What we do.
SUSTAINABLE CLEAN WATER PROJECTS
Agua Viva Serves is committed to our projects lasting for the future. More importantly, we pride ourselves in being a Non-Profit that uses local resources whenever possible. We partner with all the communities we serve. Community members are trained in how to run, maintain, and repair the water systems. Our goal is to provide clean water to as many people as possible in a way that gives people freedom and independence from Agua Viva Serves. We want to go beyond “teaching others how to fish”. We want to empower these communities.
All of our community sized projects include a co-op component that enables each community to maintain the systems in the future. In this process with partner with our communities and help them build & form a Board of Directors that begin collecting money to build up a maintenance fund.
Each self-sustaining Community Water Project Costs $50,000 and reaches over 600 people in need.
OUR PROCESS
Learn about the process we use for each community
DRILLING WELLS
Each project starts with a water source. The most common source of clean water is the upper aquifer. This is a sand layer below ~90ft of thick clay. Agua Viva Serves owns one Deep Rock M60 drilling rig and two Ford F-250 trucks. The current system has the ability to drill wells up to 200ft deep.
Once we find a site for the well, the drilling process begins. This can take anywhere from 1-2 weeks depending on the location. If the well is discovered to be unviable, a new location will be selected.
AVS Staff operates the drill but local community members & visiting international volunteers help with some of the peripheral drilling tasks.
BUILDING TOWERS
Our larger systems require the addition of a water tower. Once a viable well has been found, the tower is built. The towers are built by staff and volunteers and can be over 40ft tall.
LAYING PIPELINES
Once the well is confirmed to be clean & sufficient, and after the water tower & tank is installed, the next step is installing the pipe network.
The water main must installed within easy reach of the homes. This can mean digging a mile-long trench in order to install a 3-4 inch mainline.
Pipelines are installed by AVS Staff, local community members & visiting international volunteers.
EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES
AVS has made a long-term commitment to the communities we serve. We guide them and help administer their new systems until the community is ready to take over.
A fundamental part of our mission is to create sustainable water systems. This means empowering the communities we help and equipping them to self-govern, self-administer, and self-maintain these water systems.