drinking water. Given that the community well doesn’t reach many of these families, residents here often have to pump water from the river into containers and transport them back to their homes. However, the Laja River is now only seasonal, carrying no water at all for most of the year. That means for the families in Los Ricos, the only year-round water source continues to be the community’s well, which not only provides water inconsistently, but is also heavily contaminated with arsenic and fluoride. These chemicals are extremely detrimental to human health when consumed regularly and can cause chronic kidney disease, dental and skeletal fluorosis (the browning of teeth and deformation of bones), skin lesions, cognitive development and learning disabilities in children, and several types of cancer.
Photo: Maria (on left) and Allie, Caminos' Director of Technology (on right), inspecting our GTS filtering medium.
Arsenic and fluoride are extraordinarily difficult to remove from the water. Standard filters and treatment options simply cannot touch them. That’s why Caminos de Agua has spent the last six years developing our GTS – a pioneering technology capable of removing arsenic and fluoride at the source, providing an entire community with safe drinking water effectively and much more quickly and inexpensively than alternatives. GTS is capable of providing water for 10 families, or up to 80 people, for roughly the same initial cost of installing one rainwater harvesting system with only the capacity to serve 1-2 families.
“We had many years without safe drinking water, while taking care of the GTS is hard work, it’s changed the reality of my family and community.”
María del Rosario, from the community of Los Ricos
Our first GTS in Los Ricos has been “live” for months now, providing the participating families all the clean drinking and cooking water they need. This system is now administered directly by local community leaders, like María del Rosario. As a community member and a mother, she is all too familiar with the effects of our regional water crisis. The direct risks associated with drinking contaminated water, and a deep desire to help safeguard her own family and community, pushed Rosario to do something about the situation. Since 2019, she’s been part of a series of workshops and training sessions for understanding and testing GTS. Today, Rosario is responsible for taking regular water samples, helping maintain the treatment system, and she works closely with Caminos team members to figure out how to take GTS to more people in her own community and soon how to replicate it in others.
Our GTS Will Mean Safe Water For Thousands – You Can Make it Happen Twice As Fast
Our internally developed GTS is changing the way water solutions are deployed in our region and, some day, beyond. Effective access to safe, clean water will be faster and more economical, helping thousands. With your support, we can start scaling GTS and other solutions, increasing our reach and coverage, and helping get future generations off of contaminated drinking water. By giving today, your contribution is immediately doubled by our generous sponsors. Please act now and create double the impact. Thank You.